JobSeeker payments will be going down by roughly $100 per fortnight at the end of March, but it’s a slightly gentler drop than was originally expected.
The Federal Government on Tuesday announced a permanent $50 increase to the base rate for JobSeeker, which replaces the $150 coronavirus supplement added during the worst months of the pandemic.
In Tumut, 323 residents are listed as receiving the payments as of January.
The base rate for JobSeeker will now be $620.80 a fortnight. During the pandemic, the payments were up to $715.70 for eligible singles without children.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison held a press conference on Tuesday to make the announcement, saying that the original date of March 31, 2021, is too soon to end the pandemic boost for JobSeeker.
“By the end of next month we will be well into that, as tens of thousands, if not greater, will have been vaccinated by that point, and the national cabinet will have met again, that we believed it was important that we show faith once again in our social safety net,” explained Mr Morrison.
The Prime Minister said that gave the government confidence that the social welfare system can sustainably support Australians who are out of work because of the pandemic.
“But we’ve also formed the view that that base level of support that exists within our social safety net needs to be adjusted for the long term,” he said.
“And that will lead to an increase of $50 per fortnight in that base payment.”
The increase brings the JobSeeker payment up to 41.2 per cent of the national minimum wage – but it’s still below the poverty line, which is set at $914 per fortnight for a single person.
Government data from January 2021 showed 323 Tumut residents were receiving JobSeeker and 36 were receiving Youth Allowance.
Those numbers peaked – alongside the national numbers – in May 2020. At that time, 372 Tumut residents were receiving JobSeeker and another 48 were on Youth Allowance. Nationwide, there were just over 1.46 million Australians accepting JobSeeker – now that number is down to 1.2 million.
While welfare-dependence has eased since the beginning of the pandemic, the figures are still well above pre-pandemic statistics. In January 2020, just 750,000 Australians were on the Newstart allowance – the pre-pandemic welfare payment for adult job seekers.
