JobSeeker supplement to be extended until end of March
Unemployed Australians will have the temporary coronavirus supplement extended into next year at a reduced rate under a federal government decision to increase the $16.8 billion payment.
The supplement will continue until March in a boost for JobSeeker recipients and others on income support, ending weeks of doubt over whether the payments would end as scheduled at Christmas.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and cabinet ministers made the decision on Monday night and are expected to confirm it on Tuesday, with the rate likely to fall from $250 to $150 per fortnight.
The continued payments are likely to be welcomed but the move delays a bigger decision on the permanent rate for the JobSeeker allowance, which offers $565.70 a fortnight.
Australian Council of Social Service chief Cassandra Goldie has been calling on the government to increase the base rate to keep families out of poverty, but ministers have pushed that decision to next year.
Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said two months ago the government would decide any extension of the temporary supplement closer to Christmas.
A woman in her 40s or 50s is now more likely to be unemployed than a man in his 20s, a new report from the Parliamentary Budget Office shows.Credit:Kate Geraghty
"If further support is needed past December, then clearly we are open to that," Senator Ruston told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
"We have seen this coronavirus pandemic has thrown so many curve balls at us, not the least being the Victorian situation causing massive damage to the Victorian jobs market and to individuals and the community."
Labor social services spokeswoman Linda Burney said the base rate needed to increase, as she pointed to calls from ACOSS and the Business Council of Australia for the change.
"We believe that the supplement should stay in place at the current rate of $250 until at least the end of March," Ms Burney told ABC Radio National on Tuesday.
"There needs to be a decision by this government. And I'm just astounded that they have not announced a permanent increase."
The coronavirus supplement began as a payment worth $550 per fortnight from April 27 for people on JobSeeker, Abstudy, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment and other income support.
It was reduced to $250 per fortnight from September 25 and promised until December 31, with no certainty over whether it would continue next year.
More to come.
David Crowe is chief political correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.