what the treasurer's committee told him

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth established an Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee in December 2022 to advise the government on ways to lift economic inclusion and reduce disadvantage.

I am a member of that committee, which was tasked with reporting to the government at least two weeks prior to the federal budget in May – enough time to include a response to in the budget.

The committee delivered its report to the government in late February. The goverment made it public yesterday.

There are 37 recommendations – too many to discuss in detail here. The most pressing concern, and the most important for immediate policy action, is to substantially increase the JobSeeker payment for the unemployed.

Apart from a temporary boost during the COVID-19 pandemic, the payment (previously known as the NewStart Allowance) has declined relative to median incomes and other welfare payments for several decades.

JobSeeker Payment relative to Age Pension, 2000 to 2021

Interim Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee, 2023–24 Report to the Australian Government The committee has recommended restoring the relativities of the mid-1990s, when the unemployment benefit was about 90% of the age pension. This would require increasing the current rate for singles (now 65% of the age pension) from A$693 to $958 a fortnight – or from about $49.50 to about $68 a day. How we made our decision We compared the JobSeeker payment with a range of metrics such as the age pension, minimum wage, budget standards, average weekly earnings and various poverty lines such as the Henderson Poverty Line maintained by the University of Melbourne. There is no right level for JobSeeker (or any other welfare payment) and there is no single methodology that provides all the answers. But all the metrics tell the same story: JobSeeker has drifted behind all these benchmarks, largely due to being indexed to the Consumer Price Index rather than wages or incomes. JobSeeker Payment relative to half median equivalised disposable income, 2000 to 2021