Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Many Australians are struggling right now. Inflation has degraded wages, and for many it can feel like they're just barely keeping their head above water. In my electorate of Wentworth, where nearly 50 per cent of constituents rent, I know that this year has seen budgets stretched and patience thin. But, while I know all Australians are doing it tough, the burden of the cost of living is not shared equally. Those on the lowest incomes and income support feel the greatest pain and insecurity when prices are rising.

Across Australia an astonishing 10 per cent of people—or three million people—are currently experiencing poverty, and this number is only likely to grow as we see inflation moderating but remaining high. The price of food and non-alcoholic beverages has increased by 12 per cent in two years. Rents are growing twice as fast as wages, with only one in 100 rentals now considered affordable for households in the lowest 20 per cent of the income distribution, and more than 175,000 households are on the waiting list for social housing.

This bill, the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (More Support in the Safety Net) Bill 2024, is an important budgetary measure that will go some way to supporting Australians in the most vulnerable financial situations. This bill increases the Commonwealth rent assistance by another 10 per cent on top of last year's increase of 15 per cent. It extends the higher rate of JobSeeker to individual recipients with a very limited capacity to work between zero and 14 hours, and it increases the flexibility of carer payments to a person's temporary changes in circumstances. I appreciate these changes and acknowledge the difference they will make to the lives of many people in this country.

However, even with this bill, the rates of support don't go far enough. With a shortage of social housing and a long waitlist, the private rental market is where people go to find homes. But with vacancies rates around one per cent this is becoming harder and more expensive to do. In 2020 the Grattan Institute indicated the Commonwealth rent assistance needed to rise by around 40 per cent to keep up with market rents. Even with consecutive increases in the CRA the cumulative growth is still not keeping up with what is needed.

The expansion of JobSeeker supports to those with very limited capacity to work rectifies an oversight in previous legislation but does little to address the adequacy of JobSeeker payments more generally. Earlier this year the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee found the current rates of JobSeeker are all below the poverty lines used in Australia. Depending on the measure the current JobSeeker payment sits somewhere between 57 and 72 per cent of the poverty line. That means people are living in poverty. In its prebudget submission the advisory committee recommended that the rate of JobSeeker be increased to 90 per cent of the age pension, which would have increased at a rate of roughly $17 a day. This recommendation was not actioned.

In conclusion, this bill moves the needle in the right direction and I commend the government for listening to the advice of experts and delivering help where it is most needed. I acknowledge the truth of the Treasurer's words that he cannot provide money or funds for all the worthy projects that he and others across this parliament are approached on. However, I think that in this budget we should have seen greater support for those who most need it, particularly in terms of the rate of JobSeeker, and we should have considered other areas of spending restraints to enable that to happen—including, for example, holding back some of the current infrastructure spending, which could have allowed some of that spending to be available, or looking at things like fuel tax credits, which could have also freed up some money for the budget in this case.

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