Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm really pleased that the previous speaker in this debate has recognised that we do indeed need more housing supply, and I look forward to their support for initiatives in the future. I lament, though, that we have not seen this level of enthusiasm and understanding of the issue that housing supply is an issue earlier in this parliament.

On the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (More Support in the Safety Net) Bill 2024, though, this is an important piece of legislation that is part of our government's plan to deliver targeted assistance to further strengthen Australia's social security safety net, which is something we should both be proud of and always work hard to protect. In the 2024-25 budget, we're investing $2 billion to provide more support to the social safety net with changes to income support. This funding package is made up of the following measures: $1.9 billion to increase the maximum rates of Commonwealth rent assistance by 10 per cent; $41.2 million to extend the higher rate of JobSeeker payment to single recipients with a partial capacity to work less than 15 hours per week; and $18.6 million to change the 25-hour-per-week-participation rule for carer payment recipients to instead allow up to 100 hours over a four-week settlement period. These measures respond in part to recommendations of the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee that met ahead of the budget and provided this feedback.

These measures also build on our government's income support measures from last year's budget, including increasing the working age and student payments by $40 per fortnight, expanding eligibility to the higher rate of JobSeeker for people aged 55 and over who have been on a payment for nine months or more, expanding eligibility for parenting payment single until the youngest child turns 14, and increasing Commonwealth rent assistance maximum rates by 15 per cent. These measures of last year's budget and this year's budget together represent an $11.5 billion investment to strengthen the social safety net.

Our government is working for all Australians. With the measures in this year's budget, we're providing responsible cost-of-living relief that eases pressure on people and doesn't add to inflation. We are really determined to do what we can to make sure that households don't feel the pinch of the economic circumstances that we see right around the world. The measures in this bill are complemented by our new power bill relief, cheaper medicines, strengthening Medicare initiatives and, of course, the delivery of a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer on 1 July this year, and 1 July is not far away now. That tax cut will include a tax cut for every single one of the 81,000 taxpayers in my electorate of Chisholm.

In 2024-25 alone, it's estimated that over $143 billion will be spent on social security and family payments. Our government knows that access to secure and affordable housing has significant social, economic and personal benefits. We understand that people are still struggling with high rental costs, largely due to the fact, as the previous contributor recognised, that we have a housing supply issue in this country. Of course, we are taking measures to address that through our housing packages, but in this bill our government will increase Commonwealth rent assistance maximum rates by a further 10 per cent. This will assist recipients with more support to manage rental pressure, and this builds on the increases in our previous budget, providing the first back-to-back increases to rent assistance in over 30 years. I know that this is very welcome relief for communities right across Australia, including mine in Chisholm. This further increase means that, combined with indexation, by 20 September this year maximum rates of rent assistance will have increased by over 40 per cent since our government was elected in May 2022. Regular indexation will be applied on top on the same day.

The minister has stated that rental assistance is the most effective policy lever the government has to target and provide immediate assistance for low-income households in private rentals. It's important to acknowledge that our government's latest measure here will assist with cost-of-living relief for close to a million households, including more than 205,000 recipients in my home state of Victoria and 3,905 households in Chisholm.

It's only Labor government that understand and act when it comes to delivering for vulnerable Australians, which is why the second measure delivered by this bill will extend eligibility for the higher rate of JobSeeker to single recipients who have been assessed being able to work only up to 14 hours per week owing to a physical, intellectual or psychiatric impairment. Through this measure, additional assistance will be targeted to recipients with a significantly reduced capacity to work, recognising the barriers they face to supplement their income with earnings from work and financial strain that this can create. This measure will bring around 4,700 additional recipients onto the higher rate of JobSeeker payment, and will be better reflective of and acknowledge their needs and circumstances as they relate to daily living costs.

As a government, we've always taken the view that we're committed to providing more support where it can be extended to those most in need, and where it is responsible and affordable to do so. In addition to the measures outlined, our government is providing $18.6 million over five years to change the 25-hours-per-week limit for carer payment recipients. Our changes will mean that people can work up to 100 hours of work over a four-week settlement period. Importantly, our changes mean travel time, education and volunteering activities will no longer be counted in the participation limit. We know that travel time changes will particularly assist carers living in remote and regional areas who are more likely to travel further distances to access employment. This increased flexibility will help facilitate a more nuanced approach and allow carers—who, we know, are predominantly women—greater flexibility for carer payment recipients across Australia. This will allow carers more choice when it comes to balancing caring responsibilities with other commitments, including education or volunteering activities. Under current rules, carer payments can be cancelled if the 25-hours-per-week limit is exceeded. We know, based on the most recent data, that around 31,000 carer payment recipients currently report employment earnings and may benefit from these changes.

As well as greater flexibility, this measure also introduces a six-month suspension period for recipients who work over the new flexible limit, meaning that, if their circumstances change, they won't need to reapply to access the carer payment. Significantly, recipients of carer payments will also retain their concession cards throughout this period.

Carers Australia, the wonderful national peak body representing 2.65 million unpaid carers, has been calling for a review of the 25-hour rule for more than 10 years, and I thank them for their fierce advocacy over the last decade. Carers Australia has said:

Carers have repeatedly stated the rules around the Carer Payment have contributed to ongoing disadvantage. The Albanese Labor Government's announcement to relax the rules and allow more flexibility in the hours that carers work, study or volunteer over a four-week period, is a significant step towards mitigating the disadvantage.

Our changes respond to recommendations in the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee's 2024-25 report, and align with the roadmap outlined in the September 2023 employment white paper. They also respond to the 2020 Productivity Commission inquiry into mental health.

Our changes have been called for by a range of stakeholders, advocacy groups and recipients of carer payments. As a result of this bill, we know that meaningful differences will be felt in the lives of recipient. Combined with a higher rate of energy supplement, a single JobSeeker payment recipient with a capacity to work of less than 15 hours per week will receive at least an additional $54.90 per fortnight in support. A single person with three children receiving the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance will receive an additional $25.06 per fortnight in rent assistance. A single JobSeeker payment recipient living alone who has been assessed as having a partial capacity to work of less than 15 hours receiving the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance will receive at least an additional $73.70 per fortnight in total. A carer payment recipient is now able to take up work more flexibly to suit their caring needs and to participate in study or volunteering to set up employment opportunities once their caring obligations cease.

These are meaningful and responsible changes that we are making for Australians right across the country. We know these measures provide responsible relief and extend to some of the most vulnerable in our community. Since our government was elected just over two years ago now, the basic single rate of JobSeeker payment has increased by $120 per fortnight, or 18.7 per cent, providing over $3,100 in additional support each year. This is the largest nominal increase in a two-year period ever and the largest in real terms in more than 40 years. These are meaningful changes. Our government believes that strong and sustainable social security that leaves no-one behind is vital to be delivered by good governments. I think it's very encouraging that the parliament is broadly in support of these changes to ensure that we are able to build a better future that leaves no Australian behind.

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