Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

MITCHELL () (): My question is to the Minister for Social Services. How is the Albanese Labor government working for Australian families to help with the cost-of-living pressure by providing real and immediate support to families, including through the social security safety net?

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for McEwen for his question and for his strong advocacy for so many families and pensioners in his electorate. Our government knows many families are feeling cost-of-living pressures. That's why the Albanese Labor government is delivering $23 billion in cost-of-living relief to make things easier, including by strengthening our social security safety net. In my portfolio alone, we are helping families by increasing the maximum rate of rent assistance, expanding the single parent payment and increasing paid parental leave. At the same time, we've lifted the base rate of many working-age and student payments to provide extra support for those doing it tough. We are providing direct and tangible support to hundreds of thousands of families and pensioners in different settings and different circumstances. This support is flowing into household budgets now.

We have delivered the biggest increase in rent assistance in more than 30 years for around 1.1 million households, including pensioners and families who receive family tax benefit. That's more money to help cover the cost of rent. For many families, more rent assistance complements the extra support we're delivering through electricity bill relief, cheaper child care, cheaper medicines and investment in bulk billing.

For single parents, who face the difficult challenge of balancing work and care on their own, we've extended the eligibility for single-parent payment until their youngest child turns 14. This will result in an extra 65,000 single parents being better off by, on average, $170 per fortnight.

For the parents of newborns, the government is delivering the biggest investment in paid parental leave since it was introduced in 2011. We've expanded access to more families, including introducing a $350,000 family income limit, and made it much easier for both parents to share care. From 2024, we will expand the scheme by an extra six weeks, reaching six months by 2026. That's over $5,000 extra to help cover time off around the birth of a baby and help juggle work and care. Not only will our investments help families, but they will help participation and productivity, so there is a dividend to the Australian economy as well.

In this Labor government, my colleagues and I are working across government every day to deliver cost-of-living relief, including through the measures I've outlined, and we will continue to work for Australian families, to deliver for them now and into the future.