Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (More Support in the Safety Net) Bill 2024 makes important changes to increase support payments, as outlined in the budget, to strengthen Australia's social safety net. The boost to Commonwealth rent assistance complements Labor's cost-of-living tax cuts. Every worker in Australia will get a tax cut on 1 July. We heard the good news as well this week that the minimum wage will rise again, faster than inflation, delivering to the lowest paid workers in the country a real wage rise that will flow to many others. Of course, strengthening the social safety net is so important for those Australians relying on social security: pensioners, disability pensioners and others.

In particular, nearly a million households in this country will benefit from the rise in Commonwealth rent assistance. That's a 10 per cent boost to the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance. Since the government was elected, just two years ago, Commonwealth rent assistance has increased by more than 40 per cent. That includes the 15 per cent which took effect last October and another 10 per cent in this budget, which this bill gives effect to. Renters living on social security are some of the most vulnerable in the country, particularly with the increases in rents in many parts of Australia, and this is going to benefit nearly one million households.

The second thing this bill does is to expand eligibility to the higher rate of JobSeeker payment to single people with a partial capacity to work of less than 15 hours. It will boost the rate of JobSeeker payment to the higher rate for those Australians who have been assessed as being able to work for less than 15 hours. Since May 2022 the base single rate of JobSeeker has increased by $120 a fortnight. That's an 18.7 per cent increase in the last two years. It's $3,100 extra a year in the pockets of people surviving on JobSeeker, the largest increase in real terms for over 40 years—that is, an increase in real terms above the rate of inflation of 7.4 per cent. Of course, many people on both sides of the House would like us to continue to do more, to implement further recommendations of the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee. This budget addresses, I think, around half of their recommendations in one way or another.

The third thing which this bill does is to provide for more flexibility for carer payment recipients to manage their work commitments and balance them with caring responsibilities. That's really important. I see people in my community—and you would in yours, Deputy Speaker Vamvakinou—who have significant caring responsibilities and balance them with part-time work. With part-time work, shift work or casual or flexible work there are times when you can work more and there are times when you can work less. There are times when you have less family support and need to care more, and there are times when you have more. The changes in this bill are sensible. They help people by changing the 25-hour-per-week limit, which has been hard and inflexible, to a more sensible 100 hours over a four-week period. It provides the flexibility for people to work a bit more or a bit less in balancing their caring responsibilities. It will also remove some of the restrictions on study, volunteering and travelling for work, which again have been inflexible and seem really quite unfair situations for many Australians caring for loved ones.

I only had a taste of caring for a loved one in my life. I was not on carers payment, but I cared for my mum when she was dying of cancer over a 10 month period. There are good days and bad days. There are days when you can get to work and days you can't get to work. That was for 10 months.

I have the utmost empathy and respect for people who literally care for loved ones—for their husbands, wives, children or other family members, or sometimes close friends who have no family—for years. I meet them doorknocking. I was out doorknocking in Endeavour Hills for the last few weekends, and I met a number of people who've been stuck at home for years and are trying to balance this with part-time work. This measure will make an enormous difference to those people, making the rules fairer and strengthening our social safety net.

This measure will also—and this is a really important change—extend to the carer's payment a six-month suspension period if you decide you're going to work full-time, because you might have another family member come from overseas or from interstate, who wants to spend time with your loved one for a few weeks. It then enables people to go back to work for a few months and get a bit of money in. The problem with the system at the moment is that when that happens, you're immediately cut off the payment. Then you're forced to re-apply and go through all the rigmarole. Then it might happen again, because another family member might come from interstate and you cut off the payment.

This change is really sensible. It will cut red tape, it will cut the burden on Centrelink and it will provide that fairness and flexibility to people to balance changes in their caring responsibilities with work, by allowing a six-month period where, rather than cancelling the payment, people will be able to just suspend the payment if they're working more for a while, and, importantly they'll still get to keep the concession card.

This is a change that the government rolled out through the employment white paper in the last budget to unemployed Australians to encourage people to take up work without fear, to try full-time jobs, to see if they pass the probation period, without being kicked off Centrelink. They're put on what's called the 'zero rate', the nil rate, and allowed to keep their concession card, removing a big disincentive for people to take work, for unemployed people, and in this case for people with caring responsibilities.

That zero rate and keeping the concession card has long been available to Australians on the disability support pension and it's terrific that we're rolling it out now to strengthen the social safety net and make things a little easier and a little fairer for other Australians with episodic work. It removes a real disincentive to work. You can't overstate the psychological factor for so many Australians of the fear of the loss of their concession card, where they think, 'But if I take this work I'll get some extra money and I want to do that and I can, because I've got the kids covered or I've got the relatives covered, but I'll lose the concession card,' which is worth a lot of money, particularly if you've got relatives or health conditions with all the concessions. So this is a terrific reform and I congratulate the minister on getting government support in the budget for this.

A final couple of things I'll say, just to set the context, these recommendations respond, in part, to the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee's work. Importantly, though, they're being delivered. The cost is a couple of billion dollars over the forward estimates. They're being delivered in a fiscally responsible way. The last two budgets represent an $11.5 billion investment to strengthen the social safety net, but we've still managed as a government to deliver the first two surplus budgets that this country has seen in nearly two decades. Let that sink in. The government has managed to cut tens of billions of dollars of rorts and waste from those opposite. We've been responsible, and banked the extra revenue that's come in—extra tax revenue—instead of spending it like they did like drunken sailors, running up the national debt, nearly a trillion dollars of Liberal debt, with not nearly enough to show for it, and record deficits. We've managed to run two surplus budgets, we've reduced Australia's debt forecasts by over $152 billion from the mess we inherited, and we're managing to strengthen the social safety net.

I say to any Australian listening, and particularly to those opposite, do not accept the brand propaganda that somehow this bunch of clowns are good at managing the budget, because the facts and the records say otherwise. Two surplus budgets. You didn't manage one in 10 years. You got the 'back in black' cups printed, didn't you. You had all the mugs going, but you never delivered a surplus. You spent most of the new revenue, you ran up inflation, you ran up the national debt. Your record is disgraceful. All the time, despite that record, you were cutting welfare from the most vulnerable Australians, including—

You're a good bloke—including so many people who live in your electorate.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Through the chair.

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the poorest electorates in the country, and your record is cutting welfare. Our record is strengthening the social safety net.

Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Link to 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.

Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today in support of the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (More Support in the Safety Net) Bill 2024. The Albanese Labor government is committed to responsible cost-of-living relief for Australians, delivering targeted support for pensioners and income support recipients.

In the 2024-25 budget, the government is investing $2 billion to provide more support in the social safety net, with changes to income support. We want to reduce disadvantage and build a strong and sustainable social safety net that provides relief to those most in need when they need it. The government is committed to providing more support where it can to those most in need, where it is responsible and affordable to do so.

This bill is part of our broader plan and delivers targeted assistance to further strengthen Australia's social security safety net. The measures in this bill include: $1.9 billion to increase the maximum rate 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 fewer than 15 hours per week; and $18.6 million to change the 25-hour-per-week participation rule for carer payment recipients to allow 100 hours over a four-week settlement period.

These build on the measures in our last budget which increased working-age and student payments by $40 a fortnight, expanded eligibility for the higher rate of JobSeeker, expanded parenting payment single to parents until their youngest child turns 14 and increased the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance by 15 per cent. This bill provides an increase in the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance by 10 per cent. It's the second consecutive rise under this government, and that's the first time in more than 30 years. We know rental markets are becoming more expensive, particularly for those on low fixed incomes. There is a whole other debate about why that is, but it's particularly because of 10 years of inaction by those opposite in terms of leaving the housing market to the market and not doing nearly enough to get more housing supply into the country.

The Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee endorsed an increase in Commonwealth rent assistance as the best way to address rental affordability while at the same time ease cost-of-living pressures. By increasing rental assistance, the government is providing targeted, effective assistance for low-income households in private rentals. We are addressing the pressure associated with housing costs for close to one million households. In my electorate of Lyons, thousands of families will be better off, with more than 5,200 households in my electorate set to benefit. When this increase takes effect later in the year, it will mean, combined with indexation, that rent assistance will have increased by more than 40 per cent since the Albanese government was elected two years ago.

This bill will also extend eligibility for the higher rate of JobSeeker to single recipients who have an assessed partial capacity to work of under 15 hours per week. We recognise that barriers faced by this cohort of not being able to work as much as they might want to and the financial strain this can create. Around 4,700 people will benefit from at least an additional $54.20 a fortnight, better reflecting their needs and circumstances and supporting them with their daily living costs. This is particularly important for people who are not eligible for disability support payments, for example, but who otherwise face barriers to full-time employment.

This is exactly the case for Paul, who called in to my Perth electorate office recently for some advice on social security payments. After a recent injury, Paul requires several weeks of physio and his capacity to work has been reduced while he recovers. The higher payment rate will assist jobseekers like Paul to support themselves to a greater extent while still pursuing work with social and economic benefits.

The bill also allows for more flexibility in the hours that carer payment recipients work, study or volunteer over a four-week period. Specifically, the government is providing $18.6 million over five years from 2023-24 to change the 25-hour-per-week limit to instead allow up to 100 hours of work over a four-week settlement period. Recent figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that the number of people receiving carer payments has increased steeply over the past two decades. About one in 10 Australians provide unpaid care for a friend or family member and, as of March last year, more than 300,000 people were receiving carer payments. And I'd just like to give a quick little shout out to every carer in Australia. They do amazing, incredible work.

The majority of carers, 80 per cent in fact, were aged 16 to 64, representing 1.5 per cent of our working-age population. The change will improve the ability of these carers to structure their work commitments, education and volunteering activities around their caring role. I know that this measure has been well received in my home state, which has the highest rate per capita of carers in the country: 15½ per cent of the population. This is certainly reflected in my own electorate. During the most recent mobile member days that I've held across Lyons, many of the constituents I met with told me about their own experiences as carer for a loved one. For example, I heard from Matthew from Bridgewater. He cares full-time for his mum. Liz, from Fingal recently took on caring responsibilities for her father. And a young mum from Midway Point is supporting her husband through an illness. Some were already receiving carer payment and others were seeking information about what support might be available to them. I was so pleased to be able to tell these constituents that, under the Albanese Labor government, they will have the flexibility and support to better structure their commitments around their role as a carer, whether those be work, study or child care. The Tasmanian Council of Social Services welcomed the ability for carers to work more flexibly and to 'live their own lives without their payments being impacted'. ABS data has shown that Tassie carers earned $190 a week less than noncarers, and are also less likely to be engaged in paid employment than their non-caring counterparts. This measure will assist in removing some of the barriers to employment faced by Tasmanian carers, supporting them to better structure their work commitments, education and volunteering activities around their caring role.

In conclusion, the Albanese government is committed to providing more support, where it can, to those most in need. Taken together, the 2023-24 and 2024-25 budget measures represent an $11.5 billion investment to strengthen the social security safety net. This bill delivers targeted and responsible relief to some of the most vulnerable in our community. This is in addition to our government's broader cost-of-living measures: our energy bill relief for every household, capping the health indexation rate, the extended freeze on social security, paying superannuation on paid parental leave, cheaper child care, cheaper medicines, strengthening Medicare and, of course, a tax cut for every taxpayer from 1 July, including bigger tax cuts for most. I'm proud to be part of a government that's committed to a strong and sustainable social security safety net, while also running a strong, sustainable and responsible economic management program. I commend this bill to the House.

Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll start by echoing some of the sentiments that were made there by the member for Lyons in relation to the importance of carers in our communities and across our country. I know that you, Deputy Speaker Buchholz, as well as I and every member in this place, appreciate the role that carers play within our communities in looking after those who need support. We can only think about trying to calculate the cost of the contribution that they make. If the taxpayer ever had to bear just a fraction of that cost, it would be a very significant cost indeed. So anything we can do to support our carers should of course be strongly supported by every member of this House. That's why, amongst other aspects of it, the coalition will be supporting the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (More Support in the Safety Net) Bill 2024.

I'll just touch on aspects of this bill, and reflect on their importance but also on why this sort of support is required in the current climate. Schedule 1 of the bill amends the Social Security Act, the family assistance act and the Veterans' Entitlements Act to provide additional support to renters by increasing the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance by 10 per cent.

I'm sure, Deputy Speaker Buchholz, that your electorate is no different to mine in that we are facing a rental crisis at the moment. If any people who are listening have been experiencing this themselves and have been to an open home of a rental property within their electorate, they will have seen the line going down the street. Unfortunately those who are lucky enough to secure tenure within a rental are facing escalating costs. Unfortunately that is very much a symptom of the failure over many years—and I'm not pointing the finger exclusively here at the current government but at our state governments as well, who have primary carriage of housing supply in this country—to ensure that we have adequate housing supply to meet the demand.

Of course, we know that this government is bringing in more migrants to this country than we've seen for quite a while. It's absolutely critical that we ensure that we get the broader housing supply piece correct and not just try to deal with the symptoms as opposed to dealing with the underlying source of the problem. But certainly we support the measure to increase rental assistance, given the current shortfall and the general cost-of-living pressure that locals are facing.

I'll share some stories from within my electorate. Out in the Redlands, I've got a number of constituents who've contacted me over the course of recent weeks to share their experiences of dealing with the rental market at the moment. Nancy from Cleveland emailed me to say:

We were previously home owners, however with the increase in property prices in this area have not been able to buy back in—

that is, they were not able to buy back into the market when they sold their property. She says that renting has been one of the most stressful things that they've ever endured in their lives, even more stressful than the increase in the groceries and the utilities that they've been facing recently. She says:

We find ourselves every 6 months waiting nervously to find out if our owners will renew our lease or whether we need to pack up our 5 person family and find somewhere new to live which may be smaller or more expensive or may be in a new area, which adds the stress of potentially having to relocate our kids to new schools and new daycare and kindy. All of this in a market where rentals are more expensive and at an all time shortage.

We have tried to secure longer term leases … but our owners are no longer keen on this as they want to continue to increase the rent as much as they can and keep their options open to increase the rent for new tenants.

We still want to buy back into the Redlands, however we need more time and want to ideally stay in one place until we can afford to buy back in. The stress of uncertainty around our rental is huge for us and our kids.

You can sense the desperation there in those words, and certainly this support will be more than welcome.

Mark from Victoria Point outlined some of the increases that he's been facing in his rent recently. A couple of years ago, he was paying rent of $375 a week. This went up to $600 in one jump, then it went to $640, and now it's up to $680. That's from $375 to $680 within this term of parliament. You can certainly get the sense of why people are hurting out there. Yvonne from Thornlands told me that her rent has gone up $225 a week from just a couple of years ago.

I've got another email here from Christine from Alexandra Hills. She talks about the position that she and her mother are in, in the current rental crisis. She says:

My mother is 83 years old and has mobility issues. She cannot climb stairs, walk comfortably on sloping driveways or climb in/out of a bath …

For over 5 months we have been trying to find somewhere else to live.

We have been couch surfing at a friend's place for these past few months.

I am in a catch 22 position, because I don't earn enough, I can't get a rental. For me to try and get another job will be difficult because I don't have a home.

You can see how this sort of pattern makes it very difficult for an individual like Christine to get ahead, particularly with looking after her mother. That comes to another aspect of the bill that I'll touch on shortly. She makes this very salient comment:

How are honest hard-working citizens in this country supposed to put a roof over our head? Especially when the rentals are rising at ridiculous rates and wages aren't keeping in line.

That's very, very true. That's the experience. I won't read out all the list of emails I've gotten on this topic, but you get the sense that that rental assistance increase will certainly be welcome.

As I mentioned, we've got to deal with the underlying cause here. We can't just put a bandaid on it with an increase in rental assistance, because, of course, that's going to force rental prices up even further. But it is going to assist those who are at the lower end of the spectrum and are absolutely in dire, desperate need at the moment. But we've got to deal with more supply and we've got to tackle that seriously, and I encourage the government to really step up their efforts to try to get more housing supply in this country. Part of that, of course, is getting the states and local governments on board with planning reform and tax reform. In my maiden speech I spoke a bit about the need to really tackle that at a federal level and about putting some money on the table to ensure that we get the sort of uniform reform that we actually need.

Schedule 2 of the bill amends the Social Security Act to extend the higher rate of JobSeeker payment to single recipients who have an assessed partial capacity to work of 10 to 14 hours per week due to physical, intellectual or psychiatric impairment. Despite the barriers to work faced by recipients with a partial capacity to work up to 14 hours per week, this group does not qualify for a higher rate of JobSeeker payment, based on their reduced capacity to work. Recipients with a partial capacity to work up to 14 hours remain on payments for almost twice as long as those without a partial capacity to work and have, on average, only nine per cent of reported earnings each fortnight. This group may also be unable to qualify for the disability support pension, which is, of course, paid at a higher rate. So this is a very welcome measure to try to get that extra support to people, particularly in these difficult times. Currently, I'm advised that the higher rate is $816.90 by per fortnight, which is available to single recipients with dependent children, as well as to single recipients aged 55 or over receiving JobSeeker for nine or more continuous months. According to the government, of those who will benefit from this measure, 36 per cent are women, 34 per cent are in regional and remote areas of Australia and 14 per cent are Indigenous Australians. It's good that that support is heading to some of our more disadvantaged regions and cohorts.

Schedule 3 of the bill is probably the most welcome element of it. The bill amends the Social Security Act and the Administration Act to improve access to paid work for carer payment recipients by increasing flexibility in the circumstances a carer may temporarily cease providing care without losing qualification. This includes changing the 25 hours per week work limit to 100 hours over a four-week settlement period and removing the restriction on education and volunteering activities from the participation limit. The government has indicated that this action is to provide greater flexibility for carer payment recipients, allowing them to restructure their work commitments around their caring role before losing the payment. In a measure that will particularly assist those carers living in regional and remote Australia, travel time, as well as education and volunteering activities, will no longer be counted in the participation limit. I think that's an incredibly welcome move.

We need greater flexibility in this system to allow people who don't necessarily tick all the boxes and fit those very limited criteria to be able to access support. You shouldn't be disadvantaged, particularly if you consider circumstances such as where an individual may be going through quite challenging health problems and may end up having bouts when they're completely out of action and other bouts when they're actually fairly good to work. We should be encouraging people to try to take up that opportunity to work when they've got the opportunity to do so. I think it's a fairer approach. I think that there are going to be many people, and we've heard a lot of stakeholders calling for this for quite a while. It's a positive development that it has been accepted by the government, and we are going to proceed on that basis. Certainly, I've got a lot of constituents in my neck of the woods who've contacted me to try to ensure that we get some sort of averaging. It's not an unrealistic level of averaging. It's the same number of hours; we're just putting it out across a four-week period, as opposed to insisting that certain standards are met each week. That's not how life works, Mr Deputy Speaker Buchholz. You know as well as anyone that people can be out of action from one week to the next, and things can certainly change, particularly for carers, who do so much within our community. It's, I think, a very welcome measure.

This measure also includes a six-month suspension period for recipients who work over the limit. If circumstances change, they will not need to reapply to access the carer payment and will also retain their pension concession card. Carers, who are predominantly women, will benefit if caring for those with conditions that fluctuate or are episodic.

These measures also provide flexibility in how carers can use the 63 days of respite that they're entitled to. I think that's another important aspect if we've got carers who are able to drop out temporarily and suspend but not have to start again. Unfortunately, sometimes people are coming in and out of caring situations. It may well be a husband and wife sharing caring duties of an elderly parent or a child. It's great that we will have that flexibility. I think it underscores what we're actually trying to achieve through this system.

So I think this bill is certainly going to be a step in the right direction. The coalition will be supporting the bill. We hope that it will have some sort of positive impact. Of course, it's not the be-all and end-all. There are many problems in this nation and in this economy that we need to sort out. However, as a first step towards addressing some of the symptoms of the problems, we welcome this initiative.

Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to 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.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Waste Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak in favour of the second reading of the Social Services and other Legislation Amendment (More Support in the Safety Net) Bill 2024. The member for Deakin, our lead speaker on this, has articulated that the coalition will support this bill that effectively puts in place a range of measures that were announced in the budget, particularly around increases to rental assistance and expansion of eligibility for a number of supports that are an important part of the social safety net that we have in this country.

But it is disappointing that, despite what the measures in this bill will do, they won't come anywhere near close to helping close the gap that has opened up so dramatically around cost-of-living pressures for all Australians since this government came to power, not only those who will receive assistance through the measures in this bill but more broadly. I remind the House that, since coming to power, the increases have been quite dramatic on pretty important elements of the household budget. Food is up by 11 per cent, housing is up 40 per cent, rents are up 13 per cent, electricity is up 20 per cent, gas is up 25 per cent, health is up 11 per cent, education is up 11 per cent and financial insurance is up 15 per cent. We know that inflation has been running rampant under this government. Those dramatic increases have brought about serious impacts around the kitchen table. When families are getting together and talking about what they'll do and how they'll make ends meet as all these cost are going up, they have to make significant sacrifices and difficult decisions. They have to cancel family holidays and pare back on some of the pleasures that bring families together, such as maybe going out for a meal together as a family at the local pub every Friday night or whatever the things are that people do that, unfortunately, with all these other cost pressures and the dramatic increase in their costs versus their income earning, they cannot do as much as they used to be able to with their pay packets. That's putting a lot of pressure on families.

Its disappointing that the government's not really addressing any of the fundamental drivers of that, because inflation is now going up again.

The monthly figures, which I recognise use a slightly different methodology to the quarterly ones, now have inflation accelerating again and, ss the shadow Treasurer pointed out in the debate earlier in the chamber, we have the stickiest inflation. Of course that's very concerning for people on a mortgage. It was very concerning to hear the evidence of the Reserve Bank governor today in Senate estimates. She was talking about the fact that the Reserve Bank will, if need be, continue to increase interest rates. It will have to do that if the government isn't providing the support on the fiscal side that's necessary to help take the pressure off the inflationary forces in our economy right now.

There are lots of mixed messages coming from the government about what they're doing. I think in one of his answers today, the Treasurer talked about the merit of the budget playing an expansionary role because GDP had come in at such a disappointing read today: 0.1 per cent for the quarter. And there were others talking about how fiscally responsible the government is being and how contractionary they are by having a surplus in the current year. These conflicting messages are very confusing, because they leave the Reserve Bank in a difficult position if it has to do all the heavy lifting in taking on the most concerning destruction of people's wealth and capital—inflation. It's absolutely insidious.

The measures in this bill are supported by the coalition; of course, this bill is talking about providing support for some of the most vulnerable Australians right now. But the best support this government could give is to address inflation properly through the policy settings available to the government. That's because anything, any benefit that comes from this bill, is going to be completely eroded away if we continue on the pathway that we're on right now. With those comments, I commend the bill to the House.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak on the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (More Support in the Safety Net) Bill 2024. The previous speaker, the member for Sturt, actually served in the last government. He was elected in 2019, and his government did such a great job in his electorate that he got a 7.4 per cent swing against him in his electorate on a two-party preferred basis. That's how good an economic job his government did for the people of South Australia and for Sturt, in the suburbs of Adelaide. So he shouldn't give us lectures about economic performance! When the coalition was in last in power, inflation was over six per cent and it's in the mid-threes now with us.

We know people are doing it tough—we know that! But the coalition mucked up their response to the global financial crisis when we were last in government, and wouldn't support infrastructure and cost-of-living relief after the first tranche. And then when it came to COVID, they spent money willy-nilly: $20 billion dollars was just thrown away. Seriously, they shouldn't give us lectures on economic responsibility and management when they ran up massive deficits and massive debts.

This legislation before the chamber is about providing much-needed relief from the cost of living. I would have more faith in the opposition if they had actually bothered to vote for energy relief when it came up last time. When we sought support for making cost-of-living relief measures in this chamber, those opposite sat on the benches to vote no. So I'm pleased today that they're actually going to vote yes; it's one of those rare occasions when the coalition is actually going to support a cost-of-living relief measure. It's almost a hallelujah, because those opposite have not supported virtually any of those at any stage in the last two years. We're providing support here, but they said when they were in government: 'Wage increases? Don't like those!' and 'Don't like those,' when they're in opposition. So, Member for Sturt, don't give us lectures here about how this is going to be sucked up by inflation, when inflation was nearly twice as high under you and when you won't support energy price relief or wage increases.

This legislation is very important because it provides relief for those who are battling. And, of course, we increased rent assistance by 15 per cent in the last budget and by 10 per cent in this budget. Those opposite had at least nine budgets. They had a MYEFO as well every year. They could have done this stuff when they were in government, but they never had the wit or wisdom to do it. But, in opposition, they've had a sort of conversion experience and now they're supporting it. It's great to see that they've found the need to support low- and middle-income people as well as people battling away. This might seem like a big title, but it will have a real impact on people in my electorate and around the country, including in the member for Sturt's electorate—the preacher for those opposite. The bloke has got economic responsibility all over him, yet he can't bring himself to vote for cost-of-living relief when given an opportunity.

We got elected in May 2022, and we've been working pretty well every day during that time to help people as we battle inflation, which has gone around the Western world. The measures in this bill add to the power relief support we provided, the cheaper medicines, the freeze on social security deeming rates, the strengthening of Medicare, the tripling of the bulk-billing rate and the delivery of tax cuts that everyone is going to get from 1 July this year. Those opposite first wanted an election. Then they were going to roll it back. Then they voted for it. They never talk about it, but they grudgingly support it. They've got a strange attitude, because people earning up to around $45,000 a year would have got nothing under them. They would have received no support whatsoever in terms of tax relief. But, in my electorate, 80,000 people are getting tax relief, and 72,000 of them are getting more than they would have got if the member for Sturt's side of politics had won the last election. So we're providing about $1,380 per annum of additional assistance.

This legislation builds on a comprehensive cost-of-living relief package, which I've started to outline. We're investing $2 billion to provide more support in the social safety net, with changes to income support. I want to go specifically to what's in this bill. It provides $1.9 billion to increase the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance by 10 per cent. As I said before, it was 15 per cent in the last budget and it's 10 per cent this time. We're providing $41.2 million to extend the higher rate of JobSeeker payment to single recipients with a partial capacity to work less than 15 hours a week. That's a very good social justice measure. There's $18.6 million to change the 25-hour-per-week participation rule for carer payment recipients to instead allow 100 hours over a four-week settlement period. That's a reality measure which affects people, because they have flexible work and life arrangements. So this is a good thing.

The 10 per cent increase in the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance is very, very important. In Queensland, 238,710 households will benefit from that. In my electorate of Blair, around Ipswich, the Somerset region and the Karana Downs region, 12,630 households will benefit. That builds on the previous amount. We're taking the maximum rate to over 40 per cent higher than it was in May 2022. In nine years of those opposite, there was nothing. They did nothing in this area. The government's extending the eligibility for the higher JobSeeker rate for those with an assessed partial capacity to work between zero and 14 hours per week so that those with barriers to employment who aren't able to work due to their condition and do not qualify for the disability support pension can receive an additional $52.20 a fortnight. That benefits over 1,045 people in the state of Queensland. That is a really good measure to help people.

We're making some changes to the participation limit for carer payment to allow more flexibility in the hours carers work, study or volunteer over a four-week period as well as changes to the temporary cessation of care days which provide respite. Around 31,000 carer payment recipients currently report employment earnings and may benefit from their ability to work more flexibly. Think about that—31,000. Tonight they'll watch the State of Origin. Think of the crowd there. Visualise 31,000 people. That's the number of people with the capacity to benefit from this measure. With these changes to income support, the government is providing around $2 billion over the forward estimates to strengthen the social safety net. Those opposite did nothing for nine years. These measures were informed by a very good committee. I have a huge respect for Jenny Macklin, a former minister in the previous Labor government. I worked closely with her in the area of Indigenous affairs and social security, and she had a great attitude to social security reform. She has had a long-time commitment to social justice, and she chaired the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee, which recommended these measures. We're making huge changes in this area.

In addition, as part of the employment white paper, the government has delivered two immediate actions for pension and income support recipients. It has permanently enhanced the work bonus for pensioners over the age pension age. I've had so many constituents come and talk to me about that issue, so I'm really pleased about that. We're doubling the employment income nil rate period to 12 fortnights to reduce barriers for income support recipients to take up work by allowing them to retain concession cards and other supplementary benefits for a longer period when they first get back into employment. So these changes are delivering a strong and sustainable safety net but they're also social justice measures.

One of the reasons I'm a member of the Labor Party, and proud of it, is our longstanding commitment to a strong and sustainable social security safety net. It's so important. My parents, and my grandparents before them, didn't get access to the kinds of social security supports being delivered by the Labor government. I think of the stories that my grandmother and my mother told me. I grew up in pretty tough circumstances, and so did my family. I think of the lack of social security payments—the lack of what we call child support. We didn't get that support, so when we got Medibank, now called Medicare, when Bill Hayden was the social security minister, it made a big difference to our lives. Pay rises made a big difference to our lives. Any form of social security made a big difference to our lives in a working-class community in a working-class suburb in Ipswich. These are the things I'm proudest of as a Labor member of parliament.

I'm so pleased we're making these changes, because they are about the kind of Australia I want, where everyone gets a chance, where no-one is left behind and everyone gets an opportunity. It doesn't matter where you live—whether you live in Riverview; Ipswich, where I live; Springfield; the Somerset region—you get access to Commonwealth rent assistance if you need it. You get flexibility in your family situation, your work-life balance, when you need it. You get access to pension indexation—which those opposite think is a waste of money, and rail against—when you need it. They're the kinds of changes that Labor governments make. They are what motivates so many on this side of the aisle, because we have lived it. We know the difference a strong and sustainable safety net will make in the lives of people in our communities, because it made a difference to our lives. Changes that Labor governments make are always on the side of the battlers—the poor, the weak and the oppressed in the biblical sense—and that's what this change is about. I commend the minister for this legislation, because I know that in my community tens of thousands of people will be better off because this Labor government is passing this kind of legislation to provide a better life for everyone who needs it.

Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

According to Cassandra Goldie, the CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service, it's not right that in Australia, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, vulnerable people are going without the help they desperately need. As I rise to speak to the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (More Support in the Safety Net) Bill 2024 I do so with the full confidence that my electorate of North Sydney could not agree more with Dr Goldie. It's shocking to reflect on the fact that right now in Australia more than three million people are living below the poverty line. That's one in every 10 Australians.

Even more shocking is that a huge portion of these people are there because they're trying to survive on the paltry social service payments our federal government currently offers. I acknowledge that this is not a circumstance that has been created by our current government; rather, it is the consequence of a decade of dismissal, disrespect and minimisation. I was devastated to hear the commentary that aired on Sunday night on Channel 7, during their Spotlight program, when a young Australian who is dedicated to poverty reduction whilst living on a disability pension herself reported that one in three of the people who took their own lives last year were on some form of social security payment. How can that be possible in this the luckiest of countries?

When I looked further, I found the following. As of April 2024, over 800,000 people were on JobSeeker in Australia. Many of these will have been among the 1.3 million households who were receiving Commonwealth rent assistance in April 2022. They may also have been among the 60,000 people who were receiving private rental assistance from a state or territory government. This is not one group or type of person. Those who currently access these payments can be as young as 16 or as mature as 65. Seventeen per cent of First Nations people over the age of 15 are currently accessing these payments, compared to 3.4 per cent of other Australians. Meanwhile, people aged 16 and over living in remote areas are five times more likely to be receiving unemployment payments as those living in major cities.

So what are these people actually receiving? Well, a single person with no children on full JobSeeker will receive $762.70 per fortnight, while a single person with a dependent child or children will receive $816.90. That's the same amount that someone who is single, over 55 and has nine months of continuous payments will receive, while those who are partnered receive $698.30 per fortnight. Meanwhile, data from CoreLogic released in April 2024 shows that national median advertised market rents are at a record high level, costing $627 per week. This cost has grown at a rate of 9.1 per cent a year over the past three years.

Running those numbers, you don't need to be an actuary to know that a considerable number of these people must be living hand-to-mouth, with severe housing stress. While most Australians are struggling through a cost-of-living crisis right now, we must recognise that there is an ocean of need. While this government is at least doing something, the truth is that the something is the equivalent to stirring a teaspoon of sugar into it.

The Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (More Support in the Safety Net) Bill 2024 does add more support to the social safety net, but the net remains riddled with holes. While the bill delivers minor positive investment, all in all it has missed the opportunity to address the deepest, fundamental societal challenges. The government itself has identified that Australians are facing a set of serious and compounding challenges, including a slowing economy, rising unemployment, falling spending power, a housing crisis and a climate crisis. The Intergenerational report released last year shone a light on the barriers to economic inclusion and participation in Australia for underrepresented and historically disadvantaged groups. These include women, who continue to face barriers to finding a job or working the hours they would prefer, with a key barrier being unpaid work and caring responsibilities, particularly for those with younger children.

Under the measures being introduced, just 4,700 Australians will be eligible for the higher rate of JobSeeker payment—4,700 Australians from a pool that currently contains 1.3 million people. Others will receive the rental assistance increase, which is offered at a rate of 25 per cent, adding the last two years together, in a market that has grown 27 per cent in three years. Yet others will explore the flexibility for carer payment recipients. But, ultimately, people on the lowest incomes in our country expected and deserved more from this budget. In the words of the Australian Council of Social Service, this budget 'has a hole in its heart'. It's not enough for the 100,000 Australians who remain homeless on any given night, the single mother who stays in a violent home because the alternative is poverty, people with a disability who are struggling to gain employment, or the carers for young children who are facing barriers re-entering the workforce. The budget is about choice, and the government has chosen to not go further when it comes to lifting Australians out of poverty. I stand with sector stakeholders in calling for meaningful investment to prioritise the needs of vulnerable Australians and address the inadequacy of our social support payments.

Looking deeper into the bill, the Commonwealth rent assistance increase, due to be implemented from 20 September this year, provides an additional nominal support for nearly a million recipient households, yet the real rate of this payment will arguably not make a dent in the rapidly increasing rental prices. In true dollar terms, these households will receive an increase of up to $18.80 for a single person or up to $25.06 per fortnight for families, depending on the household type. That extra $25 per fortnight for families is in a market where, in my seat of North Sydney, the rental property I recently vacated with my children was offered to the incoming family at a whopping $200 more per week than I had paid. Indeed, in my electorate of North Sydney the average weekly rent has risen 17½ per cent, to $700, with houses renting at $1,200 a week. This level of rent is simply unachievable for everyday Australians, let alone those reliant on social service payments for support, and far too many people will still be without affordable homes after this budget.

For some time, housing and welfare experts have been calling for changes to be made to the Commonwealth rent assistance payments, and the Productivity Commission itself recently recommended the government review Commonwealth rent assistance as a priority. They argued that there's a strong case for changes to improve its adequacy and targeting. But there is no improvement to adequacy or targeting in the measures included in this bill. Meanwhile, ACOSS offers the following:

The modest Commonwealth Rent Assistance increase builds on last year's rise, giving a single person an extra $9.40 a week if they're receiving the maximum rate. Based on median rents, private renters receiving JobSeeker or Youth Allowance will still be in deep housing stress because their base rate of payment is so low. Even with the increase, they will be paying half of their income in rent alone.

Bringing this into the real world, then, someone in North Sydney recently shared with me that: 'The present housing crisis places me, like hundreds of thousands of Australians, at imminent risk of homelessness at the age of 73.' This person is a lifetime resident. They've had a successful career, carried their weight, contributed to our society and paid their taxes. They should never be in a vulnerable position like this, a position that a 10 per cent rise in Commonwealth rental assistance is unlikely to address.

Ultimately, while I wish I could say otherwise, the government has failed to take the bold action required to address the housing crisis, effectively maintaining current inadequate funding levels for the national agreement for another five years when there is huge demand for social housing. It is a huge concern that this budget did not include any new funding for social housing. In the words of Everybody's Home, a national campaign to fix this housing crisis:

What the government has announced is a business as usual spend that is nowhere near enough to shift the dial on the housing crisis …

The government's 'new' funding for social housing is a repackaging of existing initiatives, offering loans instead of providing real funding, and the continuation of a funding agreement with the states and territories—something the Commonwealth routinely renews for other essential services like education and health.

The safety net is simply not being spread anywhere near wide enough to support those on income support payments.

It's a concern that Commonwealth rent assistance is only available to people in receipt of income support or an amount of family tax benefit over the base rate of family tax benefit part A and not to other people on low incomes who are renting privately. Meanwhile, high rents and unaffordable housing are driving essential workers out of the North Sydney electorate. When I met with midwives at a significant hospital in my area recently, I learnt that staff shortages are exacerbated by staff moving away to find more affordable rentals. The desperation felt by Australians, both young and old, in the current environment is something I feel very deeply.

Finally, the fact that the maximum rate of this payment has been indexed to CPI rather than the average rents paid by Commonwealth rent assistance recipients is frustrating and makes no sense to me. Increases in rents are outstripping general inflation in many areas of Australia. This is a systematic issue in need of serious attention. Earlier this year, I moved a motion that asked the House to take note of the fact that the routine CPI indexation that took effect lifted JobSeeker payments by just 96c per day. This indexation lifted JobSeeker payments to $55 a day, which equates to less than half the full-time minimum wage. The government's media release at the time announced these changes as 'Indexation puts more in the pockets of millions of Australians'. Yet it failed to acknowledge that income support payments are not enough to cover the cost of essential goods and services, including housing, food and energy. Devastatingly, I see similar headlines when it comes to the measures introduced in this bill.

The government claims it's easing the cost-of-living pressures through the JobSeeker measures I have now explained. But these changes do not even cover half a per cent of the population who need it. Last year saw the establishment of the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee. The committee's role is to provide independent advice to the government before every federal budget on economic inclusion and tackling disadvantage. Tasked with this role by this government, along with other key welfare organisations, that committee has specifically recommended the JobSeeker payment be lifted to 90 per cent of the value of the age pension as the most effective way to tackle poverty. Yet, in this most recent budget, that advice was ignored, and the measures introduced in this bill are nowhere near such an increase.

Seven in 10 people on income support are eating less and reporting difficulty getting essential medicine and care because their incomes are inadequate. The situation we see ourselves in deteriorates daily. When coupled with poor services and stigma around receiving these payments, the inadequacy of the JobSeeker payment is truly damaging.

The truth is that the changes in this legislation are entirely insufficient to prevent the widespread distress experienced by income support recipients in the current economic climate. The concept of a carer payment as an income support payment for those providing constant care to someone with a disability or a medical condition, or for an adult who is frail or aged, is something I support strongly. This deserves more attention than it has been given in these new measures. The care and support economy is one of the fastest-growing parts of the Australian economy, and yet the care sector is gravely underresourced and overburdened. The current rules around the carer payment have contributed to ongoing disadvantage, and the changes in this bill to relax the rules and improve flexibility in the hours that carers work, study or volunteer over a four-week period will mitigate some of the disadvantage being experienced. But the real disadvantage is on the level of support being provided to carers.

For the 2.65 million carers in Australia, the current maximum basic rate for individuals on a carer payment is $1,020.60 per fortnight. That's just $510 per week for someone who is providing constant care and is limited to 25 hours of work per week, or 100 hours of work over the four-week settlement period under the new rules. It's not going to get anyone anywhere with rent or basic needs such as grocery, energy bills and transport costs—certainly not in my seat of North Sydney. I must point out that 71 per cent of the carer payment recipients are female, and that makes this a gendered issue. While I understand that the government introduced a draft national strategy for the care and support economy earlier this year, and that the reform agenda is reportedly underway, I urge the government to expedite these initiatives. The situation is becoming increasingly desperate, and far more needs to be done to address the gaps in the care sector.

My community will continue to advocate for these reforms. Everyone deserves respect and a fair go, no matter their background. We can have a healthy, productive, thriving and inclusive society, but to achieve this we must address the root cause of disadvantage; look for ways to ensure economic and social inclusion for all; and provide an adequate social security safety net. The recent budget was an opportunity for this government to take brave and courageous action to address the root causes—causes identified by the government itself. But the measures being introduced through this bill today, while welcomed, will fall well short of delivering the solutions that have also already been identified. Australians will not be lifted out of poverty by these initiatives until we show the bravery required to move beyond bandaid solutions and meet the challenges of the future head-on.

While this bill is a small step forward, I will reiterate the point that the budget is about choice, and that the government has chosen not to go further when it comes to lifting Australians out of poverty.

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

I'd like to thank all the members who have participated in this debate on the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (More Support in the Safety Net) Bill 2024.

This bill includes measures to deliver targeted assistance to provide responsible cost-of-living relief for income support recipients and further strengthen Australia's social security safety net. Built on the government safety net measures in the last budget, it will further increase the maximum rates of Commonwealth rent assistance by 10 per cent. By 20 September 2024, when this measure is due to commence, and combined with indexation, the maximum rate of rental assistance will have increased by over 40 per cent since the government was elected. Regular indexation will also be applied on the same day. This is a significant increase, and it is helping; the ABS has shown that the government's booster rent assistance in the last budget has directly taken pressure off CPI for rents. In the year to the March quarter 2024, rental prices as measured in CPI rose 78 per cent and would have risen 9.5 per cent without our increase.

This bill also extends eligibility for the higher rate of JobSeeker payment to single recipients with a partial capacity to work of up to 14 hours per week. This recognises the barriers they face to supplement their income with earnings from work and the other financial strains that this can create. These recipients will receive at least an additional $54.90 per fortnight when combined with the energy supplement. This measure is also due to commence on 20 September 2024—the same day as regular indexation of JobSeeker to CPI, meaning that the actual increase will be higher. The measure builds on the government's changes in the last budget, including the $40 per fortnight increase to the rates of working-age and student payments, and extending the higher rate of JobSeeker to those aged 55 and over on payment for nine months or more in recognition of the barriers they too can face in getting back to work. Those people who moved from the base rate of JobSeeker to the higher rate as a result of the government's changes are more than $4,500 a year better off compared to May 2022. This is significant. It's an additional $170 in their pocket each fortnight.

This bill also delivers changes to the carer payment to remove barriers to employment and provide more flexibility for recipients to manage their work, study and volunteering commitments with their caring responsibilities. This is aligned with the road map outlined in the government's employment white paper. With the changes in this bill, recipients will be able to work 100 hours over a four-week settlement, rather than the current 25-hour-per-week participation limit. Education and volunteering activities will no longer be counted in the limit, and, through policy changes, we will also remove travel time from the limit. This bill also introduces a six-month suspension period for recipients who work over the new flexible limit, meaning they'll no longer be cancelled and will not need to reapply for the carer payment during this period if their circumstances change. They will also hold on to their pensioners concession card. This measure is due to commence on 20 March 2025.

The government's measures delivered in this bill, along with our measures in last year's budget, represent an additional $11.5 billion in spending in our social security system. In 2024-25 alone, it's estimated the government will spend $143 billion on social security and family payments. I'd like to thank the member for Deakin for his confirmation that the opposition will be supporting this bill. Of course, these are responsible, targeted measures that will provide more support to people on the lowest incomes. I did note that his speech didn't quite stick to the bill and was pretty free ranging, but I am pleased to have the confirmation that the opposition will support this bill.

The Albanese government is committed to building a strong and sustainable social safety net that provides relief to those most in need when they need it. With this bill, we're continuing to deliver on our commitment. With these measures for income support recipients, complemented by further relief, we're delivering for all Australians through our comprehensive cost-of-living plan. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.