Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

I'd first like to thank all senators who have participated in the debate on the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (More Support in the Safety Net) Bill 2024. The Albanese Labor government is working for all Australians and, with our measures in this year's budget, we are providing responsible cost-of-living relief that eases pressure on people and doesn't add to inflation. The measures in this bill are complemented by new power bill relief, cheaper medicines, the extended freeze on social security deeming rates, strengthening Medicare and, of course, the delivery of tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer.

From this week, on average, Australian taxpayers will receive a tax cut of $36 each week. Through this bill, we are further strengthening Australia's social security safety net with targeted and responsible cost-of-living support which eases pressure on people and does not add to inflation. The government recognises that many people are struggling with high rental costs, and this bill increases the maximum rates of Commonwealth rent assistance by a further 10 per cent, providing recipients with more support to manage their rental pressures. This builds on the Albanese government's increase to maximum rates in the last budget and means that, combined with indexation, by 20 September 2024, when this measure is due to commence, maximum rates of rental assistance will have increased by over 40 per cent since the Albanese government was elected in May 2022. Regular indexation will be applied on top on the same day.

This bill also expands eligibility for the higher JobSeeker rate, extending access to single recipients who have been assessed as only being able to work less than 15 hours per week due to a physical, intellectual or psychiatric impairment. These recipients will receive at least an extra $59.90 in support each fortnight. Subject to the passage of this bill, this measure will also commence from 20 September 2024. This is the same day as a regular indexation of JobSeeker payments, which means the actual increase will be higher. This measure builds on our changes to payments in the last budget, including the $40-per-fortnight base rate increase for working-age and student payments and extending the higher rate of JobSeeker payment to single Australians aged 55 or over who have been on payments long term down from 60. Expanding eligibility for the higher JobSeeker rate to those cohorts is designed to strengthen the system by better targeting support to people based on their age, stage and circumstances.

Alongside the targeted increase in income support, the government remains committed to our workforce participation agenda. The third measure of this bill introduces more flexibility for carer payment recipients to manage their work commitments and caring responsibilities, aligning with the government's road map in the employment white paper to remove barriers to employment and improve workforce participation. This includes provisions to change the 25 hours per week participation limit for carer payment recipients to instead allow up to 100 hours over a four-week settlement period, effective from 20 March 2025. Changes will also be made to ensure education and volunteering activities will no longer be counted in the participation limit.

This measure also introduces a six-month suspension period for recipients who work over the new flexible limit, meaning, if their circumstances change, they won't need to reapply to access the carer payment. They will also retain their pensioner concession card during this period. Policy changes will remove travel time from the calculation of the 100-hour participation limit. Policy changes will also provide for the use of single temporary cessation of care days for one-off or occasional instances of exceeding the participation limit. Combined, these measures are designed to give carers, who are predominantly women, greater flexibility and choice to structure their work, study or volunteering commitments around their caring responsibilities. These measures provide responsible relief, including to some of the most vulnerable in our community, and help to remove barriers to work for carers. The Albanese Labor government believes in a strong and sustainable social security system, and, with these measures, we are providing more support in the safety net.

I will now touch on Senator Tyrrell's second reading amendment. The government will not be supporting this amendment. The social security system already provides tax offsets and support for income support recipients. A range of tax offsets ensure that most income support recipients with low to moderate levels of private income pay no or limited tax. For instance, the beneficiary tax offset is available to recipients of allowance payments, such as the JobSeeker payment. The tax offset directly reduces the amount of tax an income support recipient may have to pay. An income support recipient already pays no tax for the year if they receive any of the qualifying allowances and payments, and have no other taxable income.

The low-income tax offset is also available to individuals with taxable income below certain thresholds. This is currently $66,667 for recipients of JobSeeker payments and other taxable allowances. Where there's an expectation they will undertake paid work, taxability of their payment avoids the situation where a person in receipt of a benefit for part of the year and in work for the remainder of the year could be better off than a person who worked for the whole year for the same total income.

I commend the bill to the Senate.