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

The government acknowledges and thanks the members of the committee for the important work they do. I'd also like to make the point that the committee's report this year included 22 recommendations. In addition to its recommendation on the adequacy of working age payments, it recommended a further increase to Commonwealth rental assistance, the removal of barriers to employment and support for families as well as a recommendation around the purpose of the social security system.

On rent assistance, over the course of the last two budgets the government has delivered two real increases to maximum rates, providing more support to almost a million recipient households to help them manage rental pressures. If this bill passes, from 20 September maximum rates, combined with indexation, will have increased by over 40 per cent since the Albanese government was elected. We are also implementing the committee's recommendation in this year's report for changes to the carer payment to remove barriers to workforce participation. More broadly, the advice of the committee is used to inform a range of policy processes across government, not just budget measures, including the Measuring what matters report and the employment white paper.