The Albanese Government appointed two committees to advise them on economic inclusion and women’s equality. This May, the Federal Budget must include the top three recommendations from these committees which have now been published. Because if not now, when?
We’re facing an unprecedented housing crisis, especially for renters, and cost of living challenges which taken together, are literally forcing some families to think about giving up their children to the state. In this, one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Yet we know all children can thrive and be healthy if they have what they need.
Many of us were heartened by the Prime Minister’s victory speech, not just because of his strong support for getting a Voice enshrined in the Constitution but also because he said:
“No one left behind because we should always look after the disadvantaged and the vulnerable. But also no one held back, because we should always support aspiration and opportunity. That is what my government will do….I want every parent to be able to tell their child no matter where you live or where you come from, in Australia the doors of opportunity are open to us all. And like every other Labor government, we’ll just widen that door a bit more.”
Soon after taking office, Albanese told ABC’s 7.30: “We need to make sure that every child gets the opportunity to be the best that they can be, because that helps, not just that individual, that’s the key to Australia as well. We need to be the smart country.”
None of the key recommendations in the reports from the committees appointed should come as a surprise. We at Anti-Poverty Week, and many others, have been advocating for them for years. However, the reports bear the imprimatur of experts hand-picked by this government from business, unions, academia, and the social welfare sector, and they also rightly include people with disability and Indigenous people. They have come to a consensus in a quite short space of time that we need to increase JobSeeker and related working age payments, restore Parenting Payment Single until the youngest child turns 16, and increase Commonwealth Rent Assistance.
Anti-Poverty Week supports these three as the top priorities the Government should move on in this Budget, recognising they are a pathway to, as Sam Mostyn, Chair of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, says for other necessary reforms and payment increases which need to follow.
The pandemic and associated lockdowns shone a light on what is important for us as a society. It was a time when millions of Australians experienced the pain of having our health, income, freedom, our connection to others, maybe even our hope for a better future, diminished and constrained. Poverty does all of that.
Living in poverty is like living in a permanent lockdown. The response to the pandemic also showed us that if we increase JobSeeker and associated payments, we can dramatically reduce poverty. Yet the former Coalition government legislated a return to poverty by replacing the Supplement with a $25 a week increase, the first real increase since 1994.
Today, more than three million Australians (1.3 million adults and over 830,000 children) living on the lowest incomes would benefit from an increase in JobSeeker and related student and parenting payments.
More than 1.3 million households, one third of whom have children, would benefit from an increase in rent assistance — a group that hasn’t had a real increase beyond inflation since 2000.
More than 85,000 single parents, overwhelmingly mother-headed families, would benefit from restoring the age of Parenting Payment Single until the youngest child reaches 16. These families are significantly more likely to have suffered violence, the threat of homelessness and to be caring for children with disability. But the former Rudd/Gillard Labor Governments didn’t address these issues when they came to power – if anything they exacerbated them, and the Labor Opposition did little to pressure the former Coalition Government to ensure the temporary Coronavirus Supplement was replaced with a substantial increase. This Budget, the Albanese Labor Government has the chance to right those wrongs.