The federal budget will be handed down on Tuesday night, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers devilvering his budget speech at about 7.30pm.
At Women’s Agenda, we are paying close attention to the policies and announcements that will impact women, and will provide you with all the informaton you need to know on budget night.
The government has already stated it will focus on improving women’s economic equality in this budget, with some announcements already made in the space, including upates for single mothers and those working in aged care.
The Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, headed up by Sam Mostyn, has made clear its advice to the government ahead of the budget, with all of these recommendations included below. We’ve also listed some of the other key measures the government could take to improve outcomes for women, across areas like domestic violence and health.
The Women’s Agenda team will be in Canberra for the budget, so stay tuned on Tuesday night for all the relevant updates for women.
What’s already been announced?
ParentsNext will be abolished
Last week, the government confirmed it would abolish the ParentsNext scheme, which applies to about 98,700 parents who have children aged nine months to six years and have not been in paid employment for six months. It largely affected women, and specifically single mothers.
The abolition of the program comes after years of criticism that said the mutual obligations for the scheme are punitive and damaging for vulnerable single mothers.
The scheme will end from next year, while mutual obligations for the scheme have been stopped immediately. The government said it will look to replace the program with a new voluntary service that will be designed in consultation with parents and stakeholders.
Cut off age for single parent payment lifted
On Monday morning, the government announced it would lift the cut off age for the single parent support payment for the youngest child from 8 to 14. It means single parents will get an additional four years with access to the single parenting payment before they are moved to JobSeeker.
It’s a win for women because it classifies single parents, mostly mothers, as doing parenting work, rather than as being unemployed.
Pay rise for aged care workers
The government has committed $11.3 billion over four years to fund a 15 per cent pay rise for workers in aged care, including for nurses, personal care workers, cooks, recreational officers and home care workers. It will benefit about 250,000 workers who are among the lowest paid in the country.
JobSeeker increase for those aged over 55
There has also been reports that the government will increase the rate of JobSeeker for those aged over 55, although by how much has not been confirmed. This will benefit older women who are among the most vulnerable groups in Australia.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has said there will be further cost of living relief that is not determined by age.
Energy rebates
The government has also announced that energy rebates of up to $500 will be provided to 5.5 million eligible households and 1 million small businesses.
Medication
Changes to rules for pharmacies will allow people to buy two months’ worth of subsidised medicines on a single prescription, rather than two separate prescriptions. More than 300 medications are included on the list.
What else would we put on the budget wishlist for women?
Abolish the childcare activity test
One of the recommendations from the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce is to abolish the childcare activity test, which reduces subsidies for early childhood education and care where a child’s parent works less than 15 hours a week.
A report from Impact Economics and Policy last year revealed the activity test leaves around 126,000 children from some of the most disadvantaged families worse off by limiting their access to early education and care.
Pay super to parents on paid parental leave
Another recommendation from the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce is to pay superannuation to parents and carers taking the Commonwealth’s parental leave payment. This would help to reduce the superannuation gap between men and women, that sees women retiring with significantly less super.
Increase the rate of rent assistance to lift women out of poverty
Another key recommendation is to increase the rate of Commonwealth rent assistance to improve the housing security of women, the current rental and cost of living crisis. Women over the age of 55 are the fastest growing group of Australians experiencing homelessness due to a lack of affordable and safe housing.
A substantial JobSeeker increase for those of all ages
There have been consistent calls for the rate of JobSeeker and Youth Allowance to be increased substantially. Currently, the JobSeeker payment for a single person with no dependents eqautes to about $50 a day, an amount advocates have said is impossible to live on. Amid the current cost of living crisis, people on the payment need support to be lifted out of poverty.
Pay rise for others in care sector, especially early childhood education
There are also calls for an interim pay rise for those working in the care sector, especially early childhood education and care. These workers have been undervalued and underpaid, and are among the lowest paid workers in Australia.
Funding for domestic and sexual violence
Experts, frontline workers and peak bodies in the domestic violence space have indicated that $1 billion every year is required to curb domestic and sexual violence. There are urgent needs for better access to trauma counselling, to improve the services for the prevention of men’s violence and to ensure those looking to escape violence can do so safely.
A standalone action plan and funding commitments for First Nations women
There is a need for a well resourced, standalone action plan for violence against First Nations women and children, with specific funding commitments for community-led solutions. The government has previously committed to delivering a standalone plan.
As reported by the ABC’s Four Corners in 2022, First Nations women are being murdered at up to 12 times the national average, while 315 First Nations women have gone missing or been murdered or killed in suspicious circumstances since 2000. There is no agency in Australia keeping count of this crisis.
Funding certainty for women in STEM programs
The federal government has said it won’t commit to new funding for women in STEM programs until a review is complete at the end of this year, however advocates in the sector say funding is urgently needed to ensure existing programs can continue.
Founder of Girl Geek Academy Sarah Moran has called for an an urgent, “Cracking the Code” fund.
Women’s health
There are some specific areas of women’s health that are in need of attention, including investing in women’s health research and service delivery to help combat medical misogyny, as was suggested last week by economist Katie McGregor.
Other areas, including more treatment and prevention options for eating disorders, and greater attention and focus to funding for research into dementia – nearly two thirds of Australians diagnosed with dementia are women.