BUDGET SCORECARD: How communities affected by poverty will judge Chalmers

Community-led groups representing First Nations people, welfare recipients, renters, criminalised people, students and young people are coming together to make clear the standard we set for government success on budget night as we struggle to survive the ongoing cost of living crisis.

We will hold a press conference in the Parliament House senate courtyard at 11am on Wednesday 15 May to assess the government’s performance against our scorecard and provide our response to the budget. Quotes, contact information and key statistics are included below.

The Antipoverty Centre, Anti-Poverty Network South Australia, Anti-Poverty Network Qld, Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union, Better Renting, Black People’s Union, National Network of Incarcerated & Formerly Incarcerated Women & Girls, National Union of Students, Renters & Housing Union, Sisters Inside, Sweltering Cities and Tomorrow Movement expect more than trivial responses to the challenges we face.

We are the experts in what we need – not government committees – and we are best placed to judge whether the choices they make will meaningfully help us. As groups who represent people disproportionately harmed by poverty and housing insecurity, we reject the treasurer’s claim that there are better ways to provide urgently needed support than increasing Centrelink payment rates.

Our communities are hardest hit by the compounding cost of living, housing and climate crises. Empty rhetoric on measures that affect us must be closely scrutinised.

There is no such thing as a responsible budget that leaves people in poverty and more of us at risk of homelessness. We know the government is failing people if they do not deliver on our 11 priorities – not just leaving us behind, but holding us back.

A copy of this statement with the full scorecard text can be downloaded here: https://1drv.ms/w/s!Ao2X7nRblAZUlusUWIcN4hoxJbPPmA

Quotes attributable to Antipoverty Centre spokesperson and DSP recipient Kristin O’Connell:

We know the treasurer is planning to dress up the bare minimum measures as real help for people in poverty.

This is the Albanese government’s last chance to deliver on its promise to leave no one behind and put an end to the despair welfare recipients have felt over pitiful measures in the past two budgets.

Poor people should not be paying the price of keeping inflation down. The government can afford to spend hundreds of billions on tax cuts and submarines, they can afford to make sure those of us who have the least can afford to eat and pay our bills.

We have been clear about what is needed to provide meaningful support. We will not be welcoming more pitiful announcements like energy supplements or meagre increases to Commonwealth Rent Assistance in this budget.

To speak to representatives of these groups or be connected with case studies please contact: Kristin O’Connell, 0413 261 362, media@antipovertycentre.org; Nick Cassella, 0423 471 996, nick@economicmediacentre.org; Jay Coonan, 0403 429 414.

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Key statistics

• The number of people on unemployment payments has steadily increased since September 2023, pushing more and more people on to a poverty payment. One in 5 people are employed but still receive a partial payment because their wages are so low.

• The Henderson the poverty line for a single person with no children is currently $597 per week.

• The JobSeeker payment is currently $381 per week for a single person with no children, which is $216 below the poverty line. Youth Allowance is $320 per week.

• Disabled people 50% higher adult-equivalent disposable income to meet the same standard of living as those without a disability.

• There are more than 900,000 people on payments with compulsory “mutual” obligations (42.9% have a disability or chronic health condition. In Workforce Australia, 14.5% are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and 16.9% are parents).

• 2,471,455 payment suspension notices were issued in the 12 months to December 2023. 429,865 of the 1,628,330 (26.4%) total payment suspensions applied were imposed on First Nations people. 12.6% of total payment suspensions applied were imposed on parents with children in their care.

• 2.6 million people who rely on a Centrelink payment do not own their home.

• An estimated 58% of the total payments made to Commonwealth Rent Assistance recipients who are on JobSeeker this year will be spent on rent ($3.6 billion in rent from an estimated $6.1 billion in payments). $16.4 billion a year in welfare payments is paid to landlords each year just from Centrelink recipients who receive CRA.