MEDIA ALERT: Welfare recipients to head to Rishworth’s office calling for action on JobSeeker
People who rely on Centrelink payments to live and their supporters will rally outside the social services minister Amanda Rishworth’s office calling for urgent action on the low rate of JobSeeker.
When: 1pm Friday 19 April
Location: Office of Amanda Rishworth MP, 232 Main South Road, Morphett Vale
Media contact: Brendan Folwell, Anti-Poverty Network South Australia, 0428 741 601. Welfare recipients will be available for interview.
At the end of a national week of action that saw Labor MPs across the country targeted with emails, phone calls, and face-to-face visits, people on Centrelink payments and their supporters will rally at the social services minister to push for a significant increase to all Centrelink payments in the May federal budget.
The Morphett Vale rally takes place the day after a separate group of welfare recipients were met with police when attempting to hand deliver a letter to treasurer Jim Chalmers’ office in Logan, Queensland. The treasurer’s office had been closed for the day seemingly in response to the planned visit, denying his constituents access to support.
Anti-Poverty Network South Australia is working with a coalition of grassroots groups from across the country that includes the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union, Anti-Poverty Network Queensland and the Antipoverty Centre. The groups call for the government to increase the base rate of all Centrelink payments to at least the Henderson poverty line and stop payment suspensions for “mutual” obligations activities.
Quotes
Anti-Poverty Network SA spokesperson Brendan Folwell said: Almost two years ago, the Albanese government was elected on a promise to ‘Leave No One Behind’, but people on JobSeeker have been forgotten. JobSeeker, at only $54-a-day – $375-a-week – is still over $200-a-week below the poverty-line. The Albanese government is dreaming, if it thinks its work is done: it must raise JobSeeker and other payments above the poverty-line. This, and a massive increase to public housing, will show Labor is serious about ‘Leaving No One Behind’.
Antipoverty Centre spokesperson Kristin O’Connell said: The welfare system is killing people. Deepening poverty, punitive “mutual” obligations, Centrelink processing times and baseless so-called debts are destroying lives at the same time we are squeezed by landlords and cost of living hikes. A budget that leaves people in poverty is not a responsible budget.
Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union spokesperson Catherine Caine said: Since the last budget’s chaotic display, we have seen almost nothing of the Minister. Amanda Rishworth has remained hidden, shying away from the poverty crisis and offering no plan to meaningfully help those in poverty. This is an issue that needs a real solution. So where is the Minister’s plan?
Media contacts: Brendan Folwell, Anti-Poverty Network SA, 0428 741 601; David Winderlich, Anti-Poverty Network SA, 0401 380 782; Kristin O’Connell, Antipoverty Centre, 0413 261 362; Catherine Caine, Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union, 0431 869 469.
Key statistics
The JobSeeker payment is currently $381 per week for a single person with no children, which is $216 below the poverty line. The Youth Allowance payment is $320 per week.1
The Henderson poverty line for a single person with no children is currently $597 per week.2
There are currently 876,020 people receiving an unemployment payment, an increase of nearly 50,000 people since September 2023 (which was the lowest figure since COVID lockdowns were lifted). The number of people relying on an unemployment payment increased every month between September 2023 and February 2024 (latest figures).3
2,460,970 payment suspension notices were issued between October 2022 and September 2023.4
Of 433 people who responded to an Antipoverty Centre’s employment services survey, 87% said a provider caused a problem with their payment that they had to resolve themselves. 266 (60%) had their payment delayed, reduced or cancelled before they were able to get the error fixed.