Unions, advocacy groups, and Labor have slammed the government for failing to commit to permanently increasing the income support payment for people out of a job as they outlined .
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday announced that the $550 coronavirus supplement currently being paid to people on the payment, formerly known as Newstart, would be more than halved to $250 after 28 September.
While the JobKeeper wage subsidy has been extended until March, the future of the JobSeeker supplement is unclear beyond December.
"It means from 25 September, a person on JobSeeker will lose $300 per fortnight or $150 per week, and face the prospect of a further cut just after Christmas," Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) chief executive Cassandra Goldie said.
"The full supplement should be maintained until it is replaced with a permanent, adequate increase. Instead, the Coronavirus Supplement has been extended only to 31 December, with people facing the prospect of returning to $40 a day on New Year’s Day."
When the supplement was introduced in March it effectively doubled the $560 fortnightly payment for unemployed Australians, equating to under $40 a day, which has been widely criticised as not enough to live on.
Under the new changes, a single person on the JobSeeker payment is set to receive approximately $412 per week.
The changes will not only apply to people on JobSeeker, but every form of income support that is eligible for the supplement, including youth allowance, Austudy, and Abstudy.
Mr Morrison suggested that the supplement may be extended beyond the 31 December, but said decisions needed to be made closer to the date as they were dependent on the state on the economy.
"What we needed from the government today was an adequate, permanent fix to income support, not a temporary, lowered extension," Dr Goldie added.
Chief executive of homelessness advocacy group Mission Australia, James Toomey, also expressed concern that the government had not committed to a permanent increase of the payment, warning that a return to $40 a day would force many back into poverty.
"Even before COVID-19, 253 requests for homelessness assistance were unable to be met on any given day across our country," he said.
The Australian Unemployed Workers Union did not mince their words, issuing a two-word statement on the decision, simply stating "f**k you". Shortly after they directed people to their earlier statements on what they called the "evil, brutalising, inhumane system of so-called welfare".
The mutual obligation requirement, which mandates that people receiving JobSeeker apply for a certain number of positions each month to maintain their payments, will also restart on 4 August, Mr Morrison said.
Recipients of the payment will be required to apply for four jobs a month until the end of September, when they will be expected to move to "a higher rate of job search".
Labor's treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers said the announcement was a "missed opportunity" to raise the payment and give millions of Australians income certainty.
"They have kicked the can down the road and people deserve more than that. They deserve more certainty than that and they deserve more than $40 a day," he said on Wednesday.
In a joint statement, employment minister Michaelia Cash and Social Services minister Anne Ruston said job seekers were only obligated to participate in appointments with employment providers and attend other activities if it is safe to do so.
"If a job seeker is unable to meet their requirements, no payment suspensions or financial penalties will be applied," the statement read.
However, if a person refused an offer of suitable work without a valid reason their payment may be cancelled, they said.
Australian Council of Trade Union secretary Sally McManus expressed concern that the reintroduction of the obligation would mark a return to the "punitive approach to welfare payments which we hoped the Morrison government had left behind".
The income test will also be increased from $106 to $300 per fortnight, which means recipients will be able to earn more money before experiencing financial deductions to their welfare support.
“While the relaxation of JobSeeker income tests is welcome, it will provide little benefit while jobs are scarce, with 13 people on JobSeeker for every job available and many more applying," Dr Goldie said.
Asked whether the previous JobSeeker payment was too low, Mr Morrison said it wasn't a matter the government was considering at the moment.
"Given that we have certainly no intention of that going back to the original JobSeeker base payment, certainly by the end of December, and as I've flagged, I would be very surprised if we weren't to extend it beyond then, then I think those sorts of issues are not ones that the government is contemplating at this point," he said.
"People are being paid more on JobSeeker and they will be continued to be paid more."
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your state’s restrictions on gathering limits. If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080. News and information is available in 63 languages at
