Key Points
- The government is considering several recommendations from the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce to support women.
- The task force called for a boost to rent assistance to provide immediate relief to women experiencing housing stress.
- Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the government was "deadly serious" about women's economic equality.
More financial support for women in housing stress remains on the table as the federal government budget committee works through recommendations from a key task force.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the government was "deadly serious" about women's economic equality and agreed sky-high rents had left a lot of women, especially those over 55, in an increasingly vulnerable position.
"The budget will look to do as much as it can, within, you know, the responsible fiscal environment that we are in, to deal with addressing disadvantage and inequality where we can," she told ABC's Insiders.
She said the Expenditure Review Committee, which considers new spending and revenue proposals ahead of each budget, was looking at a lift to Commonwealth rental assistance as one of six suggestions from the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce.
The task force, which called for a boost to rental payments to provide immediate relief to women experiencing housing stress, also recommended reinstating the single parenting payment for children over eight.
At the moment, the payment ends when children reach this age, pushing single parents onto the lower Jobseeker rate that leaves them with about $100 less a week.
The minister said the government was also considering this recommendation but in the context of tough budget constraints.
Women tend to earn less and accumulate fewer assets over the course of their lives.
"This is the reality of 2023 for Australia's women, and this is the work that we have started in the budget," Ms Gallagher said.
"It's the work we're going to continue in this budget, and will continue focusing on it and housing for women, and providing some security of housing for women, particularly women in that age cohort, is a real challenge."
The minister said the government had already committed to boosting the supply of social and affordable housing via the housing future fund and the housing accord.
Also on Sunday, the social services minister announced a funding boost for young carers so they can keep up with their schooling or education while caring for loved ones.
The $10 million injection into the young carer bursary program aims to ease the burden on carers aged 12-25 who are trying to study.
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said demand for the bursary was consistently outstripping demand.
"This funding boost will increase the number of bursaries available by almost 60 per cent," she said.
Ms Gallagher also confirmed improvements to the petroleum resources rent tax remained on the table, which could lead to the Commonwealth extracting more revenue from oil and gas companies.
The government is looking at the findings of a review into the tax and is yet to form a view on the issue.
"The industry is well across what those modest changes might be because they've been involved in those consultations, but we haven't finalised a view on that," the finance minister said.
