Elsie Lange
Recent figures show there are more people accessing unemployment payments across Sunbury and the Macedon Ranges now than two years ago, and there have been calls to raise the rate.
Data from the Department of Social Services released in March shows an increase in the number of people receiving JobSeeker and Youth Allowance, despite Victoria’s unemployment rate hitting four per cent in March, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In Sunbury and Sunbury South, there were 1301 people receiving JobSeeker and Youth Allowance in February 2022, compared to 1201 people in March 2020.
Across the Macedon Ranges, there were 917 recipients in February this year compared to 817 in March 2020.
In mid-April, Labor confirmed it would go to the election with a policy to maintain the JobSeeker payment at just above $640 per fortnight for a single person without children, in line with the Coalition’s position.
That translates to roughly $46 a day.
Hume councillor Jarrod Bell has been vocal in his call to raise the JobSeeker rate and said anyone who believes $46 a day is enough to live on has no idea how much it costs to live.
“We are seeing, in so many places, rents going through the roof, we’re seeing fuel costs going through the roof, public transport costs, health costs, food,” Cr Bell said.
He said the current rate would barely put food on the table and the increased JobSeeker payment during the pandemic had been good for those who needed it.
“Because [the government] recognised that it simply isn’t enough to live off, and what we’re doing is sending a message to job seekers that ‘Your subsistence is worth this much’, and that’s heartbreaking,” he said.
St Vincent de Paul Society national president Claire Victory said it was “crushingly disappointing” voters at the upcoming federal election would not be able to choose a major party that would lift the JobSeeker rate.
Recent Australian National University modelling commissioned by the society found that increasing JobSeeker by $150 a fortnight, alongside a 50 per cent increase to Commonwealth Rent Assistance, could be paid for through minor tax changes for the highest income earners.
“This research shows there is no justification for being so brutal with people who cannot find sufficient work,” Ms Victory said.
“While acknowledging the need to be cautious about adding to national debt, there are many ways Australia could fund a boost to JobSeeker that lifts recipients out of poverty and restores their dignity, without affecting the budget bottom line.”
