Hardest hit to get cash under new scheme

A NEW system of tapered payments that provide ongoing support to workers hardest hit by the coronavirus is expected to replace the JobKeeper scheme when it expires in September.

On Thursday, Mr Frydenberg will unveil a new scheme to replace JobKeeper which has helped about 3.5 million workers via a $1500 fortnightly payment.

The new assessment criteria is expected to deliver financial support for workers in industries such as tourism and hospitality that have been heavily impacted by the lockdown restrictions. In an exclusive interview with News Corp ahead of his economic update on Thursday, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg confirmed the government had been “thinking about options” around a sliding scale of payments which would deliver more cash to those hardest hit.

“We did take a conscious decision to have one single flat payment of $1500, now that meant some people were getting overpaid while others were getting underpaid,” he said.

“We took that conscious decision because we wanted to get as much money out of the door as possible and we didn’t want to build a new system.

“We have had time to reflect on that.”

On Thursday, Mr Frydenberg is also expected to announce an ongoing rate for the JobSeeker welfare payment which has doubled during the pandemic. But he stressed all measures announced in this week’s mini budget will continue to be “temporary”.

“The crisis is challenging and could be here with us for some time but at the end of the day we have to be very careful not to bake in long-term costs that impact on the structural integrity of the budget.”

On Monday, childcare workers will become the first workers kicked off the JobKeeper wage subsidy program. Labor’s childcare spokeswoman Amanda Rishworth said early educators were being used as “the test case” for the early withdrawal of the wagesubsidy program.