Pocock’s plea for welfare increase
AUSTRALIANS are skipping showers and meals in order to pay rent as welfare recipients struggle to stretch their “dismal” daily rate of pay.
Independent senator David Pocock and the Australian Council of Social Services are calling for the federal government to urgently increase welfare payments to help Australians struggling to survive.
Currently, JobSeeker recipients receive $46 a day, while the youth allowance works out to be $38 a day. ACOSS is calling for all payments to be raised to at least $73 a day.
Senator Pocock said he understood the government had a difficult fiscal situation to balance, but everyday Australians were crying out for help.
“We’re a wealthy country, and it seems to me that people who are in between jobs or studying should be able to live above the poverty line, to actually be able to put food on the table,” he said.
“There are so many stories of people skipping meals, skipping medicines, having to walk kilometres to get to job interviews and to Centrelink.
“I’m calling on the government to make this a priority, to actually look after everyday Australians.”
Canberra student Sam Thomas, 21, said of the $450 he received in government help each fortnight, most went to pay rent in a “substandard” lodging.
“The kind of rent you can afford on $225 a week is really far away from campus. It’s draughty, mouse-infested, mouldy and uninsulated,” he said.
ACOSS acting director of policy and advocacy Charmaine Crowe said the government “must address” this issue in the October budget.
“The government has tough decisions to make, (but) people every day are having to make difficult decisions about whether they pay for their groceries or their diabetes medication or if they pay the rent – these are the tough decisions people are making every day,” Ms Crowe said.