Charlotte Varcoe
AN increase in Jobseeker, Youth Allowance and Austudy will not change the work of ac.care, according to the organisation’s chief executive Shane Maddocks.
This week the Federal Budget was handed down with a $40 per fortnight increase for those on Jobseeker, Youth Allowance or Austudy with those also receiving rent assistance expecting a 15 per cent increase.
Mr Maddocks said although the increase was welcome and a good start, it was helping people “claw back” from the increased cost of living.
“Increasing the rent subsidy will help some people but that is just clawing back the increase of living that people have been dealing with by the rent increasing an average of 10 per cent,” Mr Maddocks said.
“The power bill relief of $500 will help with some people and we hope it means people in our regions will turn the heater on during the cold nights but we will see whether that happens.”
Mr Maddocks also welcomed the increase in Medicare rebates, giving families more options to attend general practitioner appointments and stamping out those attending the emergency department due to putting off health issues.
“Essentially we do not think there will be a drop in demand for our services,” he said.
“People will still seek food help everyday, we will continue to hand out blankets and warm coats and people will still have to choose whether they ear or turn the heater on.
“There is still a way to go but every bit helps even though there was nothing in the budget that I saw about helping people unemployed into jobs or job creation programs.”
Mr Maddocks said although Australia has a low unemployment rate it was due to more people leaving the workforce then people on the unemployment benefit.
“We would like to encourage people back into the workforce to take up the jobs we desperately need to fill,” he said.
“But if you live in poverty or sub-standard housing it is hard to focus on employment.”
He said the increase to rent assistance would help those in private rentals with some tenants using up to 70 per cent of their income to maintain a roof over their heads.
Anything above 30 per cent of a tenant’s income is considered as housing stress.
“This is good for some as some people may be able to apply for rental properties or even maintain theirs but it is still difficult to find an affordable house even with the increase,” Mr Maddocks said.
“We need the housing packages to be approved which will get things going but these things do help a bit and is better than nothing but is still not solving poverty or lifting people out of poverty who struggle everyday.”
He said he had expected some assistance to those in need with the unemployment benefit and rental assistance increase moving partway to helping those in need and hoped next year’s budget continued on this path.
“This is not providing an incentive for people to get into jobs, it is called Jobseeker but it is not enough to be able to afford the phone or internet or transport people need to get to the job people apply for,” Mr Maddocks said.
“I don’t expect there to be any improvement in homelessness and the level of income support did not mean there are more affordable houses available, especially in country areas and for single people.
“We need to address the cause of the problem which is essentially poverty instead of just applying a band aid, but during that time we will continue to support people needing our services.”
