Ahead of the Federal Election, Anglicare Australia has launched an election statement calling for action on poverty, and for every Australian to have access to a fair and adequate income.
Anglicare Australia’s Adequate Income election statement outlines how Australia’s safety net has become a poverty trap, with payments too low to cover even the basics.
“Every day of this election campaign, we have heard parties and candidates say that their focus is on cost-of-living pressures and incomes. But we have seen almost no focus on people on the very lowest incomes – people living on JobSeeker.
“JobSeeker and other Centrelink payments are languishing far below the poverty line. People trying to live on these payments are bearing the brunt of soaring rents, rising living costs, and a safety net that isn’t keeping up.
“Being on JobSeeker is now the biggest risk factor for living in poverty. These payments are so low that they’re doing the opposite of what they’re meant to – they’re holding people back instead of helping them get ahead.
“Anglicare Australia’s own Cost of Living Index has found that a person on JobSeeker living in a sharehouse falls behind basic expenses by $69 a week after food, rent, and transport.
“Raising the rate of these payments would ease that struggle and lift millions of people out of poverty, including hundreds of thousands of children.
“The need for rebates and tax cuts are a sign that our systems are failing people, and that they can’t keep up. This campaign should be an opportunity to fix these problems once and for all, not put a band-aid over them,” Ms Chambers said.
Anglicare Australia’s Adequate Income election statement calls for:
▪ Raising the rate of JobSeeker and other income supports above the poverty line
▪ An independent commission to set government payment rates
▪ Minimum wage increases that keep pace with living costs
▪ A fairer tax and transfer system that encourages work and supports those in need.