Independent Senator David Pocock wants the upcoming federal budget to seriously increase safety net payments. Photo: DavidPocock.com.au.
Commonwealth Rent Assistance and safety net payments should be significantly increased, according to a handpicked government committee which has just delivered its recommendations ahead of this month’s federal budget.
The independent Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee, which the government established in 2023 on the urging of ACT independent Senator David Pocock, handed down its third report on Tuesday (11 March) with a list of recommendations for lifting the economic circumstances of the disadvantaged.
The committee commissioned new research that makes the case for increasing safety net payments and Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA).
Undertaken by UNSW for the committee, the research assessed income support payments against the amount of money a family needs to purchase the goods and services for a reasonable standard of living.
It found that “indexing JobSeeker Payment and related income supports only in line with the Consumer Price Index has resulted in their relative base rates falling significantly below existing benchmarks such as the Age Pension and these payments continue to be seriously inadequate relative to all accepted poverty measures, creating sometimes severe hardship for our neediest citizens”.
The report also recommends lifting the remote area allowance, which is non-indexed and has not been increased for a quarter of a century.
Senator Pocock notes that since remote area allowance was introduced, it has lost two-thirds of its purchasing power, with the negative impacts being disproportionately felt in First Nations communities.
One of the committee’s particular focuses is on helping the victims of domestic violence fleeing relationships.
“The analyses presented here, while not providing definitive recommendations for payment design and delivery changes given significant data challenges, provide a vision that would improve the adequacy of payments for victim-survivors to support recovery,” the report states.
“Program changes to recognise the trauma that is experienced by victim-survivors and the particular challenges faced by those with intersectional disadvantages, would make family violence payments more accessible to those women most excluded from the system that is designed to support them at a time of crisis.”
The committee’s role is to provide non-binding advice prior to each federal budget on how the government can increase economic inclusion and reduce disadvantage.
Its advice encompasses policy settings, systems and structures, as well as the adequacy, effectiveness and sustainability of income support payments.
The committee is comprised of social security and economics experts and leaders from the community sector, advocacy organisations, unions, business and philanthropy.
“Over the past year, the government has adopted a number of the committee’s recommendations,” its report states.
“For example, the government has announced the abolition of the activity test for Early Childhood Education and Care, which will enhance economic inclusion, improve outcomes for children and their families, and grow future productivity.
“The government has also increased CRA, which our analysis finds has reduced rental stress.”
However, Senator Pocock said the increases to date have not been enough, and the safety net as it stands is not keeping people safe.
“Despite some small recent increases, the research shows that inadequate income support payments are acting as a barrier to victim-survivors leaving a violent relationship,” he said.
“Research undertaken for the committee also quantifies, not just the social but the economic opportunity cost of failing to raise safety net payments.
“As a wealthy nation Australia can and should do better to support the most vulnerable people in our communities, and this research shows that spending on government services will decrease over the long-term if we do.
“Until we start adequately taxing multinationals, from gas giants to big tech, I don’t want to hear that we can’t afford it.
“We need change now, in this next budget, if the PM is serious about walking the talk when it comes to not leaving anyone behind.”
He said while small increases to CRA have had a positive impact on housing stress, it was still inadequate as “more than 200,000 of the 1.35 million recipients of CRA in December 2024 were paying more than half their income in rent”.
Senator Pocock said while the government has partially adopted some of the committee’s previous recommendations, this report restates the urgent need to implement recommendations in full.
The committee’s 2025 report confirms improving the adequacy of JobSeeker and related payments remains the number one priority and that doing so would deliver significant economic and social benefits.
It also renewed its call for the adoption of official measures of poverty; and for systemic change to begin in Australia’s employment services and early childhood development services.
