ONLY one job vacancy exists for every 13 people on JobSeeker or Youth Allowance, according to May figures, prompting a warning against reducing unemployment benefits.
The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) issued a statement this week after Coalition MPs, including Member for Mallee Anne Webster, questioned whether the JobSeeker payment, at its current doubled rate, was a disincentive to working.
In the statement, the body called for the government to “recognise the reality of the job market and housing costs” when deciding the payment’s future.
There were 129,100 job vacancies in May, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
More than 1.4 million Australians received JobSeeker in May, and more than 171,000 received Youth Allowance, according to the Department of Social Services.
ACOSS chief executive Dr Cassandra Goldie said people were “desperate to find jobs” but there were not enough available.
She said returning to the “brutality” of a $40-a-day JobSeeker payment would create a housing crisis and drive the economy further backwards.
Dr Goldie said even at the enhanced $550-a-week rate, JobSeeker was still $200 short of the minimum wage.
“An inadequate JobSeeker payment makes it harder for people to find paid work,” she said.
“People need enough to cover the basics, including housing costs, and to avoid financial distress in order to be able to effectively search for paid work.”
The number of Australians who couldn’t pay their rent or mortgage on time more than doubled due to COVID-19, according to research published this week by the Australian National University.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week said “anecdotal feedback” from businesses suggested people were knocking back work because their unemployment benefits were too generous.
Member for Mallee Anne Webster had earlier told Sunraysia Daily she had heard “story after story” from businesses about employees who were comfortable not working while JobSeeker was at increased levels.
The doubled rate for JobSeeker, along with the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme, are slated to end in September, but the government was expected to make announcements on each program’s future later this month.
Sunraysia Daily last week revealed about one in 14 Sunraysia residents was reportedly receiving a JobSeeker payment in May.
