Raise the Rate!

‘I Can Finally Eat Fresh Fruit And Vegetables’

ACOSS Survey of 955 People Receiving the New Rate of JobSeeker and Other Allowances

In May 2020, the Raise The Rate campaign surveyed 955 people on JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment, and Austudy, who are receiving the Coronavirus Supplement.

This survey explores how the new rate of JobSeeker and other allowances has affected people’s ability to cover essential costs like housing, bills, food, medicine, and other vital expenses. The survey also explores how people feel about the Government’s plan to return income support payments to the old rates in late September.

The survey found that people were reporting dramatically reduced levels of financial and personal distress since the introduction of the new JobSeeker rate, with significant declines in the number of people skipping meals, as well as people reporting they could not afford fresh fruit and vegetables, medicines, bills and rent, and other essential expenses.

This first real increase to allowances has had an extraordinary effect on people’s lives, which cannot be overstated.

Read the full survey report here

Raise the Rate! We must never return income support payments back to the old Newstart rate of $40 a day.

In this precarious economic environment, it is more important than ever that we have a robust safety net for the 1.6 million people who are now locked out of enough paid work, and the projected more than 2 million people needing income support in September.

The Federal Government must permanently increase income support payments so that they prevent poverty and ensure everyone has enough money to cover food, housing and other essential costs, regardless of their situation.

Tell the Government that we must not turn our back on people doing it tough. We must Raise the Rate for Good. Everyone needs to be able to cover the basics. If you can:

ACOSS Survey