2019/02: Should the Newstart allowance be raised? (NOTE:This sample outline has opened in a new window.)
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right: On March 31, 2019, just prior to the release of the federal budget, ABC News televised a detailed report on calls for an increase in the Newstart allowance.What they said
The Newstart allowance provides no hope of its recipients achieving the most basic human need shelter
Anglicare Victoria
Newstart is not intended to be a payment you live on. It supports you while you get yourself back into work
The Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison
The issue at a glance On April 2, 2019, the Coalition government, led by prime minister Scott Morrison, brought down the 25th consecutive federal budget without an increase (in real terms) in the Newstart allowance. (Newstart is the benefit paid unemployed Australians to allow them to live as they seek employment.)
The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, further announced a measure designed to reduce expenditure on welfare recipients: the government estimates it will save around $2.1 billion over five years through data-sharing so that welfare recipients who work will report their income as they earn it, thus avoiding overpayments.
This entrenched failure to lift the Newstart allowance has met with opposition from the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), the Australian Unemployed Workers Union (AUWU), the Business Council of Australia (BCA) and Deloitte Access Economics.
The status quo is supported by the Government who stress that Newstart is meant to supply short-term assistence not a long-term pension for living. The Labour Opposition has a less certain position on the question. While it states that Newstart is inadequate, it has not committed to increase the allowance should it be elected to government. Rather, Opposition leader Bill Shorten has promised a review of Newstart if he wins government.