Australians on Centrelink payments either can't afford the most basic living expenses or barely have enough left for medical care, clothing and other costs, according to a new report.
Anglicare Australia's cost-of-living index, released today, says that a family of four with both parents on the highest levels of JobSeeker and Commonwealth Rent Assistance would fall $17 short of being able to afford the essentials of housing, food and groceries, and transport each week.
The situation is even bleaker for a single person aged under 35 living on their own, who would typically be facing a $135 shortfall every week – the equivalent of more than $7000 a year or $585 a month.
According to the report, single JobSeeker recipients living in a sharehouse would have $127 a week left over once essentials are paid for, while a single parent of one on the Parenting Payment Single would have $24 – little more than $3 a day.
"These numbers confirm what Australians already know. It has never been harder to live on JobSeeker and other Centrelink payments, with living costs spiralling and rent costing more than ever," Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said.
"That's why Anglicare Australia has been calling for years on the government to raise the rate of Centrelink payments above the poverty line.
These payments have been too low for too long, trapping people in poverty instead of helping them escape it.
"Centrelink payments simply do not cover the costs of essentials, like food and rent. That means people are being forced to skip meals, avoid medical care, and cram their families into overcrowded homes.
"Some are being pushed into debt spirals just to keep up with everyday costs."
While the government increased rent assistance payments in the last federal budget, it didn't increase the JobSeeker rate despite speculation it might.
Instead, it allowed people working up to 14 hours a week to access a higher payment – a change that benefitted just 4700 of the nearly 750,000 Australians who receive Centrelink support.
Chambers said it's an issue the government needs to revisit.
"These numbers show us that Australians doing it tough need real action, and real leadership," she said.
"That means raising the rate of Centrelink payments, ending unlimited increases, and building more social housing.
"We must raise the rate of these payments. Without action, people will be pushed even deeper into hardship, poverty and homelessness."
The report said the main cost facing welfare recipients is rent, the price of which has surged across the country in recent years.
It says while the focus of the government and much of the housing sector has been on increasing overall supply, there needs to be a greater emphasis on building more social and affordable homes, calling for an extra 25,000 of the properties to be built each year.
"Governments have been eroding spending on social housing for decades, assuming that the private rental market would provide enough affordable homes for those who need it," the report states.
"That has been shown to be false... governments' move away from directly supplying housing towards a reliance on 'demand-side assistance', such as rent assistance, has led to a housing market that has never been less affordable.
"The shortage of affordable rentals for low-income households grew between 1996 and 2011, contradicting the theory that housing supply in the private market would trickle down and create lower-cost rental accommodation over time.
"A major effort will be required to change course and end this shortfall."
The report also called for states and territories to introduce legislation limiting high rent increases and otherwise protect renters.
Nationally consistent protections and uniform tenancy legislation are now required now across Australia to protect the rights of all renters, by ending no-cause evictions and restricting unjustified or punitive rent increases," it states.
