Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I will have to take that part of the question on notice. I saw some debate about the differences with the minimum wage, but I do not have a brief on that, so I do not want to mislead the Senate. I will get an answer for the senator as soon as I can on the comparative entitlements, but I did make the point that the Newstart allowance is only one part of the support that is available to people who might be out of work, particularly those who have children or who need other special assistance. There are a range of services through Job Services Australia to try to assist them back into training or work. We have made endeavours to improve the thresholds that provide a greater return for those who take on part-time work, and I think that is an important change. But I will take on notice the senator's second supplementary question and get her an answer in more detail.