Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Hansard source

During question time today and earlier, we heard, as the unemployment figures were released, the very sobering job figures we are experiencing as we move through the COVID-19 crisis. In the youth sense, the figures are up from 11.6 per cent to 13.8 per cent. That's why the government has moved to temporarily expand eligibility for income support payments and establish a new time-limited coronavirus supplement. This will be paid both to existing and new recipients of income support programs, including the jobseeker payment and youth allowance amongst others. Many of these payments will be primarily directed towards young Australians. The JobKeeper payments currently support almost 5.5 million employees to stay connected to their employer. As of last week we are supporting almost 13,000 employers to retain 22,000 young apprentices through a wage subsidy.