Senate debates

Tuesday, 23 February 2021

Questions without Notice

JobSeeker Payment

2:09 pm

Photo of Anne RustonAnne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator O'Sullivan. The Morrison government's priority is giving people the support they need to get them into work. That is why we've made the decision today to increase the income-free area to $150 per fortnight. As I said, this means that a recipient can earn $150 without losing a cent of their payment. The income-free area will allow people to work about a day a fortnight at the minimum wage before their payments are reduced.

During the pandemic we saw temporary settings, including the income free area that was increased, deliver very positive results, with a significant increase in the number of people who were reporting earnings. And we know that people who report earnings are twice as likely to transition off payment than those that don't report any earnings at all. So we will continue to support and we are confident that we will be able, through this measure, to get people off payment and into work, because we know that getting people off welfare is important.

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