Indexation amounts were released last week, and I’ll personally be getting $10.25 more a week in my DSP and rent assistance. See all the details in the tables here.
Pensions from March 20Rent assistance amounts from March 20
As always, they start accumulating from March 20, so no one sees the full increase pain into their account until at least April, and not til mid-April for some. Standard single JobSeeker is getting a $15.10 a fortnight “boost” (*voms*) as the gov and media love to call it. $7.55 a week isn’t exactly a powerup.
Jobseeker rates from March 20
Of course, the ACCC had been “asked” to keep an eye on fuel prices, but that’s just about all they’ll do – watch. I can do that too. Which is why when taking the recycling this morning we went to the lil servo and garage at Mirabooka for fuel. I handed them the $50 note Dad had given me and the 5c coin from my Gudetama coin purse and topped it up.
They say we might see an interest rate rise because of the extra inflation of fuel costs and the impact that will have on food and transport costs. I’m sure that in itself will put brakes on already stretched waged-households spending, but sure throw an interest rate hike on top. Gotta play the numbers.
Nearly paid off the power bill, then it’s rego for the Corolla next month. Our household spending is certainly not all that wild. but as long as Maxi has food and treats we’re going fine.
It’s here guys! After the webpage being embargoed for what seemed like forever, the March 20 indexation of welfare payments has finally come out, and are you ready to spend up?
Don't be misled by false claims that pensions are up.
They've not gone up more than indexation for the last 3 years.
On my partner rate pension, I’ll be getting $3.50 “extra” a fortnight in my bank account. Looking at yesterday’s Aldi receipt, that’s worth about 600g of tomatoes or 3 tins of tuna or 2 UHT milks.
Who will be the first Labor MP to brag about this? I am going to mail them a 'bragged about automatic indexation again award' award pic.twitter.com/CzK6hup4wY
Let’s add in that 80c rent assistance “boost” and the $4.30 a fortnight covers a couple tins of dog food. And you know that’s where I spend my money first before anything for us lol Fortunately my rent only went up $10 a week last year so I’m not as behind as some who’ll lose out from this, especially if the thresholds mean their rent assistance goes down this year :/ Looking to my Aldi receipt there is nothing under 80c on there, even my mineral water is 89c a bottle.
Rent assistance indexation
For those on jobseeker, $3.10 a fortnight will find its way to your account. And the supplements aren’t going up any of course.
JobSeeker indexation
They better not dare use us as election fodder. We will kick back.
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Been doing some reminiscing of sorts in preparations for the 5th anniversary or the COVID supplement and the long pause of “mutual” obligations. I was NOT in a good place back then, but I was getting the covid supplement after my hours got dramatically cut after disability respites and day programs closed down and we got cut to minimum contracted hours wherever they could place us in residential settings. I was then still getting it when I did eventually lose my job, and was looking at my bank statements shocked to see my total Newstart payment (single) including rent assistance was only $90 less than my (partner) DSP and rent assistance now – $970 vs $1061.60.
We’re getting the “boost” of, I’m told, 0.4% thanks to low inflation from March $20, which’ll take it to around $1065, give or take. Thanks Labor!
The best part of getting DSP was the removal of mutual obligations. It left me free to participate in therapy, do my little advocacy stuff, help family and friends, and just exist peacefully as possible. I’ve actually been doing a small amount of paid work in the past year, mostly online, but also exam supervision and before that election work. Stuff I can do when I have the energy and mental capacity and things that take my interest. I’ve had people approach me about applying for (social) media work with more hours, and I’m not up for that yet consistently but yeah, I’m starting to see more how that could work for me, and for them, and the knowledge that I might actually be a useful engine is nice. It’s also great to know that I do have the DSP to back me up, even if I am working, if I need to step back there’s that.
Being on DSP and my own timetable means I can also torture myself by watching Senate estimates, such as the session last week with DEWR Secretary Natalie James and Minister Murray Watt.
The government has not investigated the deaths of those who had their payments unlawfully cancelled, nor have they been instructed to do so either. It's time to end "mutual" obligations once and for all. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/96r1TMZH53
— Antipoverty Centre (@antipovertycent) March 2, 2025
Yesterday during senate estimates the government admitted they think their welfare compliance system may not be operating lawfully. Watch 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/ilgY3A3DAP
What I got from the session was that the department is not confident that people aren’t being suspended due to errors with their system. What they have done is stopped cancellations at this point, more due to the recent discovery that their guidelines say they’re not meant to cut off anyone who doesn’t have any money saved (which is basically everyone) – but that doesn’t mean they can’t just keep suspending people, which is effectively the same since you have no money if you’re not getting your welfare payment.
So the department doesn’t know if they’re cutting people off incorrectly (let alone illegally) and they seem to be happy to continue with enforcing mutual obligations. They’re happy with how it’s going, and seem more concerned about “provider viability” than whether people are being left without any money to feed and house themselves, about whether they’re putting people in danger of suicide or other misadventure.
And that’s just those ten. We know others who are still owed money from being cut off incorrectly or illegally who haven’t received repayment, so there’s likely more out there who aren’t doing so well.
It’s a mess. And that’s without even getting to the well known issues people have with their providers cutting them off because they weren’t marked present for a meeting, or demanding people complete phone meetings in a cyclone when mutual obligations have been stopped in preparation for a disaster.
(I’m also concerned for the staff who are presumably at home preparing themselves and being made to make unnecessary phone calls to people)
I haven’t heard if the pause has even gone through to people on the Workforce Australia app or by SMS, but wouldn’t be surprised if people are notified after the fact like during the rolling pause at the start of the year.
So yeah, a sorta apology (“I absolutely and unreservedly apologise on behalf of the department that we cannot have full confidence in this system delivering what it’s intended to deliver”) for a known error but keeping the system that is still possibly illegally cutting people off their tiny subsistence payments while you get it looked into isn’t going to cut it anymore. You can’t just say sorry for a known error that’s killed people, and have related errors still under investigations and needing to be paid back (let alone compensated) and still say you trust in the system and are happy to have it doing this because you aren’t turning your mind to it.
Suspend mutual obligations now, while you get your house in order. But why would you when nothing but promotions and excuses came from Robodebt.
And that’s before we actually talk about how much harm, rather than the expected help, is caused by “providers”.
(Preferably get rid of them altogether and create a voluntary, effective, public job-getting support service that people actually WANT to engage with)
But my updated GTA has downloaded and I’m gonna go cause some chaos.
Second last morning for my regular food bank this morning. After Wednesday 11/12 they reopen on January 6. Knowing them, they’ll be delivering emergency hampers this whole time. Emergency hampers not funded by the government, but from funds they’re raised through the year from community members and local businesses.
They’re frantically prepping for their Xmas party Sunday. They have gifts for 2000 kids and hundreds of hampers. They’re even doing gift cards for teens, getting donations for them from local businesses.
Another local foodbank closes Wed 18th at lunchtime, reopens January 13. Another weekly one does their last $15 hampers on the 19th and then comes back Jan 16.
Obviously, all these volunteers well and truly deserve a break, and school holidays and Christmas means less people available to help out. A few more just generally close for school holidays (so not back until February). So then, people are left to their own devices, a time when schools are closed, work schedules are thrown out (sometimes way more work sometimes way less), Centrelink reporting is earlier and people either get paid earlier with the public holidays or they miss the early reporting date and have to stretch til the payment comes through.
With Xmas approaching, a reminder that Centrelink reporting and payment dates are often earlier due to public holidays:
We also all know the chaos of holiday grocery shopping, even on more generous budgets.
So, on this day where Youth Payment indexation has been advertised – up to $24.30 extra a fortnight from Jan 1 – and organisations are asking the government to raise the rate of welfare payments, let’s aim for better and ask for ALL payments to be raised above the poverty line – at last $88 a day if we go with the Henderson Poverty Line. People need money to survive, they can’t actually access safety nets like food banks all year around, give them the dignity of choosing and buying their own food – for Christmas and for every day.
Indexation of welfare payments is legislated for, occurs twice a year for most payments on March and September 20, and once a year for youth payments on January 1. It’s not a real increase, and in fact as it’s calculated off already inferior payments that can’t even see the poverty line, people on them get further behind each time, and those on lower payments get less.
It’s the time of year where welfare advocates sigh and try to refute the narrative that this is somehow a cash splash and we’re all grateful and off living it up at the pub this weekend.
So, Labor got in in May 2022, my DSP and Rent assistance then was $881.80 a fortnight, it's now, 2.5 years later going to be $1061.60 a fortnight. $180 exactly increase a fn, $90 a week. 20.4% increase. https://t.co/mH4xItkPAtpic.twitter.com/KVYtpIq75j
The 10% increase of Commonwealth Rent Assistance (being touted by some pollies as 12% cos indexation also comes in) only applied to the 14% of welfare recipients who do get CRA, and doesn’t help millions of others at all – the ones not on leases, living in cars and on the street, trying to escape violence, people with mortgages trying to keep their homes.
This is a whopper of a lie. What the fuck are you talking about @AmandaRishworth?
It is NOT AT ALL TRUE that Commonwealth Rent Assistance 'drives down rents across the board'! That is staggeringly false.
So, in other news, I ventured to the new “NourishEd” food pantry in Toronto today. I got their $10 hamper and some things from the shelves for free. The local member also popped in while I was selecting free sanitary pads – Hi Dan! in his chat with the organisers they said how they’re ineligible for most grants as they’ve not been open a year. They also made me happy when they said that while it’s needed they’d love to NOT be needed ideally. I was a bit overwhelmed at that stage since I’d been out all morning so didn’t chime in, but yeah, I plan to talk to them further about lobbying for actual change and I do also want to talk to them about getting a Smart Recovery group going on site that they mentioned right when they started fundraising.
Got a weekend ahead cleaning – rental inspection Tuesday. Hopefully all will be well. My arms are tired from knocking down spiderwebs yesterday.
