Tag: indexation

Xmas Shutdown – Much needed time off for Volunteers, but here’s how long til the Food Banks reopen

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.

palates of standard $25 foodbank hampers

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.

last year's foodbank christmas hamper

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.

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.

Happy “Indexation Is Not An Increase” 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.

It also doesn’t fully come in for a month.

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.

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.

New welfare rates are detailed here.

Sure, I’ll answer some questions!

A journalism student sent me an email and asked me some great questions about welfare in this country. Since I got right into the answers, I though I’d share them here.
 
 
Firstly, one of the statements of yours that I found most interesting was a post you made on X regarding the federal government prioritizing quelling inflation and maintaining a surplus over raising welfare to a liveable standard. Do you believe that the Australian government prioritizes the aesthetics of certain macro-economic factors such as the lowering of inflationary statistics over adequately providing support for government assistance recipients? If so, what message does this send to those utilizing welfare payments?
 
The government and opposition both definitely prioritise the look of the main inflation rates, of interest rates, or employment and unemployment numbers over supporting those who are doing the heavy lifting on those numbers being what they are – the pensioners and other welfare recipients, along with minimum wage workers whose incomes cut them off welfare before they meet the poverty line let alone the cost of living in this country. The narrative of the dole bludger persists and is reinforced by the government. In the workforce Australia inquiry last year Julian Hill used that term when questioning witnesses, despite protesting that Labor were in favour of stopping that narrative
 
 
 
 
Additionally, do you believe that the current disability support pension, as well as the bi-yearly rate update system, are adequate in facing consistent cost of living pressures?
 
The bi-yearly update is fine, 3 monthly would catch us up faster though. As it is the fact that the indexation is only as a percentage of the person’s current payment mean the lower payments increase less even though they are further behind laready. The 12 monthly for youth payments is completely inadequate and yes another reason along with those payments being severely inadequate that youth payment rates for welfare need to be eliminated. The disability pension while above the rate of JobSeeker is not adequate to support a person with long term illness and disability, with estimates of a disabled person needing at least 50% extra disposable income than average to meet the extra costs that come with it. Also, any fiddling with the amount of hours disabled people and people on the aged pension or carers can work is meaningless to most on those payments as being disabled or a carer is a full time job already, and aged pensioners should be able to retire in peace, and use any extra energy for the things they enjoy, and often contribute unpaid to their families and communities through care and volunteering already.
 
 
 
And finally, how do you think failures in support impact government assistance recipients in times of economic stress such as this?
 
People are suicidal, to be blunt. Welfare recipients end their own lives at a much higher rate than those not trying to survive on these payments. The injection of cash during the Covid shutdowns that brought JobSeeker to the poverty line was a welcome relief, along with the suspension of harmful mutual obligations, that led to less suicides by people on welfare payments than outside that time. The informal and formal supports that others who are working and able to give money, time, share their resources with their neighbours is cut down when everyone else is cutting back on spending in order to survive themselves during rapid rent and mortgage rises and costs of essentials like food and energy leaving people struggling. It is offensive to see governments giving more money to increase the resources of food banks and other support that should be on the pointy end – money for overheads like huge warehouses or trucks to shuttle donated food around, staffed by volunteers and work for the dole who can’t afford to shop at supermarkets either, while these organisations solicit donations from people at the checkout and corporate donors and everyone gets a feel good photo. Politicians should be ashamed to expand these while not addressing the inadequacy of welfare payments.
 
I think I got carried away. You’re welcome.
 
Fiona