Centrelink changes Australians need to know about as payments rise

Unemployment benefits in Australia from Centrelink would barely cover the rent in most big cities – but some welfare recipients will get a small boost on New Year’s Day.

However, those without a job or on low incomes can still qualify for Commonwealth rent assistance to cover some of the costs of living. 

Then there is the newborn bonus and hardships payments in the thousands helping the parents of the stillborn and farmers battling floods. 

For the unemployed, the fortnightly JobSeeker payment of $629.50 equates to $314.75 a week for a single person with no children.

This drops to $573.30 a fortnight, or $286.65 each week, if they are in a relationship.

Unemployed, single parents and those over 60 without sufficient work are entitled to to $676.80 a fortnight or $338.40 a week.

This rises to $862.10 a fortnight or $431.05 a week for an unemployed, primary carer looking after a large family or foster children.

To qualify for Centrelink payments, someone can’t be in a full-time job but can be working part-time or casual hours, with payments cutting out completely once a certain income level is reached.

Those who lose their job or have an injury that stops them from working are also eligible for JobSeeker, previously known as Newstart. 

Recipients must also be at least 22 and younger than the pension age of 66.

The weekly dole for most JobSeeker recipients is less than Melbourne’s median weekly apartment rent of $372.70 – the only capital city where leasing costs have fallen during the past year, SQM Research data for December showed.

Even if an unemployed Australian moved to a cheaper unit, they still wouldn’t have enough to pay for food, along with the electricity, gas and phone bills unless they lived in a share house or with their parents.

That means they could apply for rent assistance of $142.80 a fortnight to cover a lease of at least $318 a fortnight. 

Even with rent assistance, the jobless would have a marginally better chance in Adelaide where the mid-point weekly rent for a unit is $336.70 but would still struggle in Sydney ($475.30), Brisbane ($399.90), Perth ($398.50), Canberra ($529.90), Darwin ($458.30) and Hobart ($434.70).

That is less than Melbourne’s median weekly apartment rent of $372.70 in the only capital city where leasing costs have fallen during the past year, SQM Research data for December showed. Even if an unemployed Australian moved to a cheaper unit, they still wouldn’t have enough to pay for food, along with the electricity, gas and phone bills unless they lived in a share house or with their parents (pictured is a house for lease in Melbourne)

Outside of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, rental vacancy rates are well below one per cent, giving the unemployed little leeway to negotiate.

Someone on the dole would really have trouble paying off a mortgage, even with record-low interest rates.

In November, Australia’s median house and unit price stood at $698,170 following an annual rise of 22.2 per cent marking the fastest pace of growth since 1989, CoreLogic data showed. 

So with a 20 per cent deposit, a borrower with a $558,536 loan would owe $2,176 a month or $491.35 a week to the Commonwealth Bank, even with an ultra-low 2.39 per cent variable rate. 

At least the labour market is in good shape with Australia having an unemployment rate of just 4.6 per cent in November.

Job vacancies last month also rose to a 13-year high of 252,312 available positions with record-high employment ads in the Australian Capital Territory, National Skills Commission data showed.

Victoria, Queensland and South Australia have the highest job vacancies since 2008.

The full-time minimum wage of $772.60 a week or $40,175.20 a year, for 38 hours of a week of work, is more than double the dole and hospitality venues are struggling to recruit enough staff, following the end of lockdowns.

At least the labour market is in good shape with Australia having an unemployment rate of just 4.6 per cent in November. Job vacancies last month also rose to a 13-year high of 252,312 available positions with record-high employment ads in the Australian Capital Territory, National Skills Commission data showed (pictured is a woman serving takeaway alcohol at Dee Why on Sydney’s Northern Beaches)

But a surge in Omicron infection rates, with a record 12,226 new daily Covid cases recorded in New South Wales as of Thursday, is also creating volatility in customer-facing jobs, which could see more people need unemployment benefits to cope with losing their job or working hours.

Those who can’t secure full-time work are entitled to JobSeeker but the payments cut out completely once certain income levels from their part-time and casual jobs are reached.

For a single Australian with no children, that threshold is $1,231.50 a fortnight or $32,019 a year.

That rises to $1,881.25 a fortnight, for a salary of $48,912.50, for single parents with a dependent child younger than 16.

An older, single person older than 60 can earn up to $1,321.84 a fortnight or $34,367.84 a year.

Those in a relationship can earn up to $1,136.34 a fortnight or $29,544.84 a year but their spouse or significant other can’t earn more than $2,105.67 a fortnight or $54,747.42 if the attached JobSeeker recipient earns less than $150 a fortnight. 

Under a Centrelink liquid assets test, the unemployed have to wait one to 13 weeks to receive the dole depending on how much they have in the bank either by themselves or in a joint account.

Single, unemployed people with more than $11,500 in savings have to wait 13 weeks if they are applying for JobSeeker, the Youth Allowance or Austudy and have no children.

The waiting time is waived if an unemployed person has less than $5,500 in the bank. 

Unemployment benefits rise twice a year, on March 20 and September 20, which means Australia’s 636,700 people without a job have to budget harder for at least another two months.

But on January 1, more than a million students, Youth Allowance recipients and carers will get a boost as their welfare benefits are increased by 3.5 per cent, as part of an indexation for inflation.

Youth Allowance recipients living away from home and older students receiving Austudy will see their fortnightly payments increase by $17.70 to $537.40 or $268.70 a week. 

University students living at home will see their Youth Allowance increase by $12.40 to $371.60 a fortnight or $185.80 a week. 

The Carer Allowance is increasing by $4.60 a fortnight to $136.50 or $68.25 to help those who looking after a loved one who is old, ill or has a disability. 

Hardship help of another kind is also available for New South Wales farmers affected by the November floods, with Emergency Management, National Recovery and Resilience Minister Bridget McKenzie on Wednesday announcing $50,000 grants to help them salvage damaged crops, rebuild fences and replace machinery (pictured is Bedgerabong farmer Scott Darcy)

Welfare starts at the beginning of life too with parents entitled to a lump sum $575 tax-free payment, known as the Newborn Upfront Payment.

After that, they get $1,725 Newborn Supplement for a first child and $576 for a second child. 

As a result of the pandemic, the country’s fertility rate of 1.58 babies for every woman in 2020 was the lowest in records going back to 1932, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed.

When John Howard’s government introduced a $3,000 baby bonus in July 2004, Australia’s fertility rate had fallen to 1.78.

The federal government also offers hardship payments with $3,606.81 for each stillborn baby.

Hardship help of another kind is also available for New South Wales farmers affected by the November floods, with Emergency Management, National Recovery and Resilience Minister Bridget McKenzie on Wednesday announcing $50,000 grants to help them salvage damaged crops, rebuild fences and replace machinery. 

Outside of a natural disaster, primary producers can claim a $10,000 Farm Household Allowance to help develop skills, access training and pay for professional advice.