The Albanese government has been told to take “urgent action” on poverty in the May budget after an inquiry heard evidence of women using rags because they could not afford pads or tampons, and people on income support struggling to survive.
Released on Thursday, days out from the federal budget, an interim report from a Senate inquiry investigating poverty in Australia detailed evidence income support payments were “insufficient to meet the cost of essential, day-to-day goods and services, including food, rent, energy and healthcare”.
It follows a report from the government’s own economic inclusion advisory committee that called for a substantial increase to jobseeker and comes amid expectations the government will confine an increase to those over 55.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has not confirmed the move, saying only there would be a range of measures to address cost of living and disadvantage in the budget. The government is also expected to raise the children’s eligibility age for the single parenting payment to 14, and has not ruled out changes to rent assistance.
The Senate committee examining poverty said there was “significant evidence before it regarding the relationship between income support payments and poverty, as well as the need for reform”.
The report said the daily struggle experienced by those in poverty was “dehumanising and demoralising for recipients and their families”.
One woman, Rita, who appeared at a hearing in Murray Bridge, South Australia, said poverty was not “just about being hungry”.
“Poverty is being a woman and having to wear bits of rag when you have your period because you can’t afford pads or tampons,” she said, adding that it also meant rationing medication and being unable to afford dental care, among other struggles.
The inquiry heard how a single father, Mick, often ran out of money in the second fortnight of his Centrelink pay cycle. He was unable to afford transport to job interviews and could not attend interviews beyond walking distance.
Andrew Lawrence, a member of the Australian Unemployed Workers Union, said the low rate of income support was also a barrier to finding work.
“If I get a job interview, I can’t just pull the money I need to get a haircut and a nice shirt for the interview and get my suit dry-cleaned,” Lawrence said.
Two individuals quoted in the interim report said they had started living on the streets because they could not afford rent in the private market.
One of those people, Len, said: “At 58, I just couldn’t see a future … I thought: Well, there’s no other option. I’ve got to go out on the streets. I can’t pay the rent.”
Describing his first night on the streets, Len said: “I just got behind a little wall there – no one was there, because it was an office – and I just laid on the cold concrete. That’s how I spent the first night – a Friday night – just laying on concrete. I didn’t sleep. I was just drifting in and out of consciousness.”
Another witness, Jennifer, said there were intergenerational impacts of poverty, describing years living on the streets and in a caravan park.
“[My son] didn’t know we were homeless,” she said. “I had to bring him back to Adelaide because he had to go to school, and we still had nowhere to live. I was lucky that I got a place in the Middle Beach caravan park. He then had to move schools. My son, who is now 24, is still experiencing homelessness.”
The Senate committee called on the government to take “urgent action so that Australians are not living in poverty”, including through measures in the May budget that “specifically target rising inequality and entrenched disadvantage, including through the income support system”.
The inquiry was chaired by the Greens senator Janet Rice but had a Labor majority.
Rice said the Albanese government could not morally justify inaction on jobseeker. The Greens want welfare payments increased to $88 a day, up from the current level of $50.
“If Labor does choose to raise the rate of jobseeker for people over 55, that’s a welcome step,” Rice said. “But we don’t accept that we can’t afford to raise the rate for everyone.”
The economic inclusion committee said the rate should be lifted to 90% of the value of the aged pension, which would cost $24bn over four years.
