Labor MPs who have advocated for an increase in the jobseeker base rate were mostly unimpressed by the prospect of their government limiting the raise to those aged over 55 in the upcoming federal budget.
Concerns are also growing that any changes to commonwealth rental assistance will also fall along generational divides and be lower than what is needed to meet the rising cost of housing, with a 25% increase firming as the likely figure, when advocates had called for 50%.