The new social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, has acknowledged the financial situation for the “most vulnerable” Australians is “not improving” and conceded those in poverty have been hit hardest by the cost of living crisis.
Speaking to Guardian Australia, she insisted she “can’t commit” to increasing support for those on fixed incomes, such as below-the-poverty-line jobseeker and other welfare payments.
Addressing the social services sector at the Australian Institute of Family Studies conference on Thursday, Rishworth referred to a Smith Family survey showing that financial stress had worsened for families since the pandemic hit.
“This situation is not improving for our most vulnerable Australians,” Rishworth said. “The Covid-19 pandemic and the scale of the bushfires and floods over the past few years have impacted every Australian family to some degree. These challenges have had impacts on mental health, general health, education, work and daily life, but in particular, those experiencing poverty.”
Rent moratoriums and supplementary payments had “helped to lift or keep many families out of poverty, but these measures were only temporary”, she said.
“Of the 7.3 million families in Australia, a significant number are entrenched in long-term disadvantage. We know that rising house [costs] and costs of living are having a greater impact on those in deepest income disadvantage.”
She also acknowledged Foodbank research that estimated 1.2 million children were living in households that could not always access or afford enough food.
“We aren’t going to be able to fix all the problems quickly. And we won’t get anywhere by pretending these problems don’t exist, or by arguing about what is the definition of poverty; we just need to get on with it.”
Her comments came a day after the Fair Work Commission increased minimum wages by 5.2%, with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, welcoming the decision, saying: “It makes a difference to people who are struggling with the cost of living.”
The jobseeker rate is currently 41% of the minimum wage.
Speaking to Guardian Australia after her address, Rishworth said there were “a lot of things to fix” when it came to cost of living pressures.
“At the moment, there’s a lot of long-term structural things, such as energy, that have been completely ignored. We’re starting with that. And through every budget cycle, we’ll be looking at all our priorities.
“The previous government had left so many things that needed to be addressed, and we’re getting to work with it. But we can’t fix everything overnight.”
When asked if increases beyond inflation would be something welfare recipients could look forward to further down the track, Rishworth said: “I can’t commit to that.”
Last week, in an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Rishworth had said the forthcoming indexation increase on welfare payment rates in September would keep pace with the current rate of inflation, 5.1%.
Instead of welfare payments, the government was focusing on things such as healthcare costs, including the costs of medicine, childcare and early childhood learning, as ways to alleviate cost of living pressures, Rishworth said.
“We do need to prioritise investment in the early years, as a matter of urgency. We may not see those long-term gains for a while, but we have to start now,” she said in her speech.
The rates of First Nations children caught up in government systems and out of home care was also “of particular concern to the government”, Rishworth said.
In discussing the development of the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children, Rishworth told Guardian Australia she wanted to “make sure that all the intersectionalities” were examined and addressed in the plan.
“Where the rubber really hits the road is in the action plans negotiated with the states and territories. So I will be certainly working with stakeholders to make sure that we get the best possible outcomes in the action plans between states and territories and the commonwealth, to make sure we’re all working together.”
