I am a sole parent mum with a young son who is in primary school. In April this year, the home I grew up in and lived in for decades was sold by my father who lives interstate, and I only found out after the settlement. My son and I are now facing imminent homelessness.
My son has serious health issues, including multiple food allergies, anaphylaxis and asthma, that have constrained my ability to look for and secure paid employment. Since last year, I have been transferred from the parenting payment single to the jobseeker payment, which is substantially lower. This payment, which was designed to support an out-of-work adult, is now expected to be enough for a parent and child to live on – an impossibility with the exorbitant cost of rent these days.
