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The Latest Breaking News from Kristin OConnell

Centrelink threatening payment suspensions at rate of five a minute, new analysis suggests

Exclusive: As jobseekers continue to have payments suspended, advocates call for the regime to be stopped until it’s proven to be lawful

The Guardian - AU

Sometimes defective, maybe unlawful: what can be done about Australia’s crisis-ridden welfare system?

Run by multiple departments and hundreds of private companies, advocates warn errors will continue to rock a system ‘in crisis’

The Guardian - AU

Centrelink illegally cancelled Daniel’s jobseeker payment. He fought back against the system – and won

After taking his case to the administrative review tribunal, Daniel’s complaint then went to the commonwealth ombudsman, which is now investigating Centrelink

The Guardian - AU

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More than 300,000 Australians had Centrelink payments cancelled illegally, new analysis shows

Peak body for community legal centres finds number of payments suspended due to IT glitch higher than department initially identified

The Guardian - AU

Matt lives in an affluent Brisbane suburb but can only afford one meal a day. A new report shows he’s not alone

Australians on the lowest incomes have been priced out of renting in almost every part of the country, Everybody’s Home finds

The Guardian - AU

Alice lives off-grid, but not by choice. ‘Hecs for households’ could radically improve her dilapidated home

For most of her life she’s lived without running water, electricity and a fridge. Her toilet is often clogged so she goes to the bathroom in the bush

The Guardian - AU

Centrelink jobseeker payments suspended more than 450,000 times in three months

Exclusive: New figures reveal mutual obligations system responsible for the vast majority of welfare suspensions

The Guardian - AU

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Hours on hold, repeated calls, months of delay: Maryanne’s struggle to get urgent jobseeker payments

Even as a former staff member, Maryanne Watts was shocked at how long it took to get urgent assistance. Experts says she is not alone

The Guardian - AU

Prime minister flags future changes to JobSeeker and other support payments

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is defending an increase to government support payments, but says "reform is never done" and JobSeeker may be revisited in future budgets, as social advocates say less than $3 a day extra is "insulting".

ABC News

Commonwealth rent assistance has no effect on Australia’s housing affordability, Anglicare says

Report finds that not only is CRA inadequate in alleviating rental stress, but that the way it’s calculated neglects those most in need

The Guardian - AU

‘It’s obscene’: ATO still chasing $2bn in student debt from controversial 1990s loan scheme

More than 140,000 people who traded welfare payments for loans are still repaying them decades later

The Guardian - AU

Mutual obligations processes tightened after Legalise Cannabis NSW allowed to use Centrelink recipients as volunteers

The government cracks down on which organisations can use job seekers chasing mutual obligations points as volunteers, after questions from the ABC led to an admission it mistakenly approved a political party.

ABC News

Poverty leaves Canberrans 'on the edge': Alicia Payne

Labor MP Alicia Payne and Liberal MP Bridget Archer will co-chair a parliamentary friendship group focused on ending poverty.

The Canberra Times

'Spiralling' demand for help as living costs increase

Welfare support organisations are facing huge demand for services as cost of living increases hit low-income households, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.

AAP

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The Guardian - AU

‘They bleed you dry’: the recruitment scammers preying on Australian job seekers

As cybercriminals increasingly target the job market, antipoverty advocates say punitive welfare rules leave job seekers particularly vulnerable

ABC News

Digital hoarding could be linked to anxiety, say some researchers, and technology may be to blame

Researcher Darshana Sedera says digital hoarding is a concerning condition that could be linked to anxiety, but others say holding onto digital items can be helpful.

The Guardian - AU

‘They miss out’: soaring rents and insufficient support force more uni students in Australia to live with parents

‘Generational shift’ in share accommodation as housing crisis puts young people under ‘enormous pressure’

Pedestrian.tv

The Govt’s Workforce Incentives Bill Is An Insult To Every Welfare Recipient Under 66 Years Old

The Government's Workforce Incentives Bill allows age pensioners to work and earn more. But it's left other welfare recipients in poverty.

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The Guardian - AU

Labor drops plan to reduce access to disability pension for drug and alcohol-related conditions

Albanese government backs away from controversial change as part of once-in-a-decade review of disability pension eligibility criteria

ABC News

Why are millions of Australians still living in poverty? Experts say it's solvable

Experts say Australia needs to develop an official "poverty line", with at least 3.3 million people currently stuck in severe hardship.

The Guardian - AU

Renting to the highest bidder: calls for federal laws to ban practice amid Australia’s cost-of-living crisis

It’s a landlord’s market, as hundreds queue to rent properties with negotiable prices that many simply can’t afford

The Guardian - AU

Peak unemployment bodies say raising jobseeker rate should take priority over lifting pension income test

‘Completely around the wrong way’ to allow pensioners to work more without losing pay while jobseeker remains unchanged, advocates say

The Guardian - AU

Rising food prices hit every supermarket aisle putting pressure on low-income families

Soaring cost of produce in Australia has ‘exacerbated health inequality’ and leads researchers to call for farmers to be subsidised

The New Daily

Mutual obligations are being overhauled. Job seekers are confused and fearful

Job seekers fear they could lose access to their income support payments amid an overhaul of a key Centrelink program affecting thousands of people.

ABC News

Fear and confusion from jobseekers as 'dramatic' changes to Centrelink mutual obligations loom

Major changes to employment services begin in under a month – but many of the 800,000 jobseekers who’ll be affected are still unclear on exactly how.

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