3 years ago
UP TO 400,000 AUSTRALIANS COULD BE MADE TO WAIT
LINDA BURNEY MP
Up to 400,000 Australians could be forced to wait up to over three months before they can access JobSeeker, when the Government resumes the liquid asset waiting period tomorrow.
Under the liquid assets waiting period, singles with as little as $5,500 in liquid assets must wait to access income support. Those with $11,500 or more will be forced to wait 13 weeks.
Liquid assets can include savings; a redundancy that is owed but not yet paid; loans to family members; or superannuation that has been accessed early.
Australians will be expected to draw down on their savings before they can access help.
All of this begins tomorrow, when the liquid assets waiting period resumes, after having been suspended since March, due to the pandemic.
While the waiting period only applies to Australians applying for JobSeeker (and not those already on JobSeeker), the Government expects another 400,000 Australians to lose their jobs by the end of the year.
This means up to 400,000 Australians could be impacted by the waiting period.
Over the past six months extraordinary uncertainty has seen a record number of Australians withdraw their superannuation early. Australians who accessed their superannuation early will be forced to run-it-down before they can access income support.
This also comes at the same time as cuts to JobKeeper payments – which will likely see the many people pushed onto unemployment payments for the first time.
To add insult to injury, the Government still has plans to double the liquid assets waiting period to up to 26 weeks – or six months.
The Government wants to force struggling Australians to eat through their savings before they can access income support.
Now is not the time to resume the liquid assets waiting period. We ask the Government to extend the suspension of the waiting period.
And we call on the Government to withdraw its bill to double the liquid assets waiting period from the parliament.
Under the liquid assets waiting period, singles with as little as $5,500 in liquid assets must wait to access income support. Those with $11,500 or more will be forced to wait 13 weeks.
Liquid assets can include savings; a redundancy that is owed but not yet paid; loans to family members; or superannuation that has been accessed early.
Australians will be expected to draw down on their savings before they can access help.
All of this begins tomorrow, when the liquid assets waiting period resumes, after having been suspended since March, due to the pandemic.
While the waiting period only applies to Australians applying for JobSeeker (and not those already on JobSeeker), the Government expects another 400,000 Australians to lose their jobs by the end of the year.
This means up to 400,000 Australians could be impacted by the waiting period.
Over the past six months extraordinary uncertainty has seen a record number of Australians withdraw their superannuation early. Australians who accessed their superannuation early will be forced to run-it-down before they can access income support.
This also comes at the same time as cuts to JobKeeper payments – which will likely see the many people pushed onto unemployment payments for the first time.
To add insult to injury, the Government still has plans to double the liquid assets waiting period to up to 26 weeks – or six months.
The Government wants to force struggling Australians to eat through their savings before they can access income support.
Now is not the time to resume the liquid assets waiting period. We ask the Government to extend the suspension of the waiting period.
And we call on the Government to withdraw its bill to double the liquid assets waiting period from the parliament.