The Federal Government’s 2023-24 Budget includes an investment of $4.9 billion to increase working age and student income support payments, which will cover around 1.1 million Australians.
The base rate of JobSeeker Payment, Austudy and Youth Allowance payments will be increased by $40 per fortnight to eligible people, delivering a boost in support to those Australians most in need.
In addition, to recognise the challenges that older Australians can face in job seeking, such as age discrimination, the Federal Government is expanding the eligibility for the existing higher rate of JobSeeker to recipients aged 55 and over who have received the payment for nine or more continuous months, which currently applies to those aged 60 and over.
Around 52,000 eligible recipients will receive an increase in their base rate of payment of $92.10 per fortnight.
Payments will also continue to be automatically indexed to reflect changes in consumer prices.
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