SACOSS CEO Ross Womersley has welcomed last night’s Budget Statement from ACOSS and noted that while there were several welcome initiatives (eg addressing superannuation tax breaks for the rich, getting global companies to pay their fair share of tax and changing work for the dole), he felt the most concerning thing was the absence of any discussion and intervention on three main fronts.
First, there was no increase to basic income support payments like Newstart and Youth Allowance which are vital to helping people endure periods of extended unemployment and as a means to boost productivity. This budget again failed to deliver any meaningful increase to these allowances – in fact it reduces them by withdrawing carbon price compensation for future applicants.
"This is a particular concern to South Australians because we have an economy that is not growing, and regrettably we have the highest rate of unemployment in the nation," says Womersley.
"We should be doing everything we can to ensure people are well supported, get access to training opportunities and remain engaged so that when jobs do become available they will be ready to put their best foot forward," he says.
"In this context we welcome overdue changes to the failing work for the dole arrangements. We remain hopeful that this reorientation will help young people prepare to work, but our remaining fear is that there won't necessarily be jobs for them to move into. We welcome the additional $100 p/wk income support boost for young people undertaking any internship but note that for a 25hr week, their effective pay is just $4 per hour."
Secondly, the budget contained no initiatives to address housing affordability nor any measures that secure funding support to services for the homelessness into the future. SA’s social housing infrastructure has been shrinking and housing affordability is a major concern.
"Homelessness, like so many other areas of social service, will exist for a long time to come. SA urgently needs investments that create affordable housing infrastructure and federal-state funding arrangements that gives security to services that help people who become homeless when things go wrong in their lives," says Womersley.
Thirdly, on top of the $80 billion in cuts to health and education by Treasurer Hockey in 2014, this budget also effectively locks in $13 billion in cuts to family payments, income support and paid parental leave as well as vital community services. These cuts are unreasonable and will have drastic consequences for some of the most disadvantaged South Australians.
"I commend the more detailed Budget Statement developed by ACOSS and now as we hurtle towards a federal election, I call on all our political parties to commit to concrete action to address the inadequacy of Newstart, issues of housing affordability and homelessness services, and cuts to vital community services – especially in a context of the very real challenges facing South Australia today," Womersley says.