JobKeeper and JobSeeker to be extended beyond September at lower rate with stricter eligibility - SBS News

JobKeeper and JobSeeker are set to be extended beyond their September deadline, but will be paid at a lower rate and face stricter eligibility tests. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will announce the future of the wage subsidy program and the $550 coronavirus supplement in Canberra on Tuesday, ahead of Thursday's July Economic and Fiscal Update.

But SBS News understands the payments will continue at their current rates until their 27 September deadline, before moving into another phase of support.

The payments will then be paid at a lower level than currently with their eligibility criteria also amended to ensure support only goes to those the government considers still require assistance.

This will include JobKeeper being adapted to a new two-tiered payment system to more closely reflect the incomes of employees who previously worked fewer hours.

The government has been considering how to adapt the program to ensure businesses and employees still requiring support receive it, while those who have bounced back are no longer considered eligible.

Prime Minister Morrison on Monday said the "next phase" being considered by government was needed to continue to minimise the impact of COVID-19.

"It will be targeted, it will be temporary, it will be effective as the first round has been," he told reporters.

"It is hard to say how many phases there will be because there are so many uncertainties with COVID-19."

The decision to extend JobKeeper and JobSeeker schemes comes after months of pressure from industry groups and the Australian Council of Trade Unions warning against support measures "falling off a cliff" in September. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government is rolling out a "series of phases" of support.

AAP

In the face of an anticipated sharp jump in unemployment, the federal government introduced the wage subsidy at a flat rate of $1,500 a fortnight. It also doubled the JobSeeker payment to around $1,100.

The payments have been the cornerstone of the government's economic response aimed at shielding and supporting Australians through the coronavirus pandemic.

The unemployment rate has already jumped to a 22-year high of 7.4 per cent and is set to go even higher.

There are now 992,000 people officially unemployed, surpassing the 960,000 record set in December 1992.

But the jobless rate would be almost 12 per cent but for the exclusion of 230,000 people who were considered employed in June, but did not work one hour as they are being supported by the government's JobKeeper program.

Economist Stephen Koukoulas told SBS News the government was right to consider tweaking the program, but must ensure businesses and employees still needing support receive it.

"The economy is still in a lot of trouble, we are still a long way from any recovery at all to be blunt," he said. 

"I would like to see still a very generous treatment of the JobKeeper program that those businesses and those people that need it - definitely get it.

"But I can understand why they want to hone it in a little bit and just target it a little more specifically."

It's estimated JobKeeper has kept around three million Australians in work, while around 1.6 million are currently receiving JobSeeker payments. 

But the opposition has criticised aspects of the government's JobKeeper wage subsidy such as leaving out workers, such as casuals, who had been employed for less than 12 months with one employer.

Labor Leader Anthony Albanese said the opposition would carefully scrutinise any further proposed changes.

"We'll examine any changes that are made to JobKeeper and JobSeeker," he said. 

"We can't afford to just leave people behind because people are continuing to go through difficult circumstances."

Leader of the Opposition Anthony Albanese.

AAP

Economic modelling had suggested over half million Australians would be thrown into poverty if the JobSeeker dole payment returned to pre-COVID-19 pandemic level of $40 a day.

The progressive think tank the Australia Institute estimated it would push more than 650,000 Australians into recession, including 120,000 children aged under 14.

Australian Council of Social Services CEO Cassandra Goldie told SBS News the social security payment needed to remain available at an increased level for those that need it.

"This is a crucial lifeline payment for people we need to make sure that anybody who needs it is getting it," she said. 

"It is clear that we cannot go back to that brutal $40 a day by people affected by this massive job loss situation."

There has been widespread calls for some time for the dole payment to be increased from its pre-pandemic level of $40 a day, including from the Business Council of Australia, ACOSS, Deloitte Access Economics, the Reserve Bank, as well as from Labor and the Greens.

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2020-07-20 07:06:55Z
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