More than one million Australians will receive a welfare bump from January 1 to keep the support payments in line with the rising cost of living.
The annual indexation is given to those who rely on social security payments to keep in pace with inflation, but experts argue it’s still not enough.
Payments in 2025 will rise by 3.8 per cent, meaning youth allowance will jump from between $17.30 and $24.30 per fortnight and between $24.30 and $30.60 for single students.
Meanwhile, carers will be given an extra $5.80 per fortnight.
This will bump the fortnightly welfare allowance for carers to $159.30.
Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) chief executive Cassandra Goldie said the indexation still left some Australians well below the poverty line.
“Every dollar helps when you’re living in poverty – but we’ve now got students all over the country who routinely can not feed themselves,” she told 9News.
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Other criticism levelled at welfare payments is the fact indexation is only applied annually.
This means those on welfare are playing catch up throughout the year as the cost of basic necessities continue to rise.
“You’ve already had to spend the dollars as you’re trying to cover the essentials of life,” Goldie added.
“But the indexation comes at the end of the year.”
The indexation is set to apply on New Year’s Day 2025.
