Stretching ourselves beyond reason to deliver government savings: a response to the Albanese’s first budget – part 3
In the wake of the budget, the Antipoverty Centre asked people on Centrelink payments – the real social policy experts – for their reactions. This is the third and final article in a short series. For reading related to this theme, the Antipoverty Centre work and care inquiry submission also addresses people on low incomes producing budget savings at great personal cost.
Anonymous, Carer Payment recipient
This contributor has shared an overview of how he and other carers performing unpaid labour save the government money, in a scenario where he was working in mainstream employment and accessing NDIS support for his child instead of being a full-time carer.
Warning involves maths 🙂
To cut down on having to many variables (days, weekends, nights) I have made calculations using a standard Monday to Friday working week.
I have based these workings on carer rates for half the time at 1:1 care ($50 per hour) and the other half at 1:3 care ($16.66 per hour). The job in this scenario pays $52,000 per year and the income tax on that is $7,367. This is just based on this household. For other households the needs of the person receiving care may vary from way more support or way less support.
If I got a job and gave up the Carer Payment I’d be saving the government $ 26,000 per year.
Now we’d need NDIS to cover the cost of providing care for my son while I work – 45 hours a week to cover working and travel time.
At current NDIS set rates that will cost:
$1,125 per week for 22.5 hrs 1:1 care
$375 per week for 22.5 hrs 1:3 care
That’s $1500 a week cost to the NDIS. The annual cost is $78,000.
Also needed are therapy lessons. One per fortnight is $290.99 or $7,565.74 per year. Then there’s 20 days of weekend respite at 1:2 care – $26,000 per year.
So: 78,000 + 7,565.74 + 26,000 = $111,565.74 each year in cost to the NDIS.
Minus the $26,000 that is saved by the government from me being off the Carer Payment, which brings it down to $85,565.74.
Then you have to factor in the income tax of $7,367 I’ll be paying.
$78,198.74 is how much it would cost the NDIS (government/taxpayer) per year if I went back to work. That amount is three times as much as what the Carer Payment is a year.
So excuse me if I get a little pissy when I’m told that I am selfish, only thinking about myself and that I should get a job to help contribute to society when I ask for the rate to be raised.
Anonymous, JobSeeker recipient
You can read more about this contributor’s situation and her experiences with Centrelink in the message she wrote to Amanda Rishworth for our Anti-Poverty week protest.
I am currently on JobSeeker, have a casual job and pick up any work that I can. I have multiple chronic health issues and I am a carer for my 18-year-old, who has been mostly bedbound for the last 4 years with ME/CFS (chronic fatigue). I can't in good conscience put my child on the roller coaster that is Youth Allowance and mutual obligations due to their health issues. We are currently getting assessments for DSP.
The cost of living is going up at a crazy rate, and, according to the federal treasurer, it's only going to go up more.
With the refusal to raise the rate of JobSeeker, I am having to draw on my superannuation on hardship grounds to meet basic expenses such as the rent. There are next to no rentals in my area, affordable or otherwise. I have already cut my expenses to the bare minimum.
When I contacted Centrelink to find out what impact drawing on my super would have, I was given incorrect information! They said I would have to report it as income, lowering my JobSeeker. This only added to my stress, which makes my health issues worse. It seemed wrong, and fortunately when I checked with a community legal centre they explained my super withdrawal won’t affect my payment.
This is the thing – I want to get off Centrelink, but I want to do it in a way that isn't going to send me further into burnout. I just need extra time and stress taken off.
When I was on Parenting Payment I started Business Mums Network, the first one in Australia. I ran it for over nine years and it was hugely successful. I know I can do it again; I just need time and support to start things up.
JobSeeker needs to be raised so I can take care of my health and my kids health, keep a roof over our heads, pay our bills, as well as have a better chance of finding employment and other opportunities to bring in income.
---
A number of people on Centrelink payments have also written longer reflections, which you can access below, or read the messages we delivered to social services Amanda Rishworth at a protest held to mark Anti-Poverty Week here.
Can’t eat resilience – Labor’s Budget had no pleasant surprises by @phonakins
This Twitter thread from @CuddlyCaracal (you don’t need to have a Twitter account to read it)
My budget reply by @artistaffame
---
The Antipoverty Centre was established by welfare recipients in 2021 to counter problems with academics, policymakers and other members of the political class making harmful decisions on behalf of the people they purport to represent. Sign up to receive their updates here.