This paper explores the idea of halving the JobSeeker payment but doubling its frequency from a fortnightly to weekly payment. The paper documents JobSeeker recipient spending patterns and finds they face more financial stress, experience greater spending volatility and withdraw higher rates of cash than New Zealand recipients who receive weekly payments.

This report examines affordability of rental properties for Australians who earn the lowest incomes, people on Commonwealth income support and minimum wage earners. Surveying the rental market for sixteen essential occupations, the report determines how many rental listings they could afford. It finds affordability was worst for early childhood educators, hospitality workers and meat packers.

Income apportionment was a long-standing practice of the Australian Government, dating back to the early 1990s, adopted to calculate social security debts. The historical use of income apportionment is now understood to be generally unlawful. This Impact Analysis considers a number of options for resolving historical debts calculated using income apportionment.

The Australian Government has announced a resolution scheme to address millions of potentially miscalculated social security debts resulting from income apportionment. Income apportionment is an unlawful method used to calculate social security debts for payment recipients with employment income prior to December 2020. This paper outlines the Government's response to the issue.

This paper highlights the inadequacy of the Australian welfare system for some groups and analyses how certain taxation and superannuation reforms could fund significant improvements in the financial position of Australians most in need. It proposes four budget-neutral policy options ranging from increasing working age payments through to a system-wide Guaranteed Minimum Income.