[Greens-Media] More older Australians facing poverty on Newstart

[Redman, Chris (Sen R. Siewert)]

11 May 2014

More older Australians facing poverty on Newstart

The Australian Greens say that the Abbott Government's changes to pensions and the retirement age will lead to more older Australians in their 50s and 60s facing unemployment and poverty.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of older jobseekers living on Newstart Allowance over the last three years," Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson of family and community services said today.

"Newstart Allowance is now a harsh, long term reality for almost 200,000 Australians in their 50s and 60s, a number that has increased by more than 41% since 2010.

"There's no doubt that bad policies, like cuts to single parents and changes to eligibility of the disability support pension have contributed to this increase, and we're now on the verge of a series of cruel budget cuts that have the potential to dump more people onto Newstart.

"If the Abbott Government goes ahead with changes to the age pension and implements recommendations from the Commission of Audit, job seekers aged over 60 will lose their small additional Newstart supplement and people will be made to work until they are 70.

"The Commission of Audit failed to recognise that the best time to help people is when they first fall out of work and are job ready, instead, the Government are likely to deprive people of access to job services until they've run down their savings and in the poverty trap.

"Newstart is totally inadequate, at just over $36 a day, making it very tough to live on, especially for older job seekers who are more likely to be stuck on the payment for long periods of time. 41% of the people aged over 50 on Newstart have been receiving it for more than two years.

"Issues such as discrimination, fewer employment opportunities for older workers and inadequate job services make it tough for people forced out of the workforce to find new employment.

"Rather than working to address these issues, the Government is planning a series of cuts and making people work until they're 70.

"Helping older Australians back into the workforce protects them from poverty and boosts our national economy. It's been estimated that Australian suffers a $10.8 billion economic loss each year by not utilising the skills of older Australians.

"The Greens support calls from the Age Discrimination Commissioner for a National Mature Age Employment Plan, and have already proposed a range of measures that could underpin this approach.

"We have proposed a range of programs and legislative changes that would help older Australians in finding work.

"Under our plan, older job seekers will receive more intensive support as soon as they enter the job services system, and important issues like age discrimination and the need for flexible working arrangements will be addressed," Senator Siewert concluded.

The Greens' initiative will:
- Provide all eligible mature age job seekers with more intensive support (such as a minimum of Stream 2 assistance through Job Services Australia) as soon as they enter JSA system and ensure that specialist job services are available to older workers, such as those that can address other barriers to work such as partial disability or low educational achievements.
- Ensure that all job seekers over 45 are able to access re-training through their job service provider and are fully informed out their right to retraining funding.
-  Establish an expert panel to build on the work of the Greens-instigated Senate inquiry into the adequacy of Newstart, by investigating the current trends in unemployment and effectiveness of current system to achieve outcomes for older workers and the integration of JAS's with other training, work experience and social services.
- Continue funding to the Human Rights Commission's programs that tackle age discrimination in the workforce & continue programs that provide incentives to employers to take on an older worker.
- Coordinate action across jurisdictions to implement changes to workers compensation and work-related insurance, to remove unnecessary legal barriers to employing an older person.
- Secure the right to flexible work for all older workers, particularly carers.