Really? Lots of back-slapping and no doubt high-fives in Canberra this week after the release of the long awaited review of JobSeeker. $307.85 a week – that’s $149.15 below the accepted poverty line in Australia. And there’s more … from 1 July recipients must apply for a minumum of 20 jobs and if a person on JobSeeker declines a job offer the employer can report them under what’s already been labelled DobSeeker.

Think about $307.85 a week next time you’re paying $3.50 for your latte.

The national average median rent in Australia (unit) is $447/wk and the average mortgage is $405/wk. Now add basic food costs. Maybe you’ll need a mobile so you can call employers or they can call you. You’ll need internet as you’re expected to search for work and apply for 20 jobs/mth, qualified or not. You’ll need to attend face:face interviews with providers to keep your JobSeeker payments, so you’ll need transport.

Most people who found themselves unemployed in the past 12 months were faultless. Jobs simply evaporated & while we are seeing a recovery the shift is casual/PT & there’s still a yawning gap in what was & what is.

Truth is Australia has one of the worst safety nets in the world for unemployed people. That’s something we should all consider as just not good enough.