Advocates have warned the Albanese government against adopting a “half measure” of restoring single-parent payments only until children reach high school age.
The women’s economic equality taskforce recently recommended reversing a Gillard government-era decision that reduced the age of children whose parents qualify for single-parent payments from 16 to eight.
Under the current scheme, single parents, most of whom are women, receive about $961 a fortnight, but are shifted to jobseeker when their child turns eight, receiving about $176 less a fortnight.
The Albanese government has promised to support the most vulnerable and is understood to be preparing to raise the eligibility age, although the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has said it “can’t do everything at once”, hinting the changes may be phased in or the threshold restored to an intermediate age.
The chair of the taskforce, Sam Mostyn, has said such a move would see “families falling back into poverty”, while the chief executive of Single Mothers Australia, Terese Edwards, has said it would be “cruel and demeaning” to reduce payments once children reach 12 years old.
On Tuesday Nine newspapers reported cabinet will consider restoring the single-parent payment until children turn 12, prompting calls to lift the threshold to at least 14 years old.
Mostyn said “for all the benefits that come from reinstating the eligibility age to 16 it would be a shame if there were a half measure that could see children, as they transition to high school, in families falling back into poverty.”
She said the taskforce would be “disappointed” if the age fell short of 16 years old, particularly as “children around the age of 12 and 13 are just getting sorted for high school, a major transition”.
Mostyn said “the impact of poverty at that age can have a deeply scarring effect on those children.”
Edwards, another taskforce member, said she was “really distressed and disappointed” the government was considering an intermediate eligibility age, saying it would be a “complete disaster” for single parents.
She said that reducing payments at 12 years old would be “to pick an arbitrary figure” which “comes without any evidence, it’s a fail”.
“It may reduce some of the political heat – but it doesn’t help the functioning and health of families,” she said.
Edwards accused the government of “flying the kite to see what the responses are” resulting in “distressed” phone calls from single mothers.
“They’ll read about the payment going up to age 12, and say ‘my child is 14 and they’re suffering from PTSD from family violence – this won’t help,’” she said. “Or ‘I have twins with disabilities, my kids are 15, but they have needs that are not commensurate of that age, they need me to be here.’”
Advocates say restoring the payment will help single mothers continue education and training, and cite evidence that 300,000 women are unable to escape family and domestic violence due to their financial situation.
On Sunday the finance minister and minister for women, Katy Gallagher, said the government is “seriously considering” the eligibility age for single-parent payments but the outcome would be set out in the budget.
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, said the government is “committed to addressing disadvantage and boosting economic inclusion”.
