Amidst rising rental prices and skyrocketing inflation, financial planner Jen McDowell said finding a way to cover basic living expenses while on a disability support pension has "definitely" been a challenge.
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"I have a flat mate which is not something I would have expected to still be in that situation at almost 50 [...] and I will most likely need to advertise soon for a second flat mate," the Dubbo local told the Daily Liberal.
"I've had to take a financial hardship payment out of my super but that's already starting to get low - and I can only get one every 12 months so a second flat mate is really my only option to be able to continue covering costs."
This week, the federal opposition announced they would be backing the government's budget promise to boost social security payments including JobSeeker, youth allowance and Austudy by $40 a fortnight.
The decision to back Labor's plan comes despite members of the coalition - including member for Parkes Mark Coulton - criticising the budget as not being in the interests of "working Australians".
While disability support recipients like Ms McDowell will not benefit from this, the government has promised a 15 per cent increase in the cap on Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) - the largest in more than 30 years.
Currently the maximum rate of commonwealth rent assistance is $157.20 a fortnight, the promised boost would ease recipients' rental burden by an additional $23.58.
![People line up at the Centrelink office on Wingewarra Street in Dubbo. Picture from file People line up at the Centrelink office on Wingewarra Street in Dubbo. Picture from file](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/137578502/cdb090da-af62-4093-968e-79c12bb66a0d.png/r84_96_1207_812_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Ms McDowell welcomed the increase, however, she thinks it does not go far enough.
"I have a rent increase coming up of $30 a week, so it will help cover that but not cover it completely," she said.
"I haven't had to [make tough decisions] as much because of the financial hardship payment. But that was supposed to last me for 12 months and it's not going to, so I'm definitely going to have to."
"Sitting down and working it all out - some of my medications are not on the [Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme] so I have to pay the full price for them so I got to the point at one stage there was one fortnight where I really thought I was going to have to make the decision between medication and food."
In Dubbo, the median rental price for a two bedroom unit is $320 a week. For a house that increases to $350 a week. Ms McDowell worries that if her rent is pushed higher, and she has to move out, that she won't be able to find somewhere else in the area to live.
"There are people in the community group for local renters who have been looking for two years. Prices keep going up and vacancies keep going down," she said.
"There is no way that I could afford to rent a place on my own."
Ms McDowell ended up on disability support payments after an accident at home in 2014 left her with a chronic pain condition and unable to work full time. However, she has only been receiving disability support payments since September last year.
"At about 6:30am in the morning that day my life changed forever," she said.
"My work - when I am able to work - is in financial planning - and the amount of people who say they don't need insurance... if I didn't have income protection insurance to get me through those years I would have been back in Sydney begging my parents to take me in."
As well as the increase to Commonwealth Rental Assistance and income support payments, the coalition says they will back Labor's move to lower the threshold for the extra $92.10 a fortnight received by older people from 60 to 55.
But the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) say these promises fall short of what is needed to lift income support recipients out of poverty.
"...The real increases to base rates of JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and Rent Assistance will still leave more than one million people in poverty, unable to afford three meals a day and a roof over their head," ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie said.
"Whilst every dollar counts, the $20 a week increase to JobSeeker and related payments is well below the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee's finding that it needs to rise by at least $128 a week to ensure people can cover the basics."
"ACOSS's budget ask was for [rental assistance] to be doubled to reflect the cost of rents paid by people on low incomes, alongside lifting JobSeeker and related payments to at least $76 a day."
Ms McDowell said would also like to see the government make a bigger commitment to support payments and move to implement a pause to rental price increases.
"I feel like the government is penalising people - it's easy enough to end up out of a job through no fault of your own and then to feel like you're being looked down on... like you're undeserving to meet basic living standards," she said.
"It should be more, especially for people on JobSeeker. I would be willing to sacrifice the extra increase myself if it meant people on JobSeeker would get it."
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