Announcement date
8/05/2023
Link to announcement
https://www.pm.gov.au/media/extending-financial-safety-net-single-parents
Problem being addressed
Single parents with dependent children face additional barriers to entering the workforce. Currently, Parenting Payment (Single) recipients experience a drop in payment rate if they remain on income support when their youngest dependent child turns eight years of age. Welfare organisations and other stakeholders have identified a risk of entrenched disadvantage for single parent families under current support arrangements. The majority of single principal carers are women, with over 95 per cent of Parenting Payment (Single) recipients identifying as female.
Proposal
Expand support for single principal carers of a dependent child. The preferred policy proposal is to extend the eligibility for Parenting Payment (Single) to principal carers with a youngest child under 14 years of age (currently under 8 years of age) and maintain mutual obligations. The proposal extends the existing maximum basic rate of $922.10 per fortnight to the cohort with children age between 8 and 13 years (inclusive) – higher than the maximum basic rate for JobSeeker Payment recipients who are single, with dependent child or children ($745.20).
Assessed Impact Analysis outcome
Adequate
Assessment comments
The Impact Analysis would have benefited from more detailed analysis of the impacts to individual stakeholders, particularly females and indigenous stakeholders, and from a formal public consultation process.
Regulatory burden
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet estimates that the preferred option will not have a regulatory burden.