The 2025 Federal Budget has not included any measures to increase Centrelink payments. Labor has thrown billions of dollars at HECS debts, cheaper medicines, childcare subsidies and energy rebates.

However, there won't be any more money allocated to the millions of Australians receiving social support payments from Services Australia. A poll of more than 3,600 Yahoo Finance readers found 40 per cent supported an increase to Centrelink payments (40 per cent).

Mission Australia's executive of practice, evidence and impact, Marion Bennett, told Yahoo Finance that JobSeeker was in desperate need of an increase.

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"We are certainly seeing many more people coming to us for help than ever before," she said.

"The cost of living is biting hard, and for people who are reliant on welfare payments, life is really tough.

"It's really hard to pay rent, plus pay bills, electricity and whatever, to put food on the table, to pay for medical and dental expenses, expenses and everything.

"And we're finding that more and more people are skipping meals so that they can pay the rent."

Do you have a Centrelink payment and want to share your thoughts on the 2025 Federal Budget? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com

More than 800,000 people are on JobSeeker, the second-biggest number of Centrelink recipients after the Age Pension.

Mission Australia backed the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee's latest report that said JobSeeker deserved to jump to 90 per cent of the pension.

That would increase the Centrelink payment from $56 per day to $74 per day.

The Australian Council of Social Services believed the daily amount should rise to at least $82.

Huge benefits to increasing Centrelink payments

The Committee's report found JobSeeker payments "continue to fall short of all benchmarks, creating sometimes severe hardship for our neediest citizens".

It found there were benefits to substantially increasing the Centrelink amount including:

• Increasing overall well-being in Australia

• Lowering spending on government services

• Improving recipients' mental health

• Allowing recipients to afford medical care and purchase medicines, which could raise their capacity to participate in paid work and community activities

• Improve the education of families on JobSeeker