But recipients, like Damien, told Yahoo Finance the "paltry" March indexation won't help with their current struggle to afford food or pay for medication. The 62-year-old, who has been on JobSeeker since 2019, tried to break out of the welfare cycle last year.
But his $400-a-week earnings from a part-time job at a local store would've slashed his Centrelink payments and pushed up his social housing rent, which is calculated as a portion of your income.
He quit after a couple of months as it "wasn't worth the trouble" and tore into the "pointless" pay bump hitting accounts this week.
"I just scoffed at it. I just feel like not accepting it. It's not going to do us any benefit at all," he said.
"$3.10 isn't even a litre of milk. We're supposed to be the lucky country."
Do you have a story? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com
Damien pays $204.80 per fortnight to live in Perth social housing.
He has just been informed that his rent will be go up to $212.40 a fortnight in May.
This will outstrip the JobSeeker increase and leave him $4.50 worse off.
'One meal per day': Damien isn't alone in his struggles
Disabled pensioner Trudi, who also lives in government housing told Yahoo Finance that every time her Centrelink payments go up, so does her rent.
"We get absolutely nothing, it's bulls**t," she said.
"The government is slapping itself on the back, beating its chest... it's not enough, it will never be enough."
Emily, 25, told Yahoo Finance she was sick of being stuck in survival mode, being forced to choose between basics like food, medication or petrol.
"I am living on one meal per day," Emily said.
"My rent is 55 per cent of my calculated income.
"If I run out of both my medications at around the same time, I must choose between medicine for my chronic pain or medication for my PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome).
"Sometimes, it comes down to almost a week's worth of food, or half a tank of petrol."
Emily said she can not afford internet and often struggles to pay $22 to recharge her phone for 28 days so she can "stay in contact with my loved ones".
"This is my reality, and the reality of countless others," the 25-year-old said.
JobSeeker not keeping up with the cost of living
Damien said when he first got on JobSeeker, it was just enough to get by, but he still had to dip into charity organisations every now and then for essentials.
Now, even dual income families have been appealing to outreach services for food after the cost of essentials took a sharp turn.
The 62-year-old former hospitality worker said it was even harder to get by on just the Centrelink payment.
Many who are on JobSeeker said it's tough to get by due to the rising cost of living. (Source: Getty)
The price of grocery food items have risen 17 per cent for working households since March 2020, according to the ABC,
CoreLogic data also found the national rental market had risen about 37.6 per cent since March 2020.
There have also been substantial increases in electricity and other utility bills, as well as petrol (42 per cent since 2022) and insurance (20 per cent since 2022).
Back in 2020, a single person with no children could receive $565.70 per fortnight on JobSeeker, which was formally called Newstart.
As of today, that same payment is $781.10 per fortnight or $55.79 per day, which is a 27.5 per cent increase in less than five years.
According to January figures, there were 858,705 people on JobSeeker, with 639,970 of those getting the full rate.
Calls for an increase are falling on deaf ears
The Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee's latest report claimed 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
The report called for JobSeeker to be increased to 90 per cent of the Age Pension, which would take the payment from the current $781.10 per fortnight to $942.39.
The graph shows how different commodities have been increasing due to inflation over the last few years. (Source: Finder/ABS)
Damien told Yahoo Finance that an increase of $100 per week would ease the burden, but still wouldn't be enough to live comfortably.
While there have been recent increases in Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) and changes to JobSeeker's payment and energy supplement, it's still not enough, according to people at the coalface.
Marion Bennett, Mission Australia’s executive of practice, evidence and impact, told Yahoo Finance that if the rate isn't increased, everyone will suffer.
"If people are able to receive an adequate income, then they actually will be less frequently needing to use other government services," she said.
"So there's actually a return on that investment of $1.24 for every dollar invested in JobSeeker."
Will the government increase JobSeeker?
Social services minister Amanda Rishworth said today's $3.10 indexation of JobSeeker would "help ease some pressure" on recipients' lives.
When asked by The Guardian if there were plans to increase the JobSeeker, she instead pointed to the "significant investments" made to other types of support.
This includes $11.5 billion to hike the base rate for working-age and student payments, CRA, and expanded eligibility for the Parenting Payment.
As for the opposition, Rishworth's shadow counterpart, Michael Sukkar, said the Liberals weren't planning on addressing the JobSeeker amount.
“We know that getting a job is the best way to improve the living standards of people and their families,” he said.
“Few countries provide the strong safety net available to Australians."
He said JobSeeker was taxpayer-funded and needed to be handled "responsibly".
