Tue. Nov 5th, 2024
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The federal treasurer has refused to confirm whether JobSeeker payments for people over 55 will be lifted for the first time in a decade.

Channel Seven has reported the lift will be included in next week’s federal budget but younger people will miss out.

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said unemployed women over 55 were the most vulnerable cohort in Australian society and the government wanted to introduce specific measures to help them.

But he did not rule out the change, saying instead those details would be confirmed next week.

“Without pre-empting what may or may not be in the budget … the JobSeeker payment already makes a distinction for people closer to the aged payment,” Mr Chalmers said.

“That’s in recognition that it is harder to find a new job at the end of your working life.

“The group that is most likely to be long-term unemployed are people over 55, [and] that group is dominated by women.

“No government can satisfy all of the calls for more spending in the budget, even from people and groups whose views we respect.”

Mr Chalmers said there would be “responsible” cost of living relief in the budget, with the measures focused on the most vulnerable people, but not all of them would be age limited.

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