More than one million Australians receiving youth, student and carer support will receive an increase when indexation takes effect from 1 January 2025.
Certain income support and supplementary payments will see an increase in the latest round of indexation, including Youth Allowance, Austudy, Youth Disability Support Pension and Carer Allowance.
Under the Coalition, indexation of important social security payments would be at risk. Peter Dutton’s Liberal and National Coalition have labelled it “reckless spending” and indicated it would be part of their $315 billion of cuts, if elected.
Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said the Albanese Labor Government remains deeply committed to helping Australians manage cost of living pressures and assisting them with a strong social security safety net when they need it.
“We want to reduce disadvantage and maintain Australia’s strong and sustainable social safety net by providing relief to those most in need,” Minister Rishworth said.
“Through indexation, payments are adjusted in line with cost of living changes to ensure people have more money in their pockets.”
For single recipients of Youth Allowance with dependent children, payments will increase by $30.60 to a maximum rate of $845.80 a fortnight (including Energy Supplement).
Partnered recipients of Youth Allowance without dependent children will receive a payment increase of $24.30, bringing the maximum rate to $670.30 a fortnight (including Energy Supplement).
For over 600,000 carers, indexation will increase Carer Allowance payments by $5.80, bringing the rate to $159.30 per fortnight.
Single or partnered recipients of Austudy with no dependent children will also see an increase to their payment, bringing their fortnightly total to $670.30 (including Energy Supplement).
The maximum rates of ABSTUDY Living Allowance for Masters and Doctorate students will increase to $1,285.40 a fortnight, and the parental income test threshold for Youth Allowance will see an increase to $65,189 a year.
The extra money in the pockets of students also follows Labor’s move to slash $3 billion of student debt for three million Australians.
This is just the first stage of our reforms to make HECS fairer. Next year, the Albanese Labor Government will cut a further 20 per cent off all student loan debts, raise the minimum repayment threshold for student loans and cut repayment rates.
The complete list of payments increasing on 1 January 2025, including income and asset limits, can be found on the Department of Social Services website.