Jenny Macklin leads Aussie women’s powerful plea to Anthony Albanese ahead of the federal budget

A group of 99 prominent Australian women have joined forces to write a strong letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, demanding his government take meaningful action on the country’s lackluster social security benefits in this month’s budget.

The group – leaders from business, politics, community services and Indigenous affairs – called on the Prime Minister to implement “a substantial increase in Jobseeker and Youth Allowance” in this federal budget.

The urgent plea comes amid increasing pressure on the government to do more to tackle gender-based violence, and follows a group of leading economists who last week called on Labor to support job seekers or risk an ‘entrenching disadvantage’.

The government-appointed Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion made lifting the tariffs a priority in its 2024 report.

“Women escaping violence need to know that a decent social security net will be in place for them,” committee chair and former Labor Minister Jenny Macklin wrote in the new letter.

The women urged the Prime Minister to do more to tackle gender violence and boost job seeker benefits. He is pictured speaking on the No More! National Rally Against Violence marched on Parliament House in Canberra last Sunday

The signatures also include Chief Executive Women president Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, former Indi MP Cathy McGowan, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner June Oscar, and education union president Correna Haythorpe.

An estimated 500,000 women receive Jobseeker’s Allowance, currently $55 per day, and Youth Allowance, currently $45 per day.

The group wrote ‘fix’ the adequacy of Jobseeker and Youth Allowance to provide basic economic security for women cannot wait.”

Last year the government made changes to single parent benefits, meaning payments continued until the youngest child was 14, instead of eight.

In their letter, the group said this was “very welcome” but there remained “large numbers of women of all ages receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance and other working age benefits that are simply not enough to cover basic costs.”

“For First Nations women, for women of all backgrounds, for women of all backgrounds, the impact of poverty on the ability to leave violence and live in safety is profound,” the report states.

‘No one should be forced to live in poverty. The evidence is clear: a major reason women cannot leave violence is because they lack economic security.”

Former Labor Minister Jenny Macklin (left) is one of 99 signatures on the letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right)

Mr Albanese himself has recognized that, saying as much when he announced last week an extension of the Violence Escape Payment, worth up to $5,000 for eligible applicants who are trying to leave or have recently left an abusive relationship.

“We understand the insidious links between financial insecurity and stress and vulnerability to family and domestic violence,” he said on Wednesday.

‘Too often, financial insecurity can be a barrier to escaping violence.’

But since applicants receive only $1,500 in cash upfront, with the remaining $3,500 provided in the form of goods and services, the letter told him that women “need to know that they will have basic economic security in the longer term.”

“Eliminating social security benefits will not negate the need to invest in frontline services and take other critical steps to achieve women’s safety. However, it is an essential part of ensuring women can do what they need to do to be safe,” the letter concludes.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers (left) and Mr Albanese (right) are finalizing the budget this week

On Sunday, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, who is also Minister for Women, would not weigh in on whether or not the government would increase social security benefits.

“We’re looking across the board at what’s possible,” she told ABC’s Insiders.

“But we’ve made no secret of the fact that we want to make sure we promote economic equality for women. Women experience financial insecurity.

“And so part of the answer is the payment system.

“Every budget we look at what we can do with the payment system to ensure we provide as much support as possible to people who need that extra help.”

Last week, economists including Christ Richardson and Nicki Hutley called on the government to use the budget to increase the jobseeker’s and youth allowance to 90 percent of the age pension, a move that would cost the budget $4.6 billion a year .