Report calls for Centrelink payments to be increased as benefit claimants struggle to cope with rising costs of living

Australians on benefits are struggling to survive one of the worst cost-of-living crises in decades as payments fail to cover the necessities of life, a new report has found.

Research from Anglicare Australia shows that the lowest income households are bearing the brunt of the country’s worst period of inflation since the 1980s.

Despite the rising costs of essentials such as food and housing, most Centrelink payments are only increased through indexation and are lagging behind, the report said.

Lower-income households spend a larger share of their budget on essentials and have less capacity to absorb higher prices or reduce their discretionary spending.

The report shows that housing costs have increased by 22 percent over the past two years, while food and grocery prices have increased by 17 percent and electricity costs by 17 percent.

“It has become clear over the past 18 months that many Australians are living in too precarious a situation to absorb the shocks caused by the rising cost of living,” the report said.

The charity urged the federal government to raise the rate of all social security benefits above the poverty line.

It also calls for the creation of an independent social security commission that would have the power to set and adjust income support payments based on the cost of living.

Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said people on lower incomes have been falling behind for decades, but their pain has worsened in the past two years due to skyrocketing prices.

“Low incomes did not cause Australia’s cost of living crisis,” she said.

‘They should not be asked to pay a higher price for it.

“We need a plan to prevent the lowest-paid Australians from falling deeper into poverty.”

She said some people took on debt to keep a roof over their heads, while others skipped meals, avoided insurance or went without other basic services.