Raff Ciccone voted moderately against for increasing the Youth Allowance rate

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) that the rate of Newstart for single people without children is $555.70 per fortnight,

(ii) that the Federal Government has taken action to address deeming rates acknowledging that part-pensioners were struggling,

(iii) that the Salvation Army's 2018 Economic and Social Impact Survey found that after paying for accommodation, Newstart recipients were left with $17 a day,

(iv) the findings of an analysis by the Australian National University's Professor Peter Whiteford, that Newstart is the second lowest unemployment payment in the OECD if we look at the replacement rate, and

(v) that the Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot 2019 found there were zero affordable rentals for a single person on Newstart or Youth Allowance in any major Australian city; and

(b) urges the Federal Government to immediately increase the single rate of Newstart and Youth Allowance.

At the end of the motion, add:

", but the Senate:

(a) notes that the bill does nothing to assist people receiving newstart allowance or youth allowance; and

(b) calls upon the Government to introduce legislation to amend the Social Security Act 1991 to increase the maximum single rates of newstart allowance and youth allowance by $150 per fortnight".

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) there are approximately 3 million people in Australia living in poverty, including over 700,000 children,

(ii) Australia has no poverty reduction plan and, despite economic growth, poverty levels have remained high,

(iii) Newstart and Youth Allowance have not had an increase in real terms for over 25 years,

(iv) recipients of these income support payments are unable to cover basic living costs such as housing, food, transport, healthcare and utilities,

(v) income inequality and poverty has significant negative effects on individuals' physical and mental wellbeing and society, and

(vi) poverty in early childhood can lead to poorer life outcomes; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to make it a priority to help address poverty in Australia by raising Newstart and Youth Allowance by $75 a week.