Time to raise Newstart and Youth Allowance

Studying full time, or being unemployed – is stressful enough. We shouldn’t also be facing impossible choices like which meal to skip and how to tell your housemates you can’t pay rent. This is the reality when you live on only $40 a day.

We’re calling on Prime Minister Morrison to:

1. Urgently increase Newstart and Youth Allowance by $75 a week
2. Raise rent assistance by at least $25 a week
3. Commit to annual increases that keep people above the poverty line

Newstart and Youth Allowance should be the safety net that young people can rely on while we’re studying or looking for work. But Newstart hasn’t increased in real terms in 25 years – while the cost of everything else has.

Raising these support payments will lift thousands of young people out of poverty, allowing us to focus on our studies, finding work and contributing to our communities.

Let’s call on our leaders to #RaisetheRate and increase these vital payments now!