Australian Council of Social Service

03/11/2026

Today’s rate hike to 4.85% is the last thing that people already struggling need.

📈 Higher interest rates create unemployment by design. The RBA's decision will lock people out of jobs for years and force them to rely on grossly inadequate income support payments.

Cutting public spending won’t help either. Cuts just shift the pain onto the people who can least afford it.

Well targeted public spending – including investment in health and other essential services to reduce out-of-pocket costs – can actually reduce inflation.

📢 ACOSS is calling on the government to:
- Slow rent increases and reduce out-of-pocket medical costs
- Reduce energy costs by taking solar subsidies off energy bills, establish a domestic gas reserve and implement a 25% tax on gas exports
- Delay or cancel next year’s tax cuts and target cost of living support to people on the lowest incomes though the income support system.

📄 Read more: https://www.acoss.org.au/media-releases-3/?media_release=acoss-urges-against-another-rate-rise-calls-for-bold-fair-government-action-to-fight-inflation-at-its-source

29/10/2026

Foodbank Australia released its latest Hunger Report this week, highlighting the extent of food insecurity in Australia. Behind the statistics are real people doing all they can to get by. One of them is Travis Gilbert, a passionate advocate for the Raise the Rate campaign, who has shared his experience of trying to survive on JobSeeker.

Travis writes:
"For me, living in suburban Canberra, the JobSeeker payment is about $120 a week below where it needs to be in order to afford food and things like medical appointments, medication and insurance."

The report found that one in three households are experiencing food insecurity. As Travis asks, in a wealthy country like Australia, is this really what "no one left behind" looks like?

Read Travis' powerful Guardian op-ed.

Trying to make ends meet on around $58 a day is a cruel joke bestowed upon those who find themselves unemployed in the ‘lucky country’

28/10/2026

27/10/2026

💰 Same $100,000 three very different amounts of tax paid.

The Government has introduced legislation for a 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts.

Finding it hard to understand what the argument is all about?

A trust is a financial tool used mainly by people with high incomes or wealth to manage investments and businesses.

💡Here are examples of how they use them to pay tax at lower rates than an average worker.

26/10/2026

Today, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations have returned some of the paused measures of the Targeted Compliance Framework to operation, after having operated parts of the social security act illegally against people using employment services.

These include parts of the framework which relate to:
⚪ Payment suspensions where a person is judged to have not taken up suitable paid work
⚪ Payment cancellations due to not having engaged with employment services for 4 weeks after a payment suspension

These measures were paused after the Department found that many of the penalty measures in employment services were not being applied lawfully. This led to the pausing of some penalties and an investigation into the TCF in 2025 by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, after ACOSS made a formal complaint regarding illegal cancellations. These measures have been re-introduced despite the Department having yet to implement the Digital Protections Framework, as required by law.

The Department currently plans to return all parts of the Targeted Compliance Framework to operation in the first quarter of 2027. This is planned to include the resumption of the penalty zone, where many of the harshest payment cancellation measures are presently paused.

ACOSS has opposed the re-introduction of the Targeted Compliance Framework, including alongside other member organisations in the Government’s TCF Reference Group. We call on the Government to abolish the Targeted Compliance Framework as part of employment services reforms.

🗨️ ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie AO said:

“Payment cancellations are completely disproportionate and leave people unable to pay rent or buy food, with no benefit to their search for paid work.

“The Government has said it wants to reform employment services so people are genuinely helped into paid work. Restarting harsh, unreasonable penalties sends the opposite message to the people whom these services are meant to support.

“ACOSS is deeply concerned that the digital protections framework isn’t in place. Strong digital safeguards are essential given how heavily the system relies on automation and the catastrophic administrative failures of recent years, including Robodebt.

We strongly opposed the Targeted Compliance Framework when it was first introduced by Minister Cash under the Coalition Government. It should be abolished once and for all.”

23/10/2026

This week during his National Press Club address, Senator David Pocock shared the story of a woman so destitute on JobSeeker that she was eating dog food because she couldn’t afford meat.

Every MP hears stories like this from people in their community. What matters is what we do about them. Politics is about choices and priorities, and when you put these stories alongside the choices in front of us, it’s hard to justify not lifting income support, or funding care.

As Senator Pocock put it: “You can make cuts, or you can grow revenue.” Asking gas and resource companies to pay their fair share, including through a gas export tax, can help lift payments above the poverty line and protect the environment.

We also welcome his call to bring down inflation fairly, without relying on rising unemployment. No one should pay the price for economic management with their job or their next meal.

📰 Read more:

Independent senator’s goals ‘much bigger’ than prime ministership, he reveals in first speech to National Press Club

20/10/2026

It’s hard to stay healthy when you don’t have enough money.

Last month we released our Raise the Rate Report, and it showed 94% of people who completed our survey said living on income support negatively affects their mental health, while 85% said it negatively affects their physical health. More than 1,000 people told us they struggle to afford medication or medical care because of the cost.

People told us they can't afford healthy food, medication, specialist appointments and other healthcare they need. Many spoke about the stress, anxiety and loss of hope that comes from constantly worrying about money.

A person's health should not depend on whether they can afford the basics.

It's time to ensure income support payments allow people to live with dignity and access the care they need.

Read the full Raise the Rate Report via the link in comments.

19/10/2026

We are alarmed by the return of Centrelink payment cancellations are coming back on Monday 26 October.

They were paused because the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) failed to administer the law correctly. Before the pause, more than 80,000 payments were cancelled in one year.

💬 ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie AO said: “Payment cancellations are completely disproportionate and leave people unable to pay rent or buy food, with no benefit to their search for paid work."

46% of people whose payments were unlawfully cancelled between April 2022 to July 2024 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Over 3,200 people with an intellectual disability are subject to compulsory activities under the Targeted Compliance Framework.

📢 The Antipoverty Centre, ACOSS, Economic Justice Australia, NATSILS - National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services and Inclusion Australia call on the Government to:
- Remove the Targeted Compliance Framework immediately, including payment suspensions and financial penalties.
- Provide full back-pay and compensation to every person affected by unlawful decisions.

Punitive penalties cause harm, deepen poverty and undermine trust. Real employment support means investing in genuine pathways to work, not coercion.

📃 Read the full joint statement: https://www.acoss.org.au/media-releases-3/?media_release=advocacy-organisations-alarmed-by-return-of-centrelink-payment-cancellations-that-were-unlawfully-operated

16/10/2026

This Anti-Poverty Week, we're proud to share the voice of Stephanie, one of our awesome lived experience advocates.

Stephanie recently joined us on a panel at the Australian Social Policy Conference in Brisbane to discuss how research can help drive policy action.

Stephanie runs Hope in Action, a local community initiative focused on turning awareness into action through kindness and honest conversations about poverty and homelessness.

In this video, Stephanie shares her thoughts on what meaningful change looks like, why lived experience voices matter, and the important role people with direct experience of poverty can play in shaping better solutions.

Real change happens when the people most affected are listened to, valued and involved in the decisions that impact their lives.

15/10/2026

Today, ACOSS stood in solidarity with the Central Land Council to urge the Albanese Government to substantially increase the Remote Area Allowance.

The payment has been frozen for about 26 years at $9.10 a week for a single person, just $1.30 a day, while the cost of living in remote communities continues to skyrocket. Remote prices run up to 40% higher than in urban areas, but the allowance adds only 1.5 to 2.6% to base income support.

Of the 95,000 people who receive it, 69% are First Nations people. Income poverty among First Nations people in remote areas is a shocking 57%.

Government must listen to the Central Land Council, substantially increase the Remote Area Allowance, and lift JobSeeker and related payments so people in remote areas can get by.

📄 Read our statement: https://www.acoss.org.au/media-releases-3/?media_release=government-must-listen-to-the-central-land-council-and-lift-remote-area-allowance