By Alisdair Valente
A new budget submission to the Federal Government would create over 30,000 jobs and 15,000 social housing constructions if approved.
The Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) have come up with a budgetary response through community consultation to navigate through the economic pitfalls of the pandemic.
Dr Cassandra Goldie, CEO of ACOSS, believes it is time for the Federal Government to tackle the significant challenges facing Australians in record unemployment, social housing and public health.
“Currently, we have double the amount of people trying to get by on unemployment payments than we did before the crisis – they are looking to the Morrison Government to ensure they can cover the basics and to generate jobs,” Dr Goldie said.
“It is crucial that job creation plans are coupled with a permanent and adequate increase to the JobSeeker payment – we cannot leave people behind to struggle in the poverty trap as we get through this crisis,” Dr Goldie said.
Deloitte Access Economics, an Australian economics and financial research institution found that cutting welfare allowances back to pre-COVID-19 rates will cost the economy $31.3 billion.
Along with better social housing affordability and creating sustainable jobs, Dr Goldie is calling on the Federal Government to improve energy fees for Australian households.
“We are calling for a national program to improve energy efficiency in low-income homes to cut energy bills for those struggling to pay them,” Dr Goldie said.
The ACOSS Budget Submission outlines the creation of around 200,000 jobs a year through training guarantee for people who have been unemployed for more than a year, or six months if they are under 25.
“If we continue to work together, as we did to get through the initial crisis, we can achieve a healthier, brighter future for the country that does not leave people behind in the poverty trap,” Dr Goldie said.
For more information on exact details on the ACOSS Budget Submission, and how you could contribute towards it, see the document linked here.