More than 1.4 million Australian households are receiving the totally inadequate Commonwealth Rent Assistance and in 28 of the 30 most marginal seats, there are more of them than the margin. See our updated 15 May APW Election Poverty Briefing.
It also includes details of new national polling which confirms Australians (even those not directly affected by poverty) support an increase in JobSeeker. The polling commissioned by ACOSS and undertaken by Ipsos between 28 April and 6 May 2022, found 68% support an increase in JobSeeker to above the poverty line and that over 76% said they could not live on the current rate of JobSeeker, which is a mere $46 a day. 55% of respondents said they believed the current rate of JobSeeker is too low. This also confirms the findings of the November 2021 Ipsos survey of people in marginal seats – Boothby (SA), Swan (WA), Longman (Qld), Blair (Qld) and Dobell (NSW) – which found 65-74% of voters agreed that JobSeeker payments should be above the poverty line.