As the nation continues to digest the federal budget, more is being revealed about the tucked-away details of decisions made by the Morrison government.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg handed down the budget on Wednesday night, .
But some advocates have warned the temporary cost of living relief measures promised won’t be enough to help those hit hardest.
There have also been warnings about an apparent cut to staff responsible for clearing Centrelink backlogs, as well as the exclusion of some migrants from support payments.
Sixteen million Australians will be delivered a cash bonus either through one-off pensioners payments or a tax offset just before or after polling day.
But Canberra single mother of two Leilani Sinclair, who is currently on JobSeeker, is concerned a one-off payment of $250 to welfare recipients like her is not a long-term solution.
“It’s great to have that payment but it’s not helpful long-term - it doesn’t help down the track,” she told SBS News.
“When you haven’t got an income that rises with the cost of living you end up out of pocket."
Leilani Sinclair says the budget's cost of living measures will provide short-term relief, but is concerned they won't help in the long term.
The government has also moved to take 20 cents off the tax on fuel for the next six months.
But Dr Cassandra Goldie, CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service, said much of this assistance would go to those who don’t need it and too little to those who do.
“This is not a budget that people can rely on,” she told reporters in Canberra.
“What we got delivered in this budget was temporary fixes when we needed permanent solutions.”
Warnings of cuts to Centrelink staff
The Community and Public Sector Union has also warned about a projected cut of a further 2,719 jobs or 9.4 per cent of total staff from Services Australia.
Budget documents show the workforce is set to fall from 28,869 in 2021-22 to 26,150 in 2022-23.
CPSU National Secretary Melissa Donnelly told SBS News the decision would have a real impact on the hundreds of thousands of people trying to deal with Centrelink, including welfare recipients.
“Last night’s budget cut nearly one in ten Services Australia workers. This is a really significant cut and it has significant implications for the Australian community,” she said.
“In real terms what this means is people will wait longer for their phone calls to be answered, they’ll wait longer for their claims to be processed.”
A spokesperson for Government Services Minister Linda Reynolds said the numbers outlined in the budget were a baseline that would be bolstered depending on demand for services.
“Each year the Budget sets the baseline resources for Services Australia - surge resources including additional staff are provided throughout the year as required to meet demand,” she said.
Support for migrants
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has also warned that despite promises of cost of living relief - this won’t be provided to people seeking asylum and refugees on temporary visas.
Kon Karapanagiotidis, CEO and founder of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said there were people living in “absolute destitution” who would miss out on the payments.
“For those seeking aslyum - the majority who have no rights to work or health or Medicare - there are zero dollars to help them transition out of this pandemic,” he told reporters.
Mr Karapanagiotidis also said the budget had delivered a 13.7 per cent cut to settlement services for newly arrived refugee and humanitarian entrants.
Meanwhile, another $482.5 million will go towards detaining refugees on Nauru as the resettlement agreement with New Zealand progresses.
Australian Human Rights Commission
The budget also shows funding for the Australian Human Rights Commission will face long-term cuts from $32.6 million last year to $29.9 million this year and $20.2 million within four years.
This includes a funding decline to $29.9m in 2022/23.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman - which monitors Australia’s immigration detention system - will also see its funding cut from $48.8 million last year to $47.8 million this year.
It will then fall further to $41.2 million by 2024-25.
Partner visas
The budget also outlines that 10,000 places from the Partner visa stream in the 2021-22 Migration Program will be diverted to the skill stream.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said the move was part of a decision to shift the Partner stream to a demand-driven model from 2022-23.
The budget papers state that the redistribution recognises “the sharp fall in the number of on-hand Partner visa applications.”
But Greens Senator Nick McKim has condemned the decision, warning those in the system were already facing long delays, sometimes lasting years.
“These places should have stayed within the family visa program,” Senator McKim said.
“The government has once again failed to get the balance right when it comes to family reunions.”
Foreign Aid
On foreign aid, the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) has welcomed a decision to increase the aid budget in 2022-23 to $4.6 billion from an estimated $4.335 billion in 2021-22.
But Marc Purcell, CEO of ACFID, said also called on the government to end the temporary nature of some measures and make aid growth permanent to reflect growing human need.
“We need to continue to increase our investments in long-term, quality development programming to lift the livelihoods of people across the region,” he said.
Disability
People With Disability Australia (PWDA) have said the federal budget is a “lean, mean budget for people with disability, their families and carers”.
PWDA President Samantha Connor said it was "very disappointed" with the government for ignoring its key budget requests.
“What this budget shows is the government is once again deprioritising people with disability at a time when our need to be protected, supported and valued has never been greater.”
The CEO of Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA) Mary Mallett mirrored those sentiments and said it’s not an exciting budget for people with disability and their advocates.
"The Treasurer said NDIS funding rose every year and will always be fully funded by this government, but that doesn't mean much to people with disability whose NDIS plans are being cut right now," she said.
In Tuesday night’s budget, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) saw a boost in funding over the long term as it attempts to support some 500,000 people on the program.
$33.9 billion will be invested in 2022-23 - a 4.9 per cent increase from the previous year.
Mental Health
Mental health and suicide prevention advocacy groups have also had a mixed response to this year’s budget.
Suicide Prevention Australia CEO Nieves Murray said her organisation welcomed investment in suicide prevention research, regional support and investment in programs for young people and people with severe and complex mental illness.
But she said there were some key areas around social support, and early intervention in priority populations such as the LGBTIQ+ and First Nations communities that missed out.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced $547 million dollars over five years to help people “living lives of quiet desperation".
More than $206 million of those will be aimed at helping young people, which includes a plan to implement a program to identify models of care to help those with eating disorders.
He also announced $14.8 million to be spent over five years to continue a variety of Headspace programs, school suicide prevention activities and COVID-19 support through digital mental health services.
Aged Care
The aged care sector has also reacted to the federal budget mostly with disappointment.
The Australian Aged Care Collaboration (AACC) said there is nothing in the federal budget to improve aged care wages to support desperate staff.
The AACC said while there are some modest initiatives that need further analysis, the budget confirms the inadequacy of the government’s previous response to the royal commission.
In the 2022-23 budget, aged care will receive $468.3 million "to continue implementing the government’s response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety".
This follows a record $17.7 billion investment in last year’s budget.
