Five years ago, the Morrison government doubled welfare payments, offering a temporary Coronavirus support measure. Welfare recipients received an extra $275 per week, alleviating many from poverty overnight, before resuming initial JobSeeker rates six month later.

This morning – the same day welfare payments are indexed to increase by $1.55 per week – anti-poverty advocates and welfare recipients assembled in Canberra’s Parliament House, calling the government to act on poverty by echoing the moves of 2020.

Image: Image: Shutterstock

Produced By: Noah Secomb, and Emma Wotzke

Featured In Story: Fiona Moore – Nobody Deserves Poverty; Disability Support Pension recipient, Kristin O’Connell – Co-ordinator, Antipoverty Centre; Disability Support Pension recipient, Jaden Oxton-White – Spokesperson, Anti-Poverty Network Queensland; Disability Support Pension recipient, and

First aired on The Wire, Thursday 20 March 2025