COVID-19 has exposed the gaps in our safety net, and shown what social security support governments can provide when faced with a crisis.
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JobKeeper, JobSeeker, and the coronavirus supplement were unprecedented when they were introduced at the height of the lockdowns last year. They kept people afloat and boosted the economy.
But these gains were short lived. The support package was cut as the pandemic dragged on. Australia now has the second-lowest unemployment payment among comparable countries. Work is becoming less stable, and incomes are less secure. The pandemic has made income security a key concern for millions of Australians, and there is now a growing appetite for permanent, and radical, change.
This month Anglicare Australia became the first major charity to back a permanent basic income for Australians. Its latest study calls for a permanent basic income to stamp out poverty. This comes off the back of a recent YouGov poll which found majority support for a basic income.
Hundreds of thousands of people benefited from last year's support package, and we all saw what a decent, unconditional safety net could look like. Poverty amongst people relying on the old Newstart and Youth Allowance payments dropped from 67 per cent to just 7 per cent. People's health and wellbeing improved.
This leaves us with the challenge and opportunity of designing a simple safety net that keeps people out of poverty. Replacing the JobSeeker and Youth Allowance payments with a basic income above the poverty line would move Australia in this direction.
Paying the same rate to everyone who is eligible would all but end poverty, and it would make the system much simpler. Ending mutual obligations, like work for the dole, would free people from pointless and demeaning activities which do not lead to work. Those who are eligible could activate the payment themselves using their MyGov accounts.
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A modest basic income scheme like this one is well within reach. It would cost around $14 billion, which is less than the cost of the recent tax cuts for the wealthy. This does not account for the community benefits and savings - from the extra time that could be devoted to caring and volunteering, and from ending the wasteful spending on failing programs like work for the dole and Jobactive.
This basic income payment is one option. A universal basic income is another. The specific model is a political choice. The important point is that a permanent basic income is not a utopian fantasy. It is a real policy option. It would eliminate poverty and offer policymakers a powerful tool to manage economic downturns. As yet another brutal pandemic wave tears through eastern Australia, the need couldn't be clearer.
Income security is a basic need. It should not be a partisan issue. A permanent basic income would provide the same guaranteed income floor to Nationals, Greens, Liberals, Labor and One Nation voters.
The current pandemic will not be with us forever. But other pandemics, bushfires, droughts, and recessions will make their way to Australia again.
We have a unique opportunity to build on the lessons we've learned from the past year.
We can choose to guarantee that a secure income is only ever a few clicks away.
- Maiy Azize is deputy director of Anglicare Australia. Dr Troy Henderson is a lecturer in political economy at the University of Sydney and co-director of the Australian Basic Income Lab, a research collaboration between the University of Sydney, Macquarie University and the Australian National University.
