The government has released the latest Tax Office breakdown of the numbers coming off the program, amid concerns its end in late March will see a rise in unemployment.
It isn’t available to the bulk of the unemployed, it isn’t available to people who’ve been on JobKeeper rather than JobSeeker, and employers can overclaim.
At the age of 22, in 2015, 82% of respondents described their mental health as excellent, very good or good. This fell to 70% at the age of 26 in 2019 — a drop of three percentage points per year.
We interviewed Victorians working — or not working — in the arts during the pandemic lockdown to learn about their mental health. We found they are struggling.
A collapse in revenue and a lack of government support have led to university workforces being decimated to cut costs. This presents a number of longer-term risks for universities and the nation.
New research shows more than 40% of temporary visa holders skipped meals and a third faced homelessness due to a lack of government support during the pandemic.
Wages are going backwards, loans are in arrears, companies are being kept alive by government support and an exemption from insolvency rules, yet still they are paying out dividends.
Where the policy debate has focused on a need to ‘rescue’ the cultural sector from the ill-effects of COVID-19, the emphasis must now be on growing it as part of a wider program of public investment.
A look at the week in politics, focussing on what Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has described as “without doubt, the biggest shock this country has ever faced”.