Welfare news headlines

People doing it tough will be a little better off.

The distressed animals were discovered held in a small cage on a street.

"Nothing can unfortunately turn back the clock and make it as it was before the previous government systemically broke the law and caused harm but it is vindication."

The report referred individuals for civil and criminal prosecution and included 57 recommendations.

"I reject completely each of the findings which are critical of my involvement in authorising the scheme and are adverse to me," the former prime minister wrote.

More than a million Australians on welfare will get some hip pocket relief after the opposition decided to back the government's JobSeeker boost.

2GB's Ben Fordham's call to a Melbourne man who attacked the Albanese government's JobSeeker raise as insufficient ended in a fiery clash after the radio host denied calling the man a 'dole bludger'.

The federal government announced last night the surprise surplus budget will contain a $14.6 billion spend on a cost-of-living package.

Older Australians are particular beneficiaries of a welfare boost that will see JobSeeker payments increase from the second half of this year.

The treasurer says he has found a way to put billions of dollars in the pockets of struggling Aussies while putting the books back in the black.

The prime minister announced the move ahead of tomorrow's federal budget which the government says will contain a raft of measures to ease the cost-of-living crisis.

From July 1 2024, the program will be scrapped after multiple inquiries found the scheme was unfairly targeting young people and particularly young single parents by taking payments away if they didn't complete required activities.

The Albanese government is preparing for a small rise in the $50 daily payment in a bid to provide cost-of-living relief for women and long-term jobless

The federal government is expected to knock back a suggested $34 billion welfare boost recommended by an expert panel it appointed.

He thought he was being scammed when Centrelink called him out of the blue.

The federal government will end its problematic use of external debt collectors to chase money owed to social welfare departments.

The federal government says the indexation increase will help the most vulnerable people.

Scott Morrison says he trusted his department when he was told no new laws needed to be passed to make government's disastrous robodebt scheme lawful.

Carers, students and young people are going to get the biggest boost in their welfare payments in decades in less than a month.

Some of the more than 500 at-risk children in South Australia could wait months for a welfare check.

The first witnesses are giving evidence today to the royal commission into the Federal Government's disastrous debt recovery program.

Almost 200,000 Australians will have their robodebt reviews wiped as the federal government drops cases sparked by the bungled debt recovery program.

The royal commission into robodebt is set to begin shortly in Brisbane this morning.

Almost five million Australians will get a necessary increase to their welfare payments tomorrow as the government aims to ease the cost of living burden. 

Robodebt victims will find out from today how much their share of a $112 million class action settlement will be. 

The Robodebt scandal led to a $1.8 billion class action settlement between victims and the federal government.

Queensland mother Kath Madgwick lost her only child, son Jarrad to suicide after finding out he had a Centrelink debt of $2000 in May 2019.

The financial year will come to a close at midnight tonight, sparking a raft of changes that will impact the wallets of millions of Australians.

Pat Isaacs doesn't eat meat - not because she is vegetarian - but because she cannot afford to buy it.

More than six million Australians will receive a one-off cash payment of $250 to help with the soaring cost of living.

The move to include more government areas comes after sustained criticism from flood-damaged communities that the original three LGAs were chosen to favour a Nationals-held federal seat.

For almost 30 years, Sydney man Mark Patterson worked as a bricklayer. Over the decades, the hard, physical labour literally wore his body down to the bone.

The Federal Government's COVID Disaster Payment has once again lifted to a maximum weekly payment of $750 - the same amount many were receiving on JobKeeper.

The Federal Government's "dob in a Jobseeker" hotline has received an influx in calls from business owners in Queensland.

JobKeeper is due to end on Sunday March 28, 2021. Employers can make claim payments for JobKeeper up until this date.

Australians have just weeks before the coronavirus supplement payment ends, returning those on unemployment and underemployment benefits to lower rates.

Those struggling to find work have slammed the increase as doing "absolutely zero" to their day to day budgets.

The new JobSeeker rate will therefore start from April 1 at $620.80 a fortnight, equating to $310.40 a week, or just over $44 a day.

As many as five million Australians are set to receive another $250 coronavirus payment from as early as March as the government's economic lifelines complete their final stages.

Super Retail Group will hand back around $1.7 million in JobKeeper payments to the Australian Government.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his entire Cabinet resigned Friday to take political responsibility for a scandal involving investigations into child welfare payments that wrongly labelled thousands of parents as fraudsters.

JobKeeper payments for thousands of workers have been reduced from today, as the federal government looks to slowly phase out the economic lifeline.

It's emerged that millions of Australians who have withdrawn money from their superannuation to help them get through the COVID-19 crisis may be forced to use that money first before being eligible for welfare if they lose their job.

More than five million Aussies are set to benefit from another $250 coronavirus payment just in time for Christmas.

The payment has now been scaled down to a rate of $250 per fortnight until December 31.

Plans to extend the JobKeeper wage subsidy and increased JobSeeker payments are expected to dominate the debate in parliament this week as it sits for the last time before the October budget.

It's anticipated that JobKeeper will move to a sliding scale, whereby only those hurting the most will receive the full payment.

Melbourne's return to lockdown has thrown a curve-ball at the Coalition's plans to wind back its JobKeeper package payments in September.

An ongoing class action lawsuit could see a final payout of more than $1 billion for thousands of affected Australians who were incorrectly assessed.

The Federal Government will refund welfare recipients more than $700 million raised by its so-called "robodebt" system.