Submission: Social Services Legislation Amendment (Strengthening Income Support) Bill 2021

The Tenants' Union's work, and that of the Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services we work alongside, brings us into frequent contact with very low, low- and moderate-income households who rent across NSW. These include many households who are recipients JobSeeker and other related payments, as well as all recipients of Commonwealth Rent Assistance. At June 2020 government income support was the main source of income for around a quarter of all renters.

Our comments are relatively brief and are in line with our previous recommendations provided to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs’ 2019 inquiry on the Adequacy of Newstart and related payments and alternative mechanisms to determine the level of income support payments in Australia.