2022-23

In 2022-23 there were 3,815,000 people (including children) in income support households, of whom 1,894,000 (50%) were in poverty. In the analysis below, we classify these households according to the highest income support payment received (for example, Jobseeker Payment or Age Pension).

The highest poverty rates among people in income support households were for those relying on Jobseeker Payment (76% or 250,000 people), Youth Allowance (73% or 29,000) and Parenting Payment (71% or 204,000 people), followed by Disability Support Pension (56% or 362,000), Age Pension (35% or 574,000 people) and Carer Payment (40% or 106,000).

2019-20

This graph shows that poverty among people on working age income support payments fell sharply in the COVID recession. It shows that poverty among people in households on Jobseeker Payment fell by four-fifths, from 76% in 2019 to 15% in June 2020.