Australia’s increase in welfare payments ‘is just a Band-Aid’, say low-income earners

‘I’m not going to be ungrateful, it will help … But the reality is, people like myself, we’re trapped,’ says Ricki Spencer

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For Ricki Spencer, the cost of living announcements in Tuesday’s federal budget were disappointing.

Spencer, 54, receives the disability support pension (DSP) and lives in a private rental property in Melbourne. She receives the maximum rate of commonwealth rent assistance (CRA) – $157.20 to help with her $700 a fortnight rent – and will benefit from the 15% increase of the cap, announced by Labor as one of the key cost-of-living relief measures for low-income earners.