The Welfare System in Australia: A Study of Centrelink Benefits

This essay provides an analysis of the unemployment problem in Australia and the benefits provided by Centrelink to support unemployed individuals. It discusses the development of the Australian welfare system, including unemployment benefits, social policies, age pensions, and welfare reforms. The essay highlights that Centrelink provides bi-weekly payments to eligible individuals aged 16-24, with the amount varying based on circumstances. Job seekers over 22 receive approximately $500 per fortnight, while couples receive $450 per person. Additional benefits include rent assistance and medical help. The essay notes that while these allowances are beneficial, they are often lower than the minimum wage. It examines trends in Centrelink expenditures, revealing a steady increase from 2012-13 to 2014-15, followed by a decrease and stabilization. The essay concludes with recommendations for improving Centrelink payments, such as increasing benefit amounts, extending payments to students from diverse backgrounds, and offering weekly payments to enhance utilization.

Running head: WELFARE SYSTEM AND SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA
WELFARE SYSTEM AND SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Notes

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WELFARE SYSTEM AND SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA
Unemployment is defined as the state or situation of a person where the person is
jobless and is in need for a job. In the modern world, due to lack of proper jobs and the
overflowing population rate, there is a dearth of jobs and is increasing the rate of population
at a major pace (Hall et al. 2012). The following essay is to analyse the unemployment
problem in Australia and the benefits from Centrelink which is received by the people of the
organization. The following paragraphs highlight the analysis of the benefits along with the
recommendations for the betterment of the benefit.
Australia has welfare system to assist the citizens as well as the natives who are either
unemployed or do not have the resources to support themselves get the required amount of
benefit in terms of money from the government for overcoming their disability and
incapacity.
There are a lot of circumstances that led to the development of the welfare system in
Australia like unemployment benefits, social policies, and age pension and welfare reforms.
The development of Australian welfare system is done to allocate the required amount of
funds for the people who are needful for the entire process. The circumstances for the
development of the welfare system is the need for work and the lack of the needful working
style.
According to Hart, (2013), Centrelink or the Centrelink Master Program is defined as
the type of government payment service that is under the Department of Human Service of
the Australian Government. The program delivers a host of services including payment to the
people who have retired and also to the unemployed people who need payments from the
range of 16-24 years of age.

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WELFARE SYSTEM AND SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA
The unemployment benefits of Centrelink can be termed from many facets and
can also be said to make sure that each of the person of the Australian unemployment
community is getting their dues in the time. The payment service is a circumstance based
service which means that the amount of money received by the person will depend on the
type of circumstance that the people will be in. The type of service is received by them on a
bi-weekly basis and will vary from one person to another in the prolonged time span.
In addition to the other payments that have been mentioned above, the job seekers of
the Australian government is given a number of benefits as per the strategies of the program.
The person who is liable to receive the payments is to be above 22 years of age and is paid
approximately $500 for a fortnight for single people and the rate goes up to $450 per person
for a couple. This rate is fixed by the Department of Human Services and the age of the
students who enrol for the service should be between 16-21 years of age (Forgione, 2014).
Other than the allowance given for their living, the unemployed people are
given an amount of money for rent purpose, either in a single way or in a joint venture. The
amount that is being given on rent can exceed upto $124 per two weeks for a person and $116
for a couple (Wong, 2013).
Medical help is also granted to the unemployed people and also given chances for the
betterment of their health by engrossing in a number of benefits in the concerned span of
time. The allowance given to the people are inclusive of the medical and the lifestyle charges
that are there in the country. These medical helps will be much crucial for the unemployed
people within the country of Australia. It is because the many people are seen to be in distress
while it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to provide them the necessary aids
that are required for the proper living of them.

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WELFARE SYSTEM AND SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA
Though the allowance looks quite lucrative for the people and the students hailing
from the developing and the underdeveloped economies, for the students in the Australian
province, the sum of money is even lower than the minimum wage that is there for the people
working there. The amount of money that is being spent on the allowance by Centrelink is
approximately $8.4 billion per year and according to the government has increased upto $8.7
billion per year according to the stats of 2016-2017 (Howard, 2012).
The current expenditure of the Centrelink for the unemployed people of Australia is
approximately $1.3 billion and is decreasing at a massive rate making it one of the biggest
problems for the unemployed students sustaining in the county. With the rise in development,
the rate is according to the government on a decreasing rate due to the growth in job
opportunities in all the parts of the job sector. Below is the latest trend for the employment
benefits from Centrelink for the unemployed people of Australia
The trend analyses that due to the growth of the substantial amount of employment
opportunities of the job, the amount of money that is being involved in the concerned span of
time has increased steadily from the year 2012-13 and then has reached a point at 2014-15
(Howard, 2012). The rate has then decreased from that period to 2015-16 and has remained
substantially constant from then onwards. The trend shows that due to the more number of
industries and development, the overall amount of money from Centrelink has increased.
The gaps for the trend of Centrelink in the overall welfare system of Australia is to
provide the people of the community with the required amount of monetary help that would
help them sustain their lifestyle. The amount of money given on Centrelink welfare is very
low compared to the base income level. In addition, the people hailing from other native
places are not given the exact amount of benefits which they also require in sustaining their
life.

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WELFARE SYSTEM AND SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA
There are a number of recommendations for the increase in the Centrelink amount of
money for the required span of time. One of the principle recommendation is to make sure
that the amount of benefit should cater to all the needs and thereby increase the amount of
money in a substantial way. The second recommendation for the Centrelink payment is to
allow the amount of payment for the students who belong to the different countries as well as
the other communities in the concerned span of time. The third recommendation for the
Centrelink payment is to allow the payments on a weekly basis so that the people can utilise
the amounts in the concerned span of time.
In conclusion, it can be said that Centrelink allows the payment to be given to the
unemployed youth of Australia who are looking for a job and are motivated to work. The
payments of the Centrelink is to be assessed to make sure that each of the person in the whole
span of time is given the amount of monetary motivation to work for the people in the
concerned span.

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WELFARE SYSTEM AND SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA
Reference
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Unemployment benefits and the minimum wage | NCOA. (2018). Retrieved from
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