Centrelink payment frequency change proposed for millions of welfare recipients

Paying Jobseeker recipients weekly could ease the financial burden on struggling Aussies, according to new research.

The government has been grappling with calls to increase the benefit, which is currently about $800 a fortnight for a single person, by $17 a day.

However, in a proposal by E61 Institute research director Gianni La Cava, changing the frequency of the payment could bring much-needed relief to welfare recipients.

“Why don’t we consider a change in the frequency, just because ... we need spending restraint, and this is just something that’s not going to cost the taxpayer any more,” he told The Australian.

La Cava explained the spending habits of Australian welfare recipients is somewhat more volatile than New Zealanders, saying Aussies withdraw cash at a higher rate.

“Less frequent payments are associated with a higher incidence of financial stress and payday borrowing among Australian recipients, suggesting that they have more demand for short-term credit to get them to the next payday,” the E61 report said.

The Department of Social Services confirmed more than 600,000 crisis payments were granted to Jobseeker recipients, which is equal to a week’s pay of their benefit.

Under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, working-age Australians relying on welfare payments increased by 126,880 between September 2023 and January 2025.

The proposal comes after it was revealed tens of thousands of Australians are entitled to refunds after unknowingly overpaying their Centrelink debts with automatic repayments like BPAY.

Services Australia confirmed in October it is probing more than 40,000 cases of debt overpayment.

“Services Australia is investigating approximately 44,000 records where customers paid more money toward a Centrelink debt than they owed and a refund may still be owing,” a spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au.

“Of these records, 50 per cent of the potentially owed refunds are less than $50, 80 per cent are less than $500, and 2 per cent are for $5000 or more.

“In most cases when people overpay their Centrelink debt, we refund the money or transfer the balance to another debt, if they have one.

“We process hundreds of thousands of refunds like this every year. The vast majority are processed correctly and in a timely manner.

“In some instances, the correct process to issue the refund didn’t occur and a refund may still be owing to the customer.”