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- The Federal Government’s JobKeeper support program looks to be coming to its official end next month despite a fresh lockdown in Victoria this week
- New data compiled by the ATO shows that 1.5 million Australian workers were receiving JobKeeper wage subsidies at the end of 2020
- This means over half a million employees and two million workers have come off the program since it was first introduced in March 2020
- Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said this is a sign of a nationwide economic recovery
- With unemployment falling across the nation, it seems unlikely the JobKeeper program will be extended again
- This is despite calls from the Australian Council of Trade Unions to keep the program going for as long as the pandemic is around
- At this stage, JobKeeper will end on March 28, 2021
The Federal Government’s JobKeepr support program looks to be coming to its official end next month despite a fresh lockdown in Victoria this week.
New data compiled by the Australian Tax Office shows that over 1.5 million workers in Australia were still on JobKeeper at the end of 2020.
However, this means that over half a million employers and two million workers who were receiving JobKeeper payments when it was first introduced in March 2020 were no longer receiving payments by the end of the year.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the data is a sign that Australia is seeing a nationwide recovery from brutal COVID-19 woes.
“These improvements have been broad-based across the country, and we have seen encouraging signs across all sectors,” he said in a statement.
Falling unemployment
The Treasurer said according to the latest data, 320,000 new jobs have been created in the last three months. In the last seven months, 785,000 jobs have been created — taking the unemployment rate to 6.6 per cent.
Moreover, unemployment has only remained low for workers under 35.
“Employment levels for those aged 35 and above are particularly strong, higher today than they were before the pandemic,” Treasurer Frydenberg said.
While the Treasurer has not directly stated that there will be no further JobKeeper extensions, the focus on strong employment figures across the nation suggests that the program could officially reach its end on its scheduled date in late-March.
The JobKeeper scheme was initially slated to end on September 28, 2020, but was extended twice in light of ongoing struggles from the coronavirus pandemic.
“There are some who are anxious as JobKeeper comes to an end but it was always meant to be a temporary program, even before we extended it for another six months,” the Treasurer explained.
“At an estimated $90 billion, it is the single largest economic support program Australia has ever introduced and has saved, according to Treasury, 700,000 jobs, helping to avoid unemployment rising as high as 15 per cent.”
Calls to keep JobKeeker rising
With Victoria entering yet another lockdown this week, at this stage set to end on Wednesday night, calls to extend the JobKeeker program once more are on the rise.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) released a statement today claiming the wage subsidy scheme is “essential” and must be extended as many regions and sectors experiences snap lockdowns.
Particularly for areas like tourism and hospitality, the ACTU argued, the end of JobKeeper will be devastating. The organisation said though millions of people have come off JobKeeper since the start of the pandemic, the 1.5 million people currently getting wage subsidies still deserve support.
“1.5 million workers were still on JobKeeper at the end of 2020 and whilst the Government teases potential support for some sectors, these people continue to live with uncertainty,” ACTU President Michele O’Neil said.
“The Government must commit to ongoing support to businesses that are continuing to suffer a proven serious drop in turnover and extend JobKeeper to cover those affected by snap lockdowns,” she said.
“This recovery will be driven by working people spending in local businesses. Cutting supports and driving those workers into unemployment will prolong the recovery, hurt small business and weaken the economy.”
She added that to end the JobKeeper scheme “is not only cruel; it’s bad economics”.
Still, the Government has flagged the need to balance necessary support with unnecessary handouts.
A review into the JobKeeper program found that potential “adverse incentives” brought about by the program will become more pronounced as the economy recovers.
Things like labour mobility, the reallocation of workers to more productive roles, and keeping businesses afloat that would not otherwise be viable without ongoing support all create these adverse incentives, and as such, the program can’t go on forever.
At this stage, JobKeeper will end on March 28, 2021.
