Federal budget 2023: JobSeeker boost among spending to ease cost-of-living pain

The increase will apply from September 20 and will affect JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, the Parenting Payment for partnered recipients, ABSTUDY, Disability Support Pension (Youth), and Special Benefit.

Reports that Treasurer Jim Chalmers would make changes to the JobSeeker rate for those aged 55 and over were also confirmed in Tuesday's budget.

The threshold for a higher rate of the income support payment will be lowered from 60 to 55 years of age.

Currently those aged 60, who have been receiving payments for more than nine months, receive a sum of $745.20 per fortnight, $52.10 more than those who are single and childless and receiving the payment.

The change will reach 52,000 eligible single Australians already receiving the income support payment, just over half (55 per cent) of whom are women.

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The total package will cost $4.9 billion over the next four years, including $5.4 million invested in the 2022-23 financial year. It will cost taxpayers $220 million over three years, beginning in the 2024-25 financial year.

The maximum rate of Commonwealth Rental Assistance payments will also be lifted by 15 per cent, as Australians face skyrocketing rents.

The $2.7 billion to be invested over the forward estimates will affect about 1.1 million households already receiving the highest rate of rental assistance.

The commitments go some of the way to meeting recommendations made by both the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee and the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce in the lead-up to the federal budget.

But the improvements, which will see the JobSeeker rate increase to $52.36 per day for those who are single and childless, won't meet calls to raise the rate to $88 per day, made by the Greens and some poverty and cost of living advocates.

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It builds on commitments made by the government ahead of the budget to expand eligibility for the single parenting payment to those with children under the age of 14, and scrap a controversial program which forced parents of children under six to complete tasks in order to receive their payments.

The budget also revealed details of a $3 billion energy bill relief program, jointly funded by the Commonwealth and states and territories. The program, which could result in power bill relief of up to $500, will be in place for the next two financial years, with the largest sum going to NSW ($481 million).

Small businesses will also receive some relief. Those with aggregated annual turnover less than $10 million, will have their instant asset write-off thresholds lifted to $20,000 next financial year.