I was stunned to learn that Australian JobSeeker is not indexed on how much you earned before and is just one lump ($800/fortnight for singles, minus $60 if they have a partner, plus $60 with a kid), unlike Canadian EI which provides 55% replacement of up to $68.9k annual income, for up to 45 weeks.
Liz Fong-Jones (方禮真)
The 2026 Cost of Living Index finds that:
A single person on JobSeeker falls behind by $251 a week after paying for rent, food and transport
A single parent on Parenting Payment falls behind by $174 a week
A couple with two children on JobSeeker falls behind by $428 a week.
