This was published 3 years ago
Plea for 1.1 million on temporary visas as expert warns of public health disaster
By Bianca Hall and Angus Thompson
A nationwide plea to the federal government to extend a lifeline to more than 1 million of the nation's most vulnerable people ineligible for welfare support has come amid a warning their plight risks undermining efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Brendan Brest, 22, says he can barely survive on the disability support pension after losing his job because of the COVID-19 crisis.Credit: Kate Geraghty
More than 180 community groups have united in a call for federal financial support for 1.1 million temporary visa holders, including migrant workers, international students and asylum seekers living in the community.
Many families and their children, including asylum seekers on bridging visas, have no income after losing their jobs and face homelessness, advocates warn.
Disability pensioners, too, say they have been discriminated against in federal pandemic relief, arguing they and their carers should receive the fortnightly $550 COVID-19 supplement offered to other welfare recipients.
The Refugee Council of Australia — one of the 186 groups to sign an open letter to the government — warned that more than 90,000 people living on bridging visas had no assistance or financial support.
The council's chief executive, Paul Power, said some were not even given any access to Medicare or subsidised medications.
Mr Power said charities' emergency assistance packages were designed as a stopgap, and not indefinite support for people with no income whatsoever.
"You can't support people who've got no income at all through emergency assistance ... it's beyond the financial capacity of charities," he said.
"What we're appealing for is a basic safety net."
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's office would not comment on the push for more assistance for temporary visa holders. He has previously said the government "had to draw the line somewhere".
"If there’s no work for them and they can get back to their home country, then that is obviously an option for them," he told the ABC's Insiders program.
The government has previously said temporary visa-holders could dip into their superannuation.
As concerns grow among community groups, Burnet Institute epidemiologist Professor Michael Toole said there was a clear public health risk associated with not supporting people during a pandemic.
"Strong evidence suggests when people cannot buy food, medicines or pay their rent, they are more likely to move into overcrowded housing which is a risk for COVID-19 infection," he said.
"Similarly with insecure visas, people are much less likely to go to the hospital even if they are unwell."
Professor Toole said Singapore's experience should be a cautionary tale for Australia. There, the country was showing early and promising signs it was containing the spread of the virus. But having failed to address living conditions for migrant workers, Singapore's cases have leapt to more than 16,000.
Distress calls are also coming from a coalition of advocacy groups who want the government to give people receiving the disability support pension and their carers the fortnightly $550 COVID-19 supplement that is available to those receiving JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and Austudy.
An open letter penned by Disabled People's Organisations Australia and endorsed by more than 70 organisations said the disability pension was inadequate support during the crisis.
Sydney's Brendan Brest, 22, who lives with a mental health disability, said he had worked his way up from a life on the streets to living in transitional housing, with a view to moving into private, shared accommodation.
He said he was climbing the ranks with his job at an airline when the crisis struck, and was stood down.
"I was on the verge of building myself up. I was looking at being stable. I was on the uphill and when all this turned up it just dropped," Mr Brest said.
After earning up to $1000 a fortnight with his pension and wage combined, he now receives half that amount once his community housing provider deducts rent from the government payment.
Minus living expenses, Mr Brest said he would not have enough to catch the train to work if he still had a job.
"The risk of going back to being homeless is there," he said.
Pam Barker, CEO of youth homelessness peak body YFoundations, said a lot of people on the disability pension used employment to supplement their incomes.
She said there was an increase of young people sleeping rough, which was likely to continue with other factors such as rental stress and domestic violence.
A spokesperson for Families and Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said the disability pension was a long-term payment that was already paid at the highest rate of support in the system, "significantly higher than the JobSeeker base rate – because recipients are not expected to work to support themselves."
The spokesperson added the disability pension, which can be up to $944 a fortnight for singles, would continue to be paid at a higher rate than JobSeeker, which was $565.70 fortnightly for singles.
Disability pension recipients would also be among those to receive two separate support payments in response to the crisis, the spokesperson said.
But disabled people who access the JobSeeker payment lose their eligibility for support.