Tomorrow, Economic Justice Australia (EJA) will launch the second of its milestone three-part report series into the various barriers that face women living in regional, rural, remote and very remote (4R) Australia when trying to access their social security entitlements.
This second report, Social Security for Women Outside Our Cities: Issues of Eligibility, draws on extensive research, the experiences of EJA Member Centres, and consultation with more than 100 community service workers who were interviewed nationwide. The result is a comprehensive analysis of key limitations within current legislation and policy, which undermine the effective targeting of social security support to women in 4R Australia.
The launch of report two will take place tomorrow, Thursday 25 September 2025, at Multicap Building (11-15 Cameron St Launceston) in collaboration with our Member Centre, Launceston Community Legal Centre. While the launch of the first report was held in Darwin, we have chosen Tasmania for this second report in recognition of how various challenges manifest themselves, in various ways, in regional and remote areas all across Australia.
Two major issues underpin many of the problems identified in this report. Firstly, there is an urgent need to raise the rate of working-age payments – JobSeeker Payment, Austudy and Youth Allowance – which have failed to keep up with the cost of living, and particularly the soaring cost of housing. Youth Allowance in particular is woefully inadequate. An increase to Rent Assistance and Remote Area Allowance is also urgently needed, noting Remote Area Allowance has not increased at all in 20 years.
Secondly, the social security system is too complicated for both those needing to access it and, we suggest, those responsible for its administration. For example, Disability Support Pension (DSP) is known for its complex eligibility criteria and claim process, and issues of access are made worse by limited access to medical treatment and associated evidence required to establish DSP eligibility, particularly in 4R areas.
Interviews conducted with community workers are included throughout the report, highlighting their first-hand experience and demonstrating this is an issue that goes far beyond abstract policy:
She said, “I will never do Family Tax Benefit again. It doesn’t benefit my children because it affects my mental health. I have that capacity to cope [but] if we’re talking about anybody with a disability or anybody that’s going through the trauma of DV … I’ll help other people fight their [alleged debt], but I don’t have the energy to fight my own.”
— Regional Queensland
We had a client who told us they had appealed their rejected DSP application and needed to drive to attend a meeting in person. They lived in a regional area and the drive took 45 minutes to get somewhere they could attend. At the meeting, the person told them that because they were able to drive 45 minutes to attend, they were not able to get 20 points as the severe impairment level was capped at 30 minutes or less.
— Statewide New South Wales
Everyone knows that the Centrelink amount isn’t even at the poverty line … And the cost in rural and remote areas, things are more expensive. How do you get access to the same things … or transport really long distance for petrol and cars?
— Very remote Northern Territory
The payments are punitive. It’s the way we treat people who are the most vulnerable in society, expecting these payments will lift people out of poverty when they can’t afford the basic necessities of life. How are they supposed to make purposeful change?
— Statewide Queensland
This first report also makes 63 specific policy recommendations for reform that would help ensure geographic location doesn’t determine eligibility for the appropriate social security payments. We are actively working with communities, governments, and stakeholders to implement these recommendations.
In addition to tomorrow’s launch in Launceston, we will also be hosting a webinar, covering key takeaways from this second report, from 2-3pm (AEDT) Wednesday 8 October 2025.
The full report is available as a PDF here.
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Media contact: Kirsty Sier | 0435 075 085 | kirsty@ejaustralia.org.au