Double-Dipping on JobKeeper and JobSeeker

From October, workers on the government’s JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme will be eligible to double-dip and claim JobSeeker payments as well.

JobSeeker is available to those earning less than $1256 a fortnight, which means a full-time worker earning $1200 a fortnight on the upper-tier rate of JobKeeper 2.0 could be able to claim $284 worth of JobSeeker between October and December.

Grattan Insitute and former Treasury economist Brendan Coates says it’s part of a deliberate move to transition away from JobKeeper.

“We’ve got to get rid of JobKeeper over time, it’s not the kind of policy you want to keep long term,” Mr Coates tells Brooke Corte.

“It’s paying people to be in jobs that perhaps won’t exist on the other side of the pandemic, some firms will not survive this period which is tough, but an unfortunate reality,

“The government is allowing people to take both payments as they slowly taper JobKeeper down and replace it with the traditional income support, unemployment benefit of JobSeeker, albeit at a higher rate than it was before COVID came along,”

Click play to hear the full interview: