Regional Australia InstituteRegional Australia Institute
  • About us
    • What is Regional Australia?
    • Our Staff
    • Careers
    • Board
    • Research Advisory Committee
    • Research Fellows
    • Corporate
  • News & Media
    • Media Releases
    • Blogs
    • Editorials
    • Quarterly Regional Jobs Update
    • Newsletters
  • Research & Policy
    • What COVID-19 means for regions
    • Current Project Agenda
    • Migration Work
    • Policy
    • Publications Library
    • Regional Jobs Vacancy Map
    • Job Vulnerability Data Tool
    • Great Small Cities Data Tool
    • MOVE Tool
    • [In]Sight
  • Events & Programs
    • Regions Rising
    • Regional Australia Council 2031
    • Regional Activators Alliance
    • Lightbulb Moments
    • Pathfinder Initiative
    • Innovate with nbn Grants Program
  • Regional Australia Hub
  • Our Partners
  • Contact
  • Subscribe for updates

Regional Impact

COVID-19: Impact on Regional Australia – JobKeeper & JobSeeker

Blogs, covid-19 April 20 2020

What impact will the JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments have on regions?

Highlights:

JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments will have a significant impact on supporting incomes in regions

The impact will be much greater in regions than in metropolitan areas

The JobKeeper payment is close to 100% of median incomes in some regions

The JobSeeker Coronavirus Supplement alone will inject from $33 million to $86 million into disadvantaged regions

JOBKEEPER AND JOBSEEKER PAYMENTS

The JobKeeper payments to eligible employers provide them with $1,500 per fortnight for employees on their books on the 1st of March 2020. It is designed to help businesses that have seen income fall by 30% or 15% for charities to retain their staff – going some way to maintaining local incomes and reducing the number of workers expected to be laid off. Nationally, this payment is expected to cost over $130 billion.

Incomes vary considerably across Australia’s regions. The JobKeeper payments have been set at around 70% of the national median wage, but the variability in median wages across Australia means that the payments are almost 100% of median incomes in some regions.

The JobSeeker Coronavirus Supplement is a significant increase to the value of allowances for recipients of a range of government assistance: Jobseeker Payment, Youth Allowance Jobseeker, Parenting Payment, Farm Household Allowance and Special Benefits (1.1 million people), and now Austudy and Abstudy (another 200,000 people).

The estimated cost of this Supplement is $14 billion over six months, and it looks like this cost includes not just the 1.3 million people currently eligible, but also includes provision for payment to another 1 million Australians who lose their jobs under the COVID-19 response measures.

The RAI has looked at how the JobKeeper payments and the JobSeeker Coronavirus Supplement will impact on different parts of Australia. To keep the modelling of the Supplement simple, we have based it on a single person on one of the eligible benefits, with no additional income. The Supplement effectively doubles the value of these allowances, from an equivalent of around $15,000 per year (with no additional income) to about $29,000 per year.

REGIONAL IMPACT

Incomes vary considerably across Australia’s regions. With the JobKeeper payment and the JobSeeker Coronavirus Supplement, the equivalent value of the income support is close to median incomes in many regions, as there are many regions where average incomes are low. The 20 regions with lowest median incomes are shown in the table below, along with the 10 with the highest median incomes.

The low median income regions reflect a mix of high unemployment and large retiree populations. For the latter group, the cost of housing is usually (but not always) low, meaning that low cash income may be adequate. In these regions, the value of the JobKeeper payment is almost 100% of median incomes, while the supplemented JobSeeker benefit is over 60% of annual median incomes, and for the top region, it is around three quarters. This means that the income cushion that these payments will provide in these regions will go some way to maintaining consumer spending power.

There are many other regions with high median incomes, usually comprising large percentages of well-paid workers. In these regions, the JobKeeper payment is under two-thirds of median incomes, and the supplemented JobSeeker benefit is less than 50% of median incomes and so will have less of an impact on consumer spending power.

The table shows the share of median average incomes that the JobKeeper payment and supplemented JobSeeker allowance are equivalent to.

SA4 RegionStateJobKeeper payment
as proportion of
median income
Supplemented JobSeeker
allowance as proportion
of median income
Mid North Coast (NSW)NSW98.8%73.5%
Wide Bay (QLD)QLD96.5%71.7%
Richmond – Tweed (NSW)NSW95.7%71.1%
Coffs Harbour – Grafton (NSW)NSW95.3%70.9%
South East (TAS)TAS94.8%70.5%
Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven (NSW)NSW91.2%67.8%
South Australia – South East (SA)SA91.1%67.8%
Latrobe – Gippsland (VIC)VIC90.5%67.3%
Shepparton (VIC)VIC90.1%66.9%
North West (VIC)VIC89.7%66.7%
Darling Downs – Maranoa (QLD)QLD89.4%66.4%
Sunshine Coast (QLD)QLD89.0%66.2%
Warrnambool and South West (VIC)VIC88.5%65.7%
West and North West (TAS)TAS86.9%64.6%
Hume (VIC)86.8%64.5%
Launceston and North East (TAS)TAS86.1%64.0%
New England and North West (NSW)NSW85.9%63.8%
Murray (NSW)NSW85.4%63.4%
Barossa – Yorke – Mid North (SA)SA84.6%62.9%
Cairns (QLD)QLD84.5%62.8%
Melbourne – Inner South (VIC)VIC67.1%49.9%
Sydney – Northern Beaches (NSW)NSW66.9%49.7%
Sydney – SutherlandNSW66.5%49.5%
Brisbane Inner CityQLD66.3%49.3%
Perth – InnerWA62.7%46.6%
DarwinNT60.5%45.0%
Sydney – North Sydney and HornsbyNSW59.8%44.4%
Sydney – Eastern SuburbsNSW59.6%44.3%
Australian Capital TerritoryACT58.9%43.8%
Western Australia – Outback (North)WA55.7%41.4%

Regional data on the number of JobSeeker allowance recipients can be used to consider the scale of additional payments to regions that the Supplement triggers. The impact of the Supplement varies based on the number of recipients and their share in the overall labour force. Both these numbers vary across regional Australia. While the largest outright numbers of recipients are in the largest population regions (such as Melbourne West, Melbourne Southeast and Gold Coast), by proportion, the share of recipients amongst income earners varies from a low of 3% to a high of 14% across all regions.

The regions where the JobSeeker Coronavirus Supplement will have the most significant impact are shown in the table below. These are the ten regions with a large share of recipients in relation to the number of overall income earners, and where the Supplement will make the biggest contribution to earned incomes. The table shows the estimated dollar value of the Supplement to each region over six months, and the share of this in total earned income for each region.

SA4 RegionStateEstimated value
of Supplement ($)
Supplement value
as proportion
of earned income
Mid North CoastNSW69,406,6512.9%
Wide BayQLD86,145,5322.7%
Coffs Harbour – GraftonNSW45,094,9942.6%
West and North WestTAS36,286,9422.5%
Adelaide – NorthSA134,178,3652.4%
Launceston and North EastTAS45,737,8582.4%
CairnsQLD82,990,0502.2%
New England and North WestNSW56,127,5002.2%
Richmond – TweedNSW72,937,7052.2%
Barossa – Yorke – Mid NorthSA33,797,2472.2%

The table shows that for regions with high numbers of recipients the additional funds flowing into each region will be substantial from $33 million to over $80 million in regional places over six months, and almost $135 million in Adelaide north. These amounts are up to 2.9% of total income earned in each region, a sizeable injection of consumer spending power in the expected six months.

Note the regional distribution of recipients has been estimated from data provided by Centrelink at the Employment Region scale rather than the actual counts of recipients in each SA4. It would be preferable to have actual counts by SA4 region and discussions are underway with Centrelink on this.

Regional income data for 2016-17 (latest available) has been trended to an estimate for 2018-19 using a uniform 5% increase over those two years.

Share this article:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
Want to leave a comment?
COVID-19: Have your voice heard COVID-19: Impact on Regional Australia – Major Employers in Regions

Related Posts

2020 Shared Inquiry Program: Preliminary Findings

Blogs, Media, Publications Library

Regional job vacancies set new high in October

Blogs, Media

Regions Doubling Down or Diversifying

Blogs, Media, Publications Library

Regional Australia InstituteRegional Australia Institute
p 02 6260 3733
e info[at]regionalaustralia.org.au
Privacy Policy | Terms of use
© 2017 Regional Australia Institute
ABN 65 152 955 667
  • Subscribe for updates

HOME

ABOUT US
What is Regional Australia
Staff
Corporate
Careers

Work with us

Contact us

Tools and products
[In]Sight
Great Small Cities Data Tool
Pathfinder Initiative
Regional Online Heroes
Lightbulb Moments

Our work
Current Project Agenda
Policy
Blog
Publications Library

Media room
Media release
Media coverage
Events
Newsletters
XML Site Map | Website built by OPF Consulting
About Andrew McConville

Andrew McConville is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA), a position he has occupied since April 2019.

As Chief Executive, Andrew is responsible for leading the Association and its members to be the effective voice the Australian oil and gas industry, building community trust and support, driving advocacy and engagement, developing the industry’s key policy positions and executing a strategy for growth of the Association.

Andrew is an advocacy and corporate affairs professional with more than 25 years’ experience across the oil and gas, agribusiness, banking and finance, FMCG and government sectors. 

Andrew holds a first class honours degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of New England, a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics from Oxford University and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

About Paul Cronin

Paul Cronin is the Head of Corporate Affairs at Aurizon. Aurizon is Australia’s largest rail freight operator and a top 100 ASX company. Each year the company transports more than 250 million tonnes of Australian commodities, connecting miners, primary producers and industry with international and domestic markets. Approximately 80% of Aurizon employees live and work in regional communities.

In his role Paul is responsible for Organisational Communications, Media, Stakeholder Relations, Brand and Sponsorships.

About Robert Musgrove

Since joining Bendigo and Adelaide Bank in 1987, Robert has held a wide and varied range of positions across the Group, from Customer Service Officer to playing a pivotal role in the development and expansion of the Community Bank® model. Robert is currently General Manager Corporate and Public Affairs, with responsibility for shaping and maximising the Bank’s position through external communications and championing its point of difference to all stakeholder groups. Robert and his team also have responsibility for Government and industry consultation, as well as the Bank’s early work in climate change action and E.S.G. reporting (environment, social, governance).

From 2006 Robert’s roles have included responsibility for the Bank’s key innovative partnerships, as Head of Group Strategy, and Executive Engagement Innovation, before leading the creation of the Corporate & Public Affairs division in 2018.

Robert is a director of the Bendigo Art Gallery, a director of Community Sector Banking, and a member of the Victorian Government’s Regional Partnerships group representing the Loddon Campaspe region.

About Grant Cairns

Grant’s team is responsible for serving and meeting the financial services needs of our rural commercial and agribusiness customers in over 70 locations across regional Australia.

Grant joined the Commonwealth Bank in 2005 and has broad experience across the Business and Private Banking (BPB) division. His leadership roles include heading up the Client Acquisition, Transaction Banking, Asset Finance and Industry Specialists teams. He has also held executive roles managing the Bank's Commercial Lending and Asset Finance products and portfolio.

Prior to joining the Commonwealth Bank, Grant worked as a General Manager within the McCarrolls Automotive Group. He started his career as an accountant at KPMG.

Grant has completed Australia's flagship Asia Leadership Program and holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting and Finance as well as a Master of Applied Finance. He is also a Chartered Accountant.

Outside of work, Grant enjoys spending time with his young family, playing golf and reading.

About Eacham Curry

Based in Sydney, Eacham Curry is the Director of Government and Corporate Affairs for Expedia Group in Australia/New Zealand, spearheading governmental affairs and public policy strategy on behalf of Expedia Group’s ANZ portfolio of online travel brands such as Expedia, Wotif, Stayz and Egencia.

A champion of collaboration, Eacham forges close working relationships with government, regulatory bodies, industry, community and media stakeholders, and represents Expedia Group on key industry associations. As such, his voice helps shape the debate surrounding the travel, tech and e-commerce opportunities and landscape in ANZ. He is regularly spokesperson on public policy matters impacting Expedia Group’s business in ANZ.
• In 2020, he joined Australia Regional Institute’s (RAI) Council / Board
• Also in 2020, he was elected as the Foreign Company Representative Director to the Japan Association of Vacation Rentals (JAVR)

Eacham has extensive past experience in political and economic leadership a roles ANZ and in Asia. Prior to joining Expedia Group, Eacham was the Managing Director of Barton Deakin Government Relations in Western Australia, having established that operation in 2013. He joined Barton Deakin Government Relations after serving as a Chief of Staff across several portfolios, including Transport, Commerce, Finance and Small Business, in the Western Australian Barnett Government from 2008 to 2013.
Prior to relocating to Western Australia, Eacham held a variety of Federal government relations and political staffing roles for many years, and was a chief of staff and senior adviser to ministers in the Howard Federal Government across the Health and Ageing, Defence, Veterans’ Affairs and Family and Community Services portfolios. A veteran of 22 political campaigns he has also twice been a delegate for the internationally recognised Australian Political Exchange Council on delegations to China (2004) and New Zealand (2008).

About Robert Poole

Robert joined KPMG in February 2017 and is National Lead Partner – Food & Agribusiness. He works across the agri-business and food supply chain to help businesses build profit and growth; solve complex problems and harness new ideas. Robert has a team of food and agri-business specialists who work on projects across management consulting, risk, deals advisory support and enterprise.
He is also leader of the Operations Advisory team leader in Melbourne and is responsible for the day-to-day performance of a team of 110 people - working across multiple disciplines including financial services, supply chain, procurement and defence. He has successfully built a strong food and agri-business practice from scratch and placed KPMG as the number one professional services firm in the Australian food and agri-business sector.

About Gavin Williams

Gavin Williams is Chief Development Officer, Regional & Remote at NBN Co.

Mr Williams was appointed to the Chief Development Officer Regional & Remote in October 2019, bringing more than five years’ experience at NBN Co and 25 years within the telecommunication industry across Australia.

He has held leadership roles that have spanned engineering, product management, marketing and strategy disciplines across consumer, business and wholesale markets.

Prior to joining NBN Co, Gavin held positions in Optus, Telstra and was principal of an independent consultancy. He was a Board Director of Southern Cross Cable.

Mr Williams holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree (Hons) from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Business Administration from Macquarie University.

About Mark Ashburn

Mark leads stakeholder engagement for Prime Super. We have a national team of 20 (mostly regionally based) professionals who assist and inform employers and individuals on superannuation matters.

Prime Super has been a partner to regional Australians for more than 20 years. We are a high performing independent super fund owned by our nearly 130,000 members. The fund is open to all and our mission is to ensure every member has the opportunity to enjoy the best financial retirement outcome they can expect from their lifetime of work.

About Ben Gursansky

Ben Gursansky joined Telstra in January 2019 as the Head of Rural and Regional Affairs.

Prior to joining Telstra, across 20 years Ben has held a number of senior policy and management positions within the agriculture sector and Government. This included working with Saputo Dairy Australia, Australian dairy processor Murray Goulbourn Co-operative Ltd, the SA Farmers Federation Grains Council, Australian Pork Limited and in management consultancy. Ben was also a policy adviser to the former Federal Minister for Regional Development, the Hon Simon Crean.

Ben holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Agriculture) with Honours from the University of Adelaide, a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of New England, and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the Melbourne Business School.

About Graeme Wedderburn

Graeme has more than 30 years’ experience working in business and government at the highest levels. Before joining TransGrid in November 2018, Graeme’s career included Director of Specialised Capital Group, Westpac’s investment banking arm, General Manager, Government and Corporate Affairs with Origin Energy and consulting for business and governments in Australia and Asia with a range of firms including KPMG. In government, Graeme served in a number of roles including senior adviser to Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and as Chief of Staff for the longest continuously serving NSW Premier.

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.