Despite recent increases, JobSeeker still leaves people below the poverty line. Here’s why that affects us all

By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

Over the past two years, there has been some progress in improving the JobSeeker payment. But payment levels remain below the poverty line.

That’s according to Australia’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee’s 2025 report, released this week a fortnight ahead of the federal budget on March 25. This committee advises the Federal Government on ways to enhance economic inclusion and reduce disadvantage.

The committee is chaired by former Labor minister…

Read complete article

~	US and Ukraine sign 30-day ceasefire proposal – now the ball is in Putin’s court

~	The US has lifted its intelligence sharing pause with Ukraine. But the damage may already be done

~	Middle age is a time when women are vulnerable to eating disorders

~	How Jesse Jackson embodied Southern politics − and changed American elections

~	The parallels between Kash Patel and William J. Burns, a scandal-mongering 1920s FBI director — an FBI historian explains

~	Alien and Sedition Acts were reviled in their time, and John Adams was not sorry to see them go

~	Pennsylvania’s mushroom industry faces urgent labor shortage − and latest immigration policies will likely make it worse

~	US workers with remote-friendly jobs are still working from home nearly half the time, 5 years after the pandemic began

~	How do researchers determine how toxic a chemical is? A toxicologist explains alternatives to animal testing

~	The fediverse promises social media without Big Tech – if it can avoid familiar pitfalls