Australia Yearbook - 2001

260 Year Book Australia 2001
7.9 RECIPIENTS OF NEWSTART ALLOWANCE(a)
Unit June 1995 June 1996 June 1997 June 1998 May 1999 June 2000
SHORT-TERM CUSTOMERS (12 MONTHS OR LESS)
Age group (years)
Less than 21 no. 86 261 78 535 62 975 62 134 39 28
21–34 no. 180 135 216 818 181 147 166 023 136 232 106 866
35–54 no. 102 076 132 935 118 903 103 087 93 187 80 829
55–59 no. 14 574 18 507 17 185 13 743 12 834 12 118
60 and over no. 10 785 10 231 7 551 6 790 6 941 6 713
Males no. 268 257 310 366 262 583 234 551 171 764 143 659
Females no. 125 574 146 660 125 178 117 226 77 469 62 895
Persons no. 393 831 457 026 387 761 351 777 249 233 206 554
LONG-TERM CUSTOMERS (OVER 12 MONTHS)
Age group (years)
Less than 21 no. 42 545 37 153 40 985 41 082 13 197 2 300
21–34 no. 164 836 140 955 163 140 172 208 171 196 155 126
35–54 no. 139 316 125 022 146 861 162 673 163 224 156 842
55–59 no. 29 194 27 025 29 451 29 880 28 986 28 205
60 and over no. 3 937 3 361 1 661 2 192 3 053 3 852
Males no. 279 936 240 907 272 592 289 458 273 366 247 366
Females no. 99 892 92 609 109 506 118 577 106 290 98 959
Persons no. 379 828 333 516 382 098 408 035 379 656 346 325
SHORT- AND LONG-TERM CUSTOMERS
Age group (years)
Less than 21 no. 128 826 115 688 103 960 103 216 13 236 2 328
21–34 no. 344 971 357 773 344 287 338 231 307 428 261 992
35–54 no. 241 392 257 957 265 764 265 760 256 411 237 671
55–59 no. 43 768 45 532 46 636 43 623 41 820 40 323
60 and over no. 14 722 13 592 9 212 8 982 9 994 10 565
Males no. 548 193 551 273 535 175 524 009 445 130 391 025
Females no. 225 466 239 269 234 684 235 803 183 759 161 854
Persons no. 773 659 790 542 769 859 759 812 628 889 552 879
Total payments for financial year
ending 30 June(b) $’000 7 061 006 5 765 174 6 047 829 5 757 731 5 370 669 4 954 450
(a) Expenditure for 1998–99 onwards is reported on an accrual basis and is not directly comparable to expenditure in previous
years. (b) Total payments for the year ending 30 June 1995 include payments to partners of married allowees. From 1 July 1995
they are required to claim payment in their own right, and most expenditure is incurred under Partner Allowance (PA) and Parenting
Allowance.
Source: Department of Family and Community Services.
Youth Allowance (YA)
On 1 July 1998 the Government introduced YA
for young people. It replaced numerous former
schemes for young people, namely: Youth
Training Allowance; AUSTUDY for students aged
16–24 years; Newstart Allowance for the
unemployed aged 16–20 years; and Sickness
Allowance for 16–20 year olds and those
secondary students aged 16 and 17 years
attracting more than the minimum rate Family
Allowance.
YA is now the main income support payment
available to young unemployed people aged 16 to
20, and to students aged from 16 to 24. There are
some circumstances where it can be paid to
young people under 16 years. It can also be paid
to young people over 25 where they were
enrolled in a course and receiving YA
immediately prior to turning 25 and are still
continuing in the same course.
YA is based on a flexible, streamlined policy
which ensures that young people receive the
same payment whether they are studying,
training, looking for work, are sick, or a
combination of these. It recognises that young
people can follow several pathways, i.e. from
school to further education, training or
employment.
YA is usually subject to a personal and parental
means test. To qualify for YA, young people must
undertake approved activities, which may include
full-time study or a combination of activities such