The Social Development Minister is defending the Government's recent welfare increases after poverty groups said they didn't go far enough.
As of Friday, benefit rates increased by between $20 and $42 per adult per week compared to July last year, while the minimum wage rose from $20 per hour to $21.20, and Working for Families tax credits were bumped up too.
Then in May, the Winter Energy Payment returns until October - $20.46 a week for eligible single people with no dependents and $31.82 a week for couples and people with dependent children.
The increases come against the backdrop of three-decade high 6 percent inflation, sparked by a mix of COVID-19 supply-chain constraints, Government stimulus-spurred consumer spending and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
But poverty advocacy groups criticised the increases, saying they are simply an inflation catch-up and don't meet the skyrocketing cost of living.
Speaking with Newshub Nation on Saturday, Carmel Sepuloni said the increases exceed inflation. But she conceded some families are still struggling.
"When you look at the benefit increases from April to April this year, we're talking about 13 to 30 percent increases, so that exceeds the inflationary increases that we've seen," Sepuloni said.
"That doesn't mean that there's not families struggling, but it certainly hasn't been… eaten up by the inflationary increases."
Sepuloni said she believes the Government is delivering for low-income families, despite the criticism.
When challenged by host Simon Shepherd over calculations by the Fairer Futures group which show a couple on the JobSeeker benefit with two children need $307 a week to participate in society, not the $168 the increases give them, Sepuloni said how much families need is heavily dependent on where they live and their costs.
"With regards to their figure, they're talking about a particular group of people, living in a particular part of the country.
"So it does depend on what different families' costs are, where they live, what their housing costs are, a range of different things and we are playing a bit of a catch-up game after much inaction over many years."
When Shepherd pointed out the Government has been in power for five years and has had plenty of time to catch up, Sepuloni said they are addressing poverty.
"These are significant increases. They are above what the WEAG (Welfare Expert Advisory Group) have recommended with respect to families on benefit with children. And there are other things that we are doing as a government that helps to address poverty as well."
Sepuloni conceded the Government hadn't implemented all recommendations from the WEAG report but said change doesn't happen overnight.
"With those recommendations, a lot of them are not a tick box and they're done - there's ongoing work required.
"But we have done a lot, you know, increasing benefits, lifting abatement thresholds, lifting working for families credits, reinstating the training incentive allowance and boosting and upskilling and training.
"Transformation doesn't happen overnight. It's about a series of deliberate steps that bring about the progress and the change that you want. And we have been absolutely committed from the start from the families package through to the benefit increases that we're doing now. "But there's more to do and we've got we're committed to that overhaul and it's a program of work. It's not one action," Sepuloni explained.
In 2021 a progress review found the Government had failed to fully implement any of the 42 key recommendations from the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) in three years.
Here's how much incomes are up:
Jobseeker support for sole parents is up 8 percent - $440.96 a week compared to $406.78
Jobseeker support for singles 25 and over is up 13 percent - $315.00 a week compared to $278.50
Jobseeker support for couple with partner on benefit, with children is up 18 percent - $566.00 a week compared to $481.30
Youth payment for 16-17 year olds is up 14 percent - $274.37 a week compared to $239.70
Young sole parent for 16-17 year olds is up 8 percent - $440.96 a week compared to $406.78
Orphan's benefit / Unsupported child benefit is up 26 percent for under 5s - $254.95 a week compared to $203.03
Family Tax Credit for eldest child is up 13 percent - $127.73 a week compared to $113.04
Family Tax Credit for subsequent child is up 14 percent - $104.08 compared to $91.25
Best Start Tax Credit for newborns is up 9 percent - $65.15 a week compared to $60.00
Superannuation payment for singles increases fortnightly from $1013.28 to $1076.48
