Welfare recipients are costing taxpayers $157 billion a year – as it's revealed Australia spends $430 million EVERY DAY on government benefits

  • Australia is spending $157 billion on welfare each year - $430 million every day
  • Welfare cash payments cost taxpayers $40 billion more than 10 years ago
  • The figures come from a new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report
  • Senator Zed Seselja said report shows long way to go to improve overall welfare

By Australian Associated Press

Published: | Updated:

Australia is forking out $430 million in welfare every day and the bill has soared by $40 billion in nine years, a national report card has found.

The Commonwealth, state and territory governments spent roughly $157 billion on welfare cash payments and services in 2015-16, up from $117 billion in 2006-07.

The eye-popping figures have been laid bare in a biennial Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report released on Thursday.

Australia is forking out $430 million in welfare every day and the bill has soared by $40 billion in nine years, a national report card has found (stock image pictured)

Australia is forking out $430 million in welfare every day and the bill has soared by $40 billion in nine years, a national report card has found (stock image pictured)

The wide-ranging report canvassed issues including welfare, housing, education and employment.

Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs Zed Seselja said the report showed there was a long way to go to improve the overall welfare of Australians.

'Intergenerational welfare dependence is a real issue in our community and this report gives us some of the data we need to help address these areas of concern,' Senator Seselja said.

'It is our job as a government to make sure this money is providing a hand up, not a hand out, and is going to those who need it most.'

The Commonwealth, state and territory governments spent roughly $157 billion on welfare cash payments and services in 2015-16, up from $117 billion in 2006-07 (pictured is a graph from the report)

The Commonwealth, state and territory governments spent roughly $157 billion on welfare cash payments and services in 2015-16, up from $117 billion in 2006-07 (pictured is a graph from the report)

The eye-popping figures have been laid bare in a biennial Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report released on Thursday (pictured is a graph from the report)

The eye-popping figures have been laid bare in a biennial Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report released on Thursday (pictured is a graph from the report)

More than two-thirds of cash payments ($105 billion) went to specific populations excluding the unemployed, with just 6.3 per cent ($10 billion) spent on unemployment benefits.

Some 27 per cent of the welfare spending ($42 billion) was allocated to services.

Senator Seselja said the climbing welfare costs vindicated his government's efforts to get Australians off welfare and into work to curb persistent disadvantage, and to ensure payments go to society's most vulnerable.

The overall increase meant welfare spending accounted for 9.5 per cent of gross domestic product, compared with 8.6 per cent nine years earlier.

An estimated 478,000 people were employed in the welfare workforce in 2015, an increase of 84 per cent since 2005.

One in nine (or 2.7 million) Australians were informal carers.

Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs Zed Seselja said the report showed there was a long way to go to improve the overall welfare of Australians (stock image pictured)

Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs Zed Seselja said the report showed there was a long way to go to improve the overall welfare of Australians (stock image pictured)

 

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