The Brisbane suburbs with the most proportion of residents that are reliant on the JobKeeper Payment scheme relative to all postcodes in Australia, including Kedron, have been revealed.
The JobKeeper Payment, introduced on 30 March 2020, is a government subsidy scheme aimed at supporting businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Under the scheme, eligible employers, sole traders, and other business entities can apply to receive a fortnightly wage subsidy of $1,500 per eligible employee.
The Treasury Department expects the Jobkeeper Payment, which is set to be terminated on 27 September 2020, to benefit around 3.5 million employees.
To map out the suburbs/postcodes where residents are particularly reliant on the Jobkeeper handouts, consultancy firm Taylor Fry analysed takeup data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the latest Australian population.
Among the top-tier Brisbane suburbs was Kedron, which according to the latest annual Taxation Statistics report from ATO registered an average taxable income (2016-2017 income year) of $67,082.
Based on the findings, two trends have emerged. The first trend points to postcodes with a high concentration of residents belonging in the workforce and are still employed. These locations have a higher likelihood of having a bigger portion of its residents relying on the JobKeeper payment.
The second trend reveals the impact that the eligible industries have on the payment subsidy scheme. Severely affected middle-income earners in sectors like retail, hospitality, and accommodation are more likely to rely on the JobKeeper.
As shown in the heat map, the relative reliance of suburbs/postcodes, with a score of 90 – 100 decile, are represented in darkest red. These are the 10 percent of Australian postcodes that are likely to have the highest proportion of residents receiving the JobKeeper payment.
Meanwhile, the neighbourhoods that scored 1 – 10 decile, shown in darkest green color, represent the 10 percent of Australian postcodes that are likely to have the lowest proportion of residents reliant on the $1,500-per-fortnight payment.
According to Taylor Fry’s JobKeeper heat map, the other neighbourhoods that scored a 90 – 100 decile apart from Kedron/Gordon Park include Paddington/Milton, Belmont/Gumdale, Coorparoo, Greenslopes, Murarrie, Morningside/Seven Hills, Rochedale/Burbank, Wakerley, and Wynnum West/Hemmant.
The nation’s unemployment rate rose to 7.1 percent in May, the highest level recorded since October 2001, according to the latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The figure is higher compared to 6.4 percent recorded in April. An additional 227,000 people lost their jobs across Australia on top of the 600,000 in April, bringing the total to 835,000 since March 2020.
Victoria recorded the largest drop in employment with 70,800 people losing their jobs, followed by New South Wales with 43,900 lost jobs. Western Australia and Queensland also recorded a decrease in employment, down by 30,200 and 28,100, respectively.
Treasurer Cameron Dick appealed to the federal government to extend the JobKeeper program stating that the pandemic will not be resolved in a matter of weeks or months and thus long-term jobs solutions need to be in place. In his letter to Josh Frydenberg, Treasurer of Australia, Mr Dick said that the Jobkeeper payments are “playing a critical role in maintaining connections between employers and workers.”
Mr Dick added that the JobKeeper Payment scheme is instrumental in mitigating the impacts of the recession and in helping the economy recover from the downturn. To realize this, however, this scheme needs to be implemented “beyond the original six-month timetable.”
“One of the major risks to ensuring Australia’s effective economic recovery and supporting jobs across the country, including in Queensland, is a premature withdrawal of key Australian Government support measures, including JobKeeper, from the economy,” Mr Dick said.
“I am extremely concerned about the potential economic and social impacts any premature cessation of JobKeeper may have on many thousands of Queensland businesses and hundreds of thousands of Queensland workers that have been accessing JobKeeper to hep survive this crisis,” he said.
