Year 12 Student And Carer Receives $8 Of Welfare Payments A Day: Confronts Christian Porter About Reforms On "Q&A"

Last night on ABC's Q&A, a Year 12 student on an $8 a day carer allowance confronted Social Services Minister Christian Porter about welfare reforms.

Rose Cox's question comes in light of recent welfare shakeups, including the establishment of a $96 million Try, Test and Learn fund. Porter unveiled the initiative in response to research indicating young people, students and carers are most at risk of falling into the welfare trap.

“I’m 16, I’ve started Year 12. At 44 my mum was wheelchair-dependent after a year in hospital with a rare neurological illness. My dad became unwell then, resulting in my becoming at the age of 8 a young carer for my younger sister and family,” Rose said.

“I didn’t ask for this role, I landed in it at a very young age. My young care allowance is $8 a day. I don't want to be seen as a burden on the government nor do I wish to be welfare dependent for my lifetime.

"My question Mr Porter is how will a change to payments and a blanket policy understand the very unique and often stressful experiences of young carers like myself and my sister?"

Porter defended the welfare reforms, reinstating that they're designed to get a better outcome for young carers.

At several points he refers to "data sets" and details of analysis, offering an impersonal response to the questioner. Host, Tony Jones, steered him back on track, saying: "So the data set is down to one individual person. So what I'd like to ask is, is your investment approach likely to give more money to someone like Rose, who is now getting $8 a day for all the work that she just described?"

"There's approximately 105,000 young carers in New South Wales," Rose said.

"We have one of the lowest tertiary education rates because we fall through the cracks and the money that I get on the payment and the money that the government uses I just think that there must be a better way that you need to do this."

Porter replied saying the government doesn't "have all the perfect answers".

Photo: ABC