JobSeeker Payment Recipients — methodology

What this metric measures

Total number of Australians receiving JobSeeker Payment (formerly Newstart Allowance), the primary working-age income support payment.

Why it matters: Tracks the number of working-age Australians relying on income support. Reflects labour market conditions and welfare system demand.

Source & provenance

Publisher

DSS Income Support Recipients Monthly Ti

Update frequency

monthly

Licence

CC BY 4.0

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How the score is computed

The score is a 0–100 normalisation of the latest observation, compared to a baseline window. The traffic-light rating (RAG) reflects both the absolute level and the recent trend.

Direction

Lower is better

Trend window

60 months

Baseline

Last 10 years

{
  "red_min_pct_of_baseline": 110,
  "amber_max_pct_of_baseline": 110,
  "green_max_pct_of_baseline": 95
}