(Cth) Increase the Eligibility Cut-off Age for the Parenting Payment Single from 14 to 16

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Author:  Zak Russell, Chelsea Lee, Lois Macgregor, Stella Prassi & Mecca Setiawan | Publish date: 21/1/2026

TW: Domestic violence and abuse

• P: Single parents with children aged 14 and older are not eligible for the Parenting Payment Single (PPS). 

• S: The Minister for Social Services should amend Section 500D(2)(c) of the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) to omit ‘14’ and substitute it with ‘16’, to raise the age of PPS eligibility.

  
  

Problem Identification: 

Section 500D(2)(c) of the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) states that ‘a child is a parenting payment child of a person if the child has not turned 14.’

According to Single Mother Families Australia (SMFA), single parents lose PPS support after their youngest child reaches the cut-off age of 14. The National Council for Single Mothers and their Children (NCSMC) stated that this often causes them to move from ‘a life of financial constraint to a life of acute financial distress.’

Context: 

The Parenting Payment Single (PPS) refers to the ‘main income support payment for single parents and other principal carers who have sole or primary responsibility for the care of a child.’ In 2025, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) said that the number of parents receiving the PPS of $928.20 per fortnight increased by 102,000 to 328,000 recipients, of whom 93% were women. According to SMFA, the PPS is ‘the most important income support payment for women and children leaving violence.’ 

In 2006, the PPS cut-off age was reduced from 16 to 8. In 2023, the eligibility age was raised to 14.

The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia 2025 survey found that nearly 1 in 3 single-parent families lived below the poverty line, and that the child poverty rate in single-parent families was over twice that of two-parent families.

Arguments:

When single parents are no longer eligible for PPS, it is known that many experience significant financial distress. According to the Hon. Prof. Verity Firth (then-UTS Pro Vice Chancellor for Social Justice and Inclusion), when single parents are ineligible, they often move to the Jobseeker payment (a lower fortnightly amount). Professor Firth stated that, as of 2023, 16,910 single parents with children aged 14 to 16 remain on the lower Jobseeker payment. They further reported that this means their income can be $143.20 less than what a parent would receive on the PPS per fortnight (using payment rates as of Dec 2025). Dr Anne Summers, a researcher into domestic violence, has said this means that many single parents are forced into ‘policy-induced poverty.’ 

According to Dr Summers, the low cut-off age means that single mothers may find it more difficult to leave violent relationships. She said that this is due to anticipated financial difficulties. According to SMFA, ‘1 in 5 women return to violent partners because they have no other financial support.’ Dr Summers has argued that the lower PPS cut-off can prevent victim-survivors from gaining financial independence. Thus, she highlighted that this can increase the risk of single mothers being unable to leave violent relationships, reinforcing that ‘for too many women the choice is between ongoing violence … or a life of poverty’.

The NCSMC has argued that the lower cut-off age inhibits single parents’ ability to complete their studies and find ‘long-term and meaningful employment.’ According to personal testimony, one mother had to ‘give up her studies’ once her child surpassed the PPS eligibility age. She reported that she then took on insecure, casual work to compensate for the lower unemployment payment. Dr Summers argued further that the workforce participation rate for single mothers fell after 2012, the year the eligibility cut-off officially became 8 for all single parents.

According to Professors Firth and Carl Rhodes (Dean of the UTS Business School), the lower cut-off age leads to increased government spending to mitigate the effects of child poverty in the long term. The Centre for Policy Development (CPD) has noted that the Australian government spends at least $16 billion annually due to the consequences associated with childhood poverty. According to CPD, this is a consequence of the downstream effects of childhood poverty. For example, they highlighted increased justice system spending, prolonged welfare reliance, and additional health costs stemming from poverty.

Advice/Solution Identification:

SMFA, Dr Anne Summers, NCSMC, Professors Verity Firth and Carl Rhodes, the ACTU and the Salvation Army have all called to raise the age of PPS eligibility to 16. The Salvation Army, Dr Anne Summers, and Professors Verity Firth and Carl Rhodes have said that raising the age to 16 would help reduce poverty and help restore financial stability to victim-survivors of domestic violence. The NCSMC has said that this could help to enable single parents to ‘gain entry into paid work … and skill enhancement.’

Precedent:

There is domestic and international precedent for this change. Domestically, before the Welfare to Work changes in 2006, unemployed single parents received ongoing income support until their youngest child reached 16. In the UK, child benefits for both single and non-single parents last until the child turns 16 years old. 

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Public Support: 

1. Dr Anne Summers

2. Single Mother Families Australia (SMFA) 

3. National Council of Single Mothers and their Children (NCSMC) 

4. Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU)

News Coverage:

• The Guardian - “‘Cruel and demeaning’ if Albanese government restores single-parent payment only until children reach high school, advocates say.” This article outlined concerns by social services and single mother advocacy groups that the proposed change by the Albanese government to raise the eligibility cut-off age to 12. By: Paul Karp | 25 April 2023 - Read the article here.

• The Guardian - “Single parenting payment cutoff to be lifted from eight to 14, reversing Gillard government policy.” This article discussed the government’s decision to increase the parenting payment eligibility cutoff from 8 to 14 years. By: Josh Butler | 8 May 2023 - Read the article here.

• ABC News - “Thousands of Australian single mothers shoulder cost of living pressures while facing poverty. So what help is out there?” ‘There is so much fear about losing income support […] and it can actually cost you more money to participate in the workforce than what you receive.’ This article outlined the financial hardship experienced by single parents in Australia amid rising costs, detailing their struggles with insufficient government income support. By: Widia Jalal | 4 December 2022 - Read the article here.

• The Guardian - “‘Slippery slope’: How Australia’s inadequate welfare traps single parents in a cycle of debt.” This article detailed the financial instability single parents have faced when they are forced to transition to Jobseeker from the PPS. By: Felicity Convery | 26 April 2023 - Read the article here.

Where to go to learn more: 

1. The Choice: Violence or Poverty report by Dr Anne Summers - A report that highlighted the effects of domestic violence on single parents and the impact of government benefits such as PPS on the financial stability of victim-survivors. It was recommended that the Parenting Payment cut-off age be raised to 16. Read the report here.

2. Child Poverty in Australia 2024 report by Valuing Children Initiative - A report on the state of child poverty in Australia in 2024 and how government policies like restricting access to the Parenting Payment Single (such as having the cut-off be 14 instead of 16) have contributed to this issue. Read the report here.

3. Single Mother Families An Australian Asset: Employment White Paper by the Council of Single Mothers and their Children - Recommended that the parental payment eligibility be increased to 16, and links this to poverty problems in single-parent families, along with how this impacts the ability to pursue education and find employment. Read the report here.

4. The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey: Selected Findings from Waves 1 to 23 report by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research - A report on the state and level of child poverty in Australia in 2025. Read the report here.

5. Social Security Rights Victoria - A webpage that outlined the current PPS policy and eligibility, which is important to understand the existing context and legislation. Read the page here.

Human Perspective: 

TW: Domestic violence

Michelle is a 40-year-old woman who has just left an abusive relationship. She has 2 children: 13-year-old Ashton and 15-year-old Olivia, for whom she is the primary caregiver. Michelle is currently on the Parenting Payment Single, which entitles her to government financial assistance at a higher level than the standard Jobseeker payment, along with having more lenient mutual obligation requirements. However, Ashton will soon turn 14, meaning she will be moved from the PPS to the Jobseeker unemployment payment. She feels rushed to take low-income, low-skill casual work, and doesn’t know whether she will have the time, energy, or financial resources to pursue higher education as she had planned. Michelle began to wonder if leaving her abusive relationship was the best decision for her and her children. Michelle’s children have become increasingly anxious about her family’s future, which is affecting her concentration at school and limiting her ability to engage in social and recreational activities.

To protect the anonymity of those involved, this is a fictionalised account drawn from an amalgamation of real-life stories, experiences and testimonials gathered during the research process for this brief. Any resemblance to actual individuals is purely coincidental.

Conflict of interest/acknowledgment statement: 

N/A

Support 

If your organisation would like to add your support to this paper or suggest amendments, please email Info@foreaustralia.com. 

Reference list: 

Australian Council of Trade Unions. (2023, May 8). Important extension of support for single parents welcome. https://www.actu.org.au/media-release/important-extension-of-support-for-single-parents-welcome/utm_source=chatgpt.com#:~:text=This%20will%20assist%20single%20parents%20to%20re%2Denter%20the%20workforce%2C%20undertake%20training%20and%20care%20for%20their%20children. 

ANROWS. (2022). Economic security and intimate partner violence: Research synthesis. ANROWS. https://anrows-2019.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/17095849/ANROWS-Economic-Security-Synthesis-2022.pdf

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2025). Income support payments for the working age population. Australian Government. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/income-support-payments-for-the-working-age-popula#:~:text=328%2C000%20receiving%20Parenting%20Payment%20Single%20%28PPS%29 

Bowman, D., & Wickramasinghe, S. (2020). Trampolines not traps: Enabling economic security for single mothers and their children. Brotherhood of St. Laurence. https://library.bsl.org.au/bsljspui/bitstream/1/12203/5/BowmanWickramasinghe_Trampolines_not_traps_2020.pdf

Butler, J. (2023, May 8). Single parenting payment cutoff to be lifted from eight to 14, reversing Gillard government policy. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/08/single-parenting-payment-cut-lifted-8-to-14-parent-extended-policy#:~:text=Single%20parents%20will%20now%20receive%20extra%20payments%20until%20their%20child%20turns%2014%2C%20as%20the%20government%20moves%20to%20wind%20back%20a%20controversial%20Gillard%2Dera%20move%20which%20pushed%20parents%20on%20to%20lower%20welfare%20rates. 

Centre for Policy Development. (2025, June 26). Avoidable Costs: Better outcomes and better value for public money. https://cpd.org.au/work/avoidable-costs/

Firth, V. (2023, May 25). The power of advocacy and research – working hand-in-hand. UTS Newsroom. https://www.uts.edu.au/news/2023/05/power-advocacy-and-research-working-hand-hand 

Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand. (2018). “Outside systems control my life” Single mothers stories of welfare to work. 

https://goodshep.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/outside-systems-control-my-life_single-mothers-stories-of-welfare-to-work.pdf#page=20 

Guide to Social Policy Law. (2025, November 3). 1.1.P.51 Parenting payment (single) (PPS). Australian Government. https://guides.dss.gov.au/social-security-guide/1/1/p/51 

Melbourne Institute. (2025). Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/5387806/2025-HILDA-Statistical-Report.pdf#page=65 

Salvation Army. (2023, May). Submission to the Inquiry into Early Childhood Education and Care. https://assets.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/360011/sub056-childhood.pdf#page=13 

Services Australia. (2025, October 29) Parenting Payments. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/parentingpayment#:~:text=To%20get%20this,if%20you%E2%80%99re%20single%2C 

Single Mother Families Australia & Anti-Poverty Week. (2023, March 28). Restore access to the ‘Parenting Payment Single’ payment to all single parents. https://www.antipovertyweek.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Parenting-Payment-Single-Briefing-SMFA-and-APW-28323.pdf

Single Mother Families Australia. (2024, September 16). Single Mother Payments and Poverty: SMFA Briefing Note. https://smfa.com.au/wpcontent/uploads/2024/09/Single-Mother-Payments-and-Poverty-SMFA-Briefing-Note-160924.pdf 

Social Security Act 1991 (Cth). https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A04121/2025-1101/20251101/text/original/epub/OEBPS/document_1/document_1.html#_Toc212462138 

University of Technology Sydney. (2023). Research backs supporting single mothers until a child is 16. UTS. https://www.uts.edu.au/news/2023/04/research-backs-supporting-single-mothers-until-child-16

United Kingdom Government Website. (n.d). Child Benefit. 

https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit#:~:text=child%20who%20is%3A-,under%2016,-under%2020%20if 

Valuing Children Initiative. (2024, August). Child Poverty in Australia 2024.

https://bcec.edu.au/assets/2024/08/BCEC-Child-Poverty-in-Australia-2024-web.pdf#page=18