A Bendigo resident has told of the impact a reduced JobSeeker rate will have on her ability to make ends meet.
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Sharron Jamisson said she will be forced to go back to scraping by, preparing cheap meals and making sacrifices when it comes to petrol and resources she can use to make herself job ready.
"It's going to really put the pressure back on," Ms Jamisson said.
The JobSeeker coronavirus supplement will fall by $150 per week after September, with the fortnightly amount to reduce from $550 to $250.
The base JobSeeker rate will remain the same, with the supplement available until December 31.
From August 4, JobSeeker recipients will also have to prove they have undertaken at least four job searches a month.
Ms Jamisson said she would love to save money in preparation for the subsidy's reduction, but is not in a position to do so.
"The money I'm getting now is just meeting the cost of living," she said.
"The notion of being able to put something aside is crazy."
Bendigo Family and Financial Services' Jenny Elvey said the current JobSeeker rate of $1115.70 is making a real difference in Bendigo.
"It is allowing people to have their rent paid on time and buy quality food for a change," Ms Elvey said.
"Once that money disappears, people will go back to where they were before the pandemic.
"Despite this being more money than people were receiving initially, many are still living day to day and $300 is a lot to lose when you have little to start with."
Federal member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters said the reduced payment will leave people looking for work, vulnerable and potentially living in poverty.
"There are so many people trying to survive on this modest income and I'm particularly disappointed about these cuts, given more than 10,000 people in the Bendigo electorate are receiving JobSeeker," Ms Chesters said.
Treasurer Josh Frydenburg said the coronavirus supplement is costing about $13 billion for six months, with its extension to December forecast to cost another $3.8 billion.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the changes to JobSeeker and JobKeeper rates were not "set and forget".
"These are very complex issues, there is no one thing that can remove this heavy burden that is on the country at the moment," Mr Morrison said.
Anglicare Victoria regional director Francis Lynch said people have been taken out of poverty in the past three months thanks to the higher JobSeeker rate.
"People have been able to afford to pay for their expenses and those of their children," Mr Lynch said.
"Many of the people we know have experienced high levels of financial stress in the past and we are gearing up for a large number of referrals to our financial counselling services in the next six months."