More than half a million young people could need emergency assistance to pay for food and shelter because of a federal government change which welfare groups warn will lead to ''catastrophe''.
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From January, jobseekers aged under 30 years will have to wait six months before becoming eligible for unemployment benefits.
In an admission the change is likely to push hundreds of thousands of young people into crisis, officials told Senate hearings this week the government had allocated $230 million over four years to provide emergency relief to those affected by the measure.
The government expects 550,000 applications for assistance, which will be delivered by charities in the form of vouchers for food, transport or medications, parcels of food or household goods, clothing or by helping to pay rent or utility bills. Department of Social Services deputy secretary Serena Wilson admitted in a Senate hearing late on Wednesday that there was a risk that some affected by the change would become homeless.
Brotherhood of St Laurence head Tony Nicholson described the policy as "draconian''.
"It will be a catastrophe for those people and also for the welfare agencies that will have to pick up the pieces," he said.
Maree O'Halloran, president of the National Welfare Rights Network, said youth unemployment would not be addressed by forcing young people into destitution. "The $230 million to be spent on emergency relief for those left with no safety net would be better spent providing 100,000 job seekers with wage subsidy programs for four years," she said.
The change will also apply to parents if they are not the primary carer for their children. A household in which both parents receive income support would lose $490 a fortnight as a result. Some exemptions are available, including people who do not have a full capacity to work, who are studying or training or who have a disability.
Ms Wilson told the hearing that separate changes to Family Tax Benefit B would result in 700,000 single-income and single-parent families losing the benefit.
Asked if any families would be better off because of the range of budget changes to benefits and payments, Ms Wilson said: ''I'm unaware of a circumstance in which as a consequence of a range of budget measures a family would be better off.''
Labor's spokeswoman on families and payments, Jenny Macklin, said: ''This confirms that Tony Abbott's budget will hit Australian families hard.
''Labor will oppose Tony Abbott's attack on low- and middle-income families.''
