The Social Security Board is weighing a new unemployment grant for residents and contributors, Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. Natalio Wheatley revealed during his Budget Address on Tuesday, October 27.
Wheatley told lawmakers the Board was examining "an increase in burial grants, considering unemployment grant and increase in the minimum payment for retirees." He did not specify how much the grant would be worth, who would qualify, or when it could begin.
The proposal emerged as Wheatley announced that the Social Security Fund's combined balance crossed $1 billion for the first time in August 2026, a historic high for the scheme.
Background on jobless support
Government consideration of financial aid for unemployed people stretches back years. In 2024, Minister for Health and Social Development Vincent Wheatley told the House of Assembly that governments had pursued an unemployment insurance system since 2005, with his ministry and the Social Security Board reviewing how to proceed.
During the COVID-19 crisis, the Territory offered temporary relief. In June 2020, the Social Security Board created a $10 million fund to assist people whose work had been disrupted. The programme paid eligible applicants 50 per cent of their insurable earnings, with a floor of $500 and a ceiling of $1,000 monthly, for up to three months.
It remains unknown whether the grant now under review would sit within the previously discussed insurance framework or stand alone as a separate benefit.
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