Close loopholes to fund higher dole: ACOSS The nation's leading welfare body has called for tax loopholes which benefit the wealthy to be closed to fund a range of measures to help less affluent families, including raising the dole by $50 a week. In its 2013 budget submission released on Friday, the the Australian Council of Social Service recommends that the single rate of the Newstart allowance be raised by $50 a week - a 20 per cent increase. ACOSS chief executive Dr Cassandra Goldie said it would mark the first real increase in unemployment benefits in almost two decades. The ACOSS submission suggests the rise could be funded by cutting tax loopholes such as private discretionary trusts, capital gains on the sale of assets and funnelling income through super accounts to avoid tax on wages. It has also identified savings that could be made by addressing "poorly targeted" spending programs and tax breaks such as the private health insurance rebate for extras cover not related to hospital care, the 20 per cent tax break for medical gap fees exceeding $2060 a year and non-superannuation termination payouts. The submission also recommends restructuring family tax benefits, and streamlining the baby bonus and school kids bonus so they are paid through the family tax benefits system. Dr Goldie said the proposals would save about $6 billion which could be used to fund a more equitable society. "This is not rocket science and it is completely fundable," she said. We understand the current pressures on the budget, however, this is doable, especially if the government tackled the current waste in the budget in the form of tax avoidance and poorly targeted spending programs and tax breaks. We've identified around $6 billion dollars in savings, some of which could be used to fund this much-needed increase. Dr Goldie said that under the ACOSS proposal, families would still receive the money but it would be better targeted to lower-income families. The organisation also suggests removing the childcare rebate, which is not means tested and covers 50 per cent of out-of-pocket childcare costs. Instead, it recommends the introduction of a universal minimum level of childcare benefit, which should be increased to better support families on low and middle incomes. Along with the increase to the Newstart allowance, the ACOSS submission also asks for improved support for the very long-term unemployed, a rise in rent assistance for people on low incomes and greater investment in the community sector. Most recent figures from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations show there were 686,852 Newstart allowance recipients in February. The allowance is $497 a fortnight, or about $35 a day, for a single person with no dependants. The federal government will hand down the budget on May 14.