JobKeeper has also been reduced as the economy has started to improve. The scheme originally provided employers with $1500-a-fortnight per employee to keep staff connected to their workplace. It was extended in late September at reduced rates worth $1200 for full-time workers and $750 for part-timers. From January 4,this will drop again to $1000 and $650 respectively before ending in March.

University of Melbourne Professor Allan Fels,former chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission,said JobSeeker should not return to"inadequate"pre-pandemic levels.

"The question of when JobKeeper is phased out... it depends on the circumstances,"Professor Fels said."It depends on the state of the economy and it's hard to say at this point."

University of Queensland Professor John Quiggin said JobSeeker should be returned to the same level as the age pension. The age pension is worth $860.60-a-fortnight for a single.

But he was unsure about the future of JobKeeper,particularly once the vaccine started to be rolled out.

"Ending it completely in March would be a mistake,"Professor Quiggin said."We need to review the situation then,there's no point fixating on a date and sticking to that date,we need to maintain a flexible approach until the time comes".

The chief executive officer of the Grattan Institute,Danielle Wood,said JobKeeper meant the government had avoided a fiscal cliff.

JobSeeker should be kept at a permanently higher rate of $200-a-fortnight compared with its pre-pandemic lever and complemented by more generous rent assistance,she said.

"What we will see[in the first quarter of 2021] is a lot of people experiencing for the first time how difficult it is to live on a payment so low which,even though it's above where it was pre-pandemic,is still not sufficient to cover basic needs,"she said.

University of NSW Business School's Nigel Stapledon said working out the best level of JobSeeker was a"balancing act".

If the rate is increased too much it would be a disincentive to workers,he said,but acknowledged there was an argument support had been too low before the pandemic and had fallen relative to other benefits.

"The COVID-19 recession is here for a little bit longer and although the economy is growing if you define a recession more broadly in terms of unemployment,as I do,there may be an argument for extending the temporary supplement period,"he said.

Opposition health spokesman Chris Bowen,whose western Sydney electorate includes Fairfield which has among thehighest levels of JobSeeker recipients,said the reduction was a"body blow"to people doing it tough.

"A cut is a cut and this is a cut and the government should just have the guts to acknowledge that,"he said.