The social services minister, Christian Porter, has flagged that further compromise is possible to pass changes to family tax benefits, after the Senate passed legislation on Monday night that would cut off payments for couples after their youngest child turned 13.
Under existing legislation, parents receive family tax benefit part B for their child until they reach 18.
Labor supported the new legislation after the government wrote in exemptions for grandparent carers and single parents.
Under the changes, grandparent and great-grandparent carers and single parents over 60 would continue to receive support until the child was 18. Single parents under the age of 60 would receive a payment of $1,000 a year until their child turned 16.
The changes will net the government $525m over four years.
Porter told ABC Radio on Tuesday that he estimates there are about 18,000 grandparent carers in Australia, and that the government changed legislation after extensive consultation.
“I’d rather have a save compromise put [that] actually has a chance of passing parliament, that means we actually get reform to childcare, than be doctrinaire about it all and be unwilling to compromise,” he said. “So compromise it is.”
The Greens opposed the changes, saying teenagers were just as expensive as younger children.
“I can testify to the fact that sometimes you go to bed one day, wake up the next day and you have to buy them a different size shirt or shoe,” Rachel Siewert said in the Senate on Monday night. “Not to mention that you can’t seem to keep food in the fridge unless you actually lock the fridge.”
She wants the government to consider exemptions for other kinship carers, such as extended family members who have taken guardianship of children.
Porter is not ruling that out.
“I’m happy to look at any suggestion,” he said. “We’re in the art of the possible here.”
The Nationals, who want greater support for families with a stay-at-home parent, would have preferred to keep support for couples until their youngest child turned 18, but the deputy leader, Barnaby Joyce, said compromises were needed to improve Australia’s financial situation.
“That’s just the budgetary position we’re in,” he told Guardian Australia. “If we don’t turn around our budget then we won’t have any money to support anybody for any reason.”
Porter has vowed to push ahead with further changes to family assistance payments, including scrapping end-of-year supplements in part A of the system to fund a $10 weekly increase in the payment.
Labor is opposed to the changes.
“These supplements [are a] real difference in the survival budgets of people raising children,” parliamentary secretary Claire Moore said in the Senate.
Porter has indicated that further compromise, particularly with the Senate crossbench whose support the government would need if Labor and the Greens continued their opposition to the changes, was possible.
“In my conversation with the crossbench, I’ve not put the heavy on … but I’ve listened,” he said, adding this caveat: “I’ve spoken to the crossbench, and I’m not suggesting they’re all wildly supportive.”
The government is sticking firm to its plan to fund its revamped childcare package with savings from changes to the family tax benefit system.
“We’re willing to compromise, but we still have to save enough money to pay for changes to childcare,” Porter said.
Legislation for the childcare package will be introduced into parliament this week.
On Sunday the education minister, Simon Birmingham, announced changes to the package that would reduce supplements for higher-income earners and offer greater protections for grandparents and low-income families.
Joyce welcomed the changes, saying they supported single-income families.
“In our Coalition agreement we made sure that we went in to bat for stay-at-home mums,” he said. “We want to make sure that in the balancing act of trying to get the budget right by looking after people who are our constituents, that we do the right job.”
