The inaugural JobSeeker Anthem songwriting competition has been won by Sydney-based singer/songwriter Aya Yves.
The JobSeeker Anthem Song Challenge was launched this year as a community-based contest that aims to amplify the calls for a fairer Australia by giving voice to the detrimental impacts of the JobSeeker payment, which at $308 per week is more than $140 below the poverty line.
More than one million Australians receive a JobSeeker payment of just $44 per day, forcing them into a poverty cycle they often cannot get out of.
The JobSeeker Anthem songwriting contest was embraced by artists across Australia, with hundreds of entries received.
As part of our ongoing work to challenge systemic inequality and raise the rate of the JobSeeker payment, The Wyatt Trust is a proud co-convener of the JobSeeker Anthem.
“Developing a song contest to highlight these issues was a new way of communicating the reality that people living in poverty face,” says Wyatt CEO, Stacey Thomas.
“We need to raise the rate of income support so basic needs can be met.”
JobSeeker Anthem winner, Aya Yves, says she is thrilled not only to receive the $10,000 cash prize and two days in the recording studio, but also the opportunity to lend her voice and talent to such an important issue.
“I want my song to give people hope,” Aya says. “Hope that they are heard; that there are fellow Australians wanting our country to step up and do what’s right by those who are in great need,” Aya says.
Releasing her debut EP this year, Triple J Unearthed described Aya’s electronic/indie/pop sound as a contrast of “light airy vocals with dark, brooding and quirky production” and says she is “quickly becoming one of the premier emerging faces in Australian pop.”
Listen to Aya Yves’ JobSeeker Anthem winning song ‘At Your Door’ co-written with Pat Byrne of Beso Palma here.
