Tanya Plibersek has an uphill battle to justify and prioritise Australia’s multibillion-dollar social services system, her department has warned, against a backdrop of “rising geopolitical tensions and political polarisation”. The Department of Social Services, which is responsible for a quarter of federal government spending, delivered the warning to the new social services minister about the flow-on effects of global uncertainty in a brief dated 13 May and obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Community concern about the inadequacy of income support payments was also addressed, with the brief acknowledging that increases to rent support payments since 2023 have failed to address housing stress for many recipients.