CANBERRA, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Foreign citizens living in Australia are claiming up to 15 billion AU dollars (11.1 billion U.S. dollars) in welfare every year, prompting concerns that Australia's welfare system is too generous, according to a government analysis.
The analysis, undertaken by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), found that around 870,000 non-citizens were claiming government benefits, with almost 750,000 of those being from nations with which Australia has no formal welfare arrangement.
On average, those foreigners claim 17,500 AU dollars (13,000 dollars) each per year at the cost of the Australian taxpayers.
Liberal Democratic Party leader David Leyonhjelm, who asked the PBO to undertake the analysis, said that it was understandable for refugees and migrants to request welfare while they get settled in Australia, but those who aren't citizens should not be afforded the same luxury.
"At present, around 2.5 million (non-citizens) live in Australia who are eligible for welfare," Leyonhjelm told News Corp on Monday.
"While I believe refugees should continue to be eligible for welfare to help them find their feet, the vast majority of non-citizens are not refugees and should not require handouts."
Leyonhjelm said by changing the law to prevent non-citizens from claiming welfare paid for by taxpayers, it would "build support for immigration within the Australian community."
Leyonhjelm's position was backed up by public policy expert and Professor John Wanna from the Australian National University (ANU), who said Australia is one of the only OECD (the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) nations to offer generous welfare handouts to foreign citizens.
"We're one of the few in the OECD where somebody who doesn't work can go straight on to benefits," he told News Corp.
Australia's welfare bill has been a contentious subject in the lead-up to the federal budget, to be handed down on Tuesday. It's expected to grow from 159 billion AU dollars (118 billion dollars) to 191 billion AU dollars (141.5 billion dollars) by 2020.
British nationals made up the largest share of the foreign welfare recipients at around 170,000, followed by Africa and the Middle East with around 90,000 recipients.
