Family payments are set to be cut and young people on a disability support pension will have their cases reviewed, after Labor voted to pass nearly $3 billion in budget savings.

The breakthrough came after the Government dumped old legislation that included more contentious budget measures, and introduced a new bill with changes Labor had agreed to.

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It is still pushing other welfare cuts and changes, pinning its hopes on the Palmer United Party dominated crossbench.

The laws, which immediately passed the House of Representatives with Labor support, will:

• reduce the primary income earner limit for Family Tax Benefit B from $150,000 to $100,000
• limit the FTB – A large family payment to those with four or more children
• review the cases of people under 35 who are receiving a disability support pension
• include untaxed super income in eligibility assessments for the Seniors Health Card
• remove scholarships for students moving between major cities

The bill is likely to pass the Senate later this month, but about $10 billion in budget measures, including increasing the pension age, reducing the rate of increases to pensions and freezing family payments, remain blocked.

The Government has “repackaged” those cuts and changes to a new series of bills, also introduced today.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten attacked the Government for keeping those welfare changes in the mix.

“They have their plans for Australia – their rotten, nation-dividing, impoverishing plans, picking on the vulnerable, unfair changes – without a mandate – they have them in the top drawer, they haven’t put them in the bin,” he told Parliament.

Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews said he had presented the other measures in three separate bills, in the hope the breakdown would be “more attractive” to the eight Senate crossbenchers.

“As you know, the Senate is varied – many and varied voices in the Senate these days and any party in Government has to actually try and work out the various combinations and permutations,” he said.

The Greens criticised the major parties’ move to reassess young people who are receiving disability support.

“These are punitive measures that demonise and marginalise people with a disability, and we will not be supporting them,” spokeswoman Rachel Siewert said in a statement.

The minor party denied doing a deal with the Government to cut the senior’s supplement for holders of the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card and the Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card, which would save the budget close to $1 billion.

The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) welcomed the Government’s change in approach but maintained its opposition to measures that it said hurt the most vulnerable.

“The Government should continue down this sensible ‘middle road’ to budget reform and withdraw proposals that would have the greatest impact on people living in poverty and those in poor health,” CEO Cassandra Goldie said in a statement.

Yesterday Treasurer Joe Hockey warned further budget cuts would need to be made to make up the shortfall and for new defence and security spending.

Mr Hockey said the new cuts would be revealed in December in the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO).