Pension news

---

Lump sum payment breakdown

With the much welcome news that the Government are to pay a pre-Christmas bonus to many on a pension, people are keen to know if they will be included amongst the recipients. For an indication of who will be entitled, read our lump sum payment breakdown.

---

Pension bonus feedback

Everyone has their own opinion on the true benefits of the Rudd Government’s recently announced lump sum bonus scheme.  While pensioners who will benefit are justifiably pleased at receiving any additional money, questions have been raised about the way in which the money has been distributed.  Malcolm Turnbull, Leader of the Opposition thinks it offers “justice to Aged Pensioners”, while Senator Barnaby Joyce questions the wisdom of a one-off payment at such a tempting time of year.

---

Bonus payments for pensioners

It’s official. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced his government will pay those who hold a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, or are Veterans Gold Card holders eligible for Seniors Concession Allowance, a one-off payment in December. Single pensioners will receive a payment of $1400 and couples will receive $2100Those people who are receiving a Carer Allowance will also receive $1000 for each eligible person in their care.

The cost of these initiatives is calculated to be $8.7 billion dollars. These payments are part of an initiative to kickstart the Australian economy in the wake of the market turmoil over recent weeks.

Whilst AboutSeniors website applauds any extra assistance to those who are struggling on a single or couples’ pension, we believe that this is not in itself sufficient to address the fact that most Australians on a full Age Pension are struggling to survive, let alone thrive, on an income way below the poverty line. One-off discretionary payments will never address the fact that the rate of the pension is too low, and needs to be reviewed and increased in the near future – not the end of next year or the year after.

---

Have your pension say

The Government has recently hosted Pension Reviews throughout the country to find out what Australian pensioners need to sustain a basic standard of living.
AboutSeniors attended the Melbourne Pension Review on Monday 22 September 2008 to get an idea of the main factors that are making it difficult for people to survive on a pension. The over-riding difficulty that pensioners face is the increase in living costs outweighing a pension increase they have received over the last few years. While the aim for the review is to make sure that all issues are looked at and a sustainable and workable plan put in place to increase the pension, it is clear that some sort of interim action is needed now, not in nine months time. A $30 a week increase on pensions would benefit 900,000 Australians immediately.

Another critical factor stretching pensioners' budgets is the availability of affordable housing, with many forced to move further from town centres and the vital support services needed, thus increasing their transport costs. There also seems to be a lack of understanding of the different needs that people have, such as support services that those with a disability need to survive, but are denied access to once they move to the Age Pension.

The means of receiving allowances through tax concessions is not effective for many pensioners, with 33% of allowances going to 15% of the countries top earners and many pensioners receiving no tax concessions at all. An increase of the medications available on PBS is called for, or a substantial increase in the Pharmaceutical Allowance is required to cover the cost of the medications taken by those on a pension.

One of the main bones of contention is the rate of the Single Age Pension and the seemingly unfair allocation of allowances between singles and couples. The assumption that those living alone can live half as cheaply as those is a couple is wrong, with rent payments and many utility bills being the same regardless of living status.

If you have not been able to make it along to a Pension Review in your area, you can still make a .

---

Pension discussion paper

It’s time to ROUND IT UP

The report
Released on 11.08.08, a discussion paper prepared by Jeff Harmer, Families Department, shows the following rates for the Age Pension:
Couples $456.80 x 2 fortnightly
Single $546.80 fortnightly (60% of couple’s rate)
OECD average means single rate is 63% of couples

Conclusion
Single Age Pensioners in Australia are paid at a lower rate than in comparable nations in the western world

The response from government
Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd (speaking from Seoul, South Korea) said the government “cannot solve every problem overnight”. Families Minister, Jenny Macklin, noted many pensioners “are struggling”.

The response from the Opposition
Shadow Treasurer, Malcolm Turnbull, said pensioners were the “forgotten people”

AboutSeniors WEBSITE response
How many reports do any governments need to make a decision to stop Australian pensioners from being treated as third class citizens – and from living well below the poverty line?
Yet another report notes that some two million Australians are living on less than a modest level on income, and in particular, single Age Pensioners fare not even keeping up with their counterparts in other developed countries.
The government response which notes the struggle but refuses to countenance any increase in the short term is arrogant and inadequate.
The response from the Opposition is similarly arrogant – to note that the pensioners under a Rudd government are the “forgotten people” is to forget how truly forgotten they were under a Howard government with no realistic reviews or rises. On this subject both major parties share a lack of care and compassion.

AboutSeniors solution - ROUND IT UP
We call upon the Federal Government to immediately round up the single Age Pension fortnightly payment from $546.80 to $600. This extra $53.20 per fortnight will not go far when you consider rapidly rising fuel and food prices – but every little bit helps.
This increase would cost less than $1 billion per year (our sums say $886 million).

How does the government currently spend our money?

· $50 million for the next Tourism Australia campaign to be created by film director, Baz Lurhman. Do we really need to pay this director to promote his own movie?

· $12 million for a four year Grocery Watch scheme – highly unlikely it will last the year, let alone four.

Our response to the May Budget holds true. On May 16 we said:

“Why are we dissatisfied with this budget?”
Because, despite revenue of $319 billion, and expenditure of $292 billion, virtually no concessions have been directed toward the nearly two million Australians struggling to survive on the Age Pension.
The single Age Pension of $273 a week remains a disgrace. There is no excuse for this punishment of vulnerable older Australians - particularly those who do not own their own homes. AboutSeniors website will continue to press for a higher fortnightly payment for single pensioners.”

We repeat our commitment to the call for a higher fortnightly payment for the single Age Pension. If the Federal Government immediately adopted our ROUND IT UP suggestion it would cost the country (i.e. we taxpayers) .0027% of government revenue for the fiscal year, or .003% of planned expenditure. Given that most recipients have paid a lifetime of taxes, it doesn’t seem too much to ask.

Send an email to your local member to apply pressure for an increase now – not next year or next century.

---

Local member contact details

Send an email to your local member to apply pressure for an increase now – not next year or next century. Click here to find your local members details.