How will older Clarence Valley workers now without a job fare under the new employment landscape created by the Morrison and Frydenberg's JobMaker Hiring Credits?

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the Clarence Valley NSW this is how our resident population breaks down:

Resident population – 51,662 persons as of 30 June 2019

Males – 25,891

Females – 25,771

Gender ratio (number of males per 100 females) – 100.5

Median age – 49.2 years

Age composition of population total – 0-14 years 16.9%, 

15-64 years 56.6%, 65 years and over 26.6%.

There are 3,480 people aged 80 years and older and 8,709 children 

aged between 0-14 years.

The largest age cluster in people of workforce age are those aged 

between 55-64 years.

By 31 March 2020 the Clarence Valley over all unemployment rate was 6.3% - higher than both the New South Wales and national unemployment rate.

A relatively high unemployment rate is a feature of the valley’s economy and from time to time when a new government employment program comes along our communities hope for some relief for the unemployed in their midst.

On 11 July 2014 then Australian Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Warringah Tony Abbott launched the Restart programme.

Restart is a financial incentive of up to $10,000 (GST inclusive) to encourage businesses to hire and retain mature age employees who are 50 years of age and over who have been out of work for out of work for six months or more.

Employment under this scheme was to be for a guaranteed 26 weeks with the hope that employers would retain the subsidised workers as part of their regular non-subsidised workforce after that.

However, in the last six years and four months it appears over half of the funding eamarked for Restart has remained in federal government coffers, only est. 51,190 older workers were employed under the Restart program and 40 per cent of those were out of work within.

This program bears all the features which would make it capable of being gamed by both job service providers and employers.

Now due to the current economic recession in Australia, the Morrison Coalition Government has decided to continue forgetting that older workers exist and, focus instead on those unnempoyed individuals between 66 and 35 years of age receiving JobSeeker, Youth Allowance (Other) or Parenting Payment.

This new program which was due to commence on 7 October 2020 is called the JobMaker Hiring Credit. A total of $4 billion in funding has been allocated to this programe from 2020-21 to 2022-23.

It seems that this too will be a program likely to be gamed by employers…..

ABC News, 31 October 2020:

The Federal Government's new wage subsidy hasn't passed Parliament yet, but some employers are already advertising for young workers who will qualify for the program.

So how does that sit with Australia's anti-discrimination laws, and will the scheme make it more difficult for people who don't qualify to find work?

Here's what we know.

Who will be covered by the wage subsidy?

The JobMaker Hiring Credit will provide wage subsidies to businesses if they take on extra workers, between the ages of 16 and 35, who have been receiving JobSeeker, Youth Allowance (Other) or Parenting Payment.

Employers will be able to claim $200 per week for staff aged between 16 and 29, and $100 a week for those aged 30 to 35.

The $4 billion program, announced in the recent Budget, is currently being examined by a Senate committee, which has received a mixed response so far.

But some online job advertisements are already asking for candidates who fit the criteria.

"This is a newly created role under the JobMaker program and as such candidates will be expected to demonstrate eligibility with the JobMaker provisions," one advertisement read.

"Please confirm your age is between 16y and 35y."

Ads have begun appearing specifically asking only for people who meet the eligibility to apply.(ABC News)

Another ad asked for candidates who would be eligible for the higher Hiring Credit rate.

"To be successful in this role you will have: Eligibility for the JobMaker program (ie be aged 16 to 29 years old and have received income support, such as JobSeeker or Youth Allowance, for at least one of the prior three months)."

Nicole Newport-Ryan lost her job in March, and while she has since picked up part-time work, the 48-year-old is still hoping for a full-time position.

"They may as well write, 'If you're over this age please don't even read the advert,'" she said.

"You know like, don't even bother applying, don't read it, we're not interested in you.

"I think it's absolutely discriminatory."…..

What does the law say?

In a statement, Treasury said Australia's Age Discrimination Act generally made it unlawful to discriminate against someone on the basis of age.

"However, the JobMaker Hiring Credit falls within the exemptions from this general prohibition," it said.

"Individual circumstances will vary, and employers should seek their own legal advice as to how the law will apply to them."

Alysia Blackham, an associate professor at the University of Melbourne, pointed to a couple of exemptions that could apply.

"One of them is if it complies with another law, so once this is passed in legislation, it's possible that it will be exempt on that basis," she said…..

Youth unemployment is also a persistent concern in the Clarence Valley and, I sincerely hope that local employers who are able to hire take up JobMaker Hiring Credits and employ younger people in newly created positions. 

At the same time I hope local employers consider hiring older workers as well, using the Restart program to subsidise their wages for the first six and a half months. The Employer Hotline on 13 17 15 will be able to point prospective employers in the right direction.

For over 6 years the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government deliberately underspent funds earmarked to assist unemployed people 50 years of age & older

 

On 11 July 2014 then Australian Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Warringah Tony Abbott launched the Restart programme.

Restart is a financial incentive of up to $10,000 (GST inclusive) to encourage businesses to hire and retain mature age employees who are 50 years of age and over.

Payments are made by employment services providers to businesses over six months. Employers can negotiate how often they receive the payments.

Business may also be able to get up to $10,000 (GST inclusive) when they hire an eligible new employee who is either: 15 - 24 years of age or an Indigenous Australian.

To apply for this financial incentive businesses need to contact a job service provider on the federal Dept. of Education, Skills and Employment list of approved providers.

Employment services providers determine if a wage subsidy is offered and will enter into an agreement with the employer to make payments over six months.

All wage subsidy placements must average at least 20 hours per week over the 26 week wage subsidy period to be ongoing.

Restart has continued to operate under three successive Liberal-National federal governments.

On 14 October 2020 The Guardian reported that:

The federal government has spent less than half what it planned to help older Australians into work and more than 40% of those receiving wage subsidies were out of a job within three months.

Only $254m has been spent to help 51,190 mature-age people into work, despite the Coalition promising in 2014 to spend $520m to help up to 32,000 older Australians find a job every year.

Of the 51,190 people helped by the Restart wage subsidy, just 30,379 remained in employment for 13 weeks or more, with less than half (21,966) lasting more than six months.

The figures, provided by the employment department, cast new light on the effectiveness of the program cited by the Morrison government as evidence it is already helping older workers…..

In the budget, the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, announced $4bn of wage subsidies for companies that hire workers aged 35 and under, prompting a backlash that the budget contained no new measures for older workers.

In response, Scott Morrison has said the Restart program, which provides $10,000 wage subsidies for those aged over 50 and unemployed for six months or more, had helped 50,000 Australians into a job.

In the 2014 budget, the Abbott government provided $520m for the Restart program…..

On Tuesday, the employment department revealed that, up to 31 August this year, just $254m had been spent on the program….

The times are not kind to the elderly living alone

The Daily Examiner, 3 April 2020:

Elderly Clarence residents without internet access and mobile phones have been left to fend for themselves, one Coutts Crossing resident claims.

“Lola”, 64, says elderly people have been forgotten as the community sets up systems to navigate enforced coronavirus disruptions.

Without internet or a mobile phone, Lola has found it difficult to access many services set up to help during the crisis.

A telling encounter was a call to a major supermarket to find out options for setting up a home delivery service.

“I don’t want to go shopping for food,” she said.

“I have medical reasons and they’re asking us to self-isolate.” Lola called the company’s helpline but found it less than helpful. “They put me on hold for so long the battery in my landline handset went flat,” she said.

“When it recharged I rang again and eventually I got a recorded message to email my request to the company.” Lola said she did not have family or friends in the region and had found going shopping a nightmare.

“There’s nothing on the shelves,” she said.....

“Last time I went shopping in Grafton I had to go to four different supermarkets and I still couldn’t find everything I needed.” The rules designed to discourage hoarders had not helped.

“I want to buy enough so I don’t have to go shopping again for at least two weeks,” she said.

“The two-pack limit is no help to me at all.” She has been less than impressed with other shoppers, who appear to pay no attention to social distancing rules.....

Even for the elderly with Internet connections life is increasingly difficult.

Coles does not home deliver to anyone except those already registered with NDIS, Red Kite or My Aged Care - in other words predominately people who already have home care packages or other forms of assistance.

Woolies doesn't deliver to the Lower Clarence but will supply by Australia Post an $80 basics box of mainly low nutrition/ high sugar & salt canned and packaged food of its own non-negotable choice and again, people have to already be registered with the same three agencies. Although proof of eligibility may be widening so it might be wise to contact customer service to check.

COVID-19 Pandemic 2020: Clarence Valley Council taking social distancing seriously

#COVID19 means it's important to reduce avoidable personal contact with other people. If you have an enquiry you could call or email us or use the Live Chat facility on our website.

If you need to make payments, call your bank now about setting up #BPay#ClarenceValley pic.twitter.com/xS11Yaek1L

— Clarence Valley Council (@CVCNSW) March 16, 2020

Now, when do we hear that this local government council has also considered not just the health and safety of its own workforce, but how it will support the basic needs during this pandemic of the est. 17.5% of the Clarence Valley population 70 years of age and over whom social distancing is going to make just that little bit more vulnerable during a prolonged period of physical isolation, the est. 29% who live alone often without family support and, the est. 5.4% of local residents who have no car and rely on local buses or taxis.

In case shire councillors need to be reminded, residents who fall into one or all three of these categories were already sometimes dying alone and unnoticed before this pandemic arrived on the NSW North Coast. The annual figure was not high, but this current situation has the potential to raise the incidence. 

Meme of the Week

Found on Twitter

Rate of homelessness is rising across Australia - including in New South Wales

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), media release, 14 March 2018:

Census reveals a rise in the rate of homelessness in Australia 

The rate of homelessness in Australia has increased 4.6 per cent over the last five years, according to new data from the 2016 Census of Population and Housing.

The latest estimates reveal more than 116,000 people were experiencing homelessness in Australia on Census night, representing 50 homeless persons for every 10,000 people.

Dr Paul Jelfs, General Manager of Population and Social Statistics, said that while there was an overall increase in the estimate of homelessness in Australia, this number is made up of various distinct groups and each tells a different story.

People living in ‘severely’ crowded dwellings, defined as requiring four or more extra bedrooms to accommodate the people who usually live there, was the greatest contributor to the national increase in homelessness.

“In 2016, this group accounted for 51,088 people, up from 41,370 in 2011.

“On Census night, 8,200 people were estimated to be ‘sleeping rough’ in improvised dwellings, tents or sleeping out – an increase from 3.2 persons per 10,000 people in 2011 to 3.5 persons per 10,000 people in 2016,” Dr Jelfs said.

Younger and older Australians have also emerged as groups experiencing increasing homelessness in Australia.

“One quarter of all people experiencing homelessness in 2016 was aged between 20 and 30 years,” Dr Jelfs said.

People aged between 65 and 74 years experiencing homelessness increased to 27 persons per 10,000 people, up from 25 persons per 10,000 people in 2011.

Recent migrants (those who arrived within the five years prior to the 2016 Census) accounted for 15 per cent of the homeless estimate. Almost three quarters of this group were living in ‘severely’ crowded dwellings and the majority came from countries in South-East Asia, North-East Asia and Southern and Central Asia, including India, China and Afghanistan.

The overall number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experiencing homelessness in 2016 was 23,437. More than two out of three were living in ‘severely’ crowded dwellings, with just less than 10 per cent ‘sleeping rough’.

Dr Jelfs also acknowledged the support of service providers in enumerating the homeless.

“I would like to thank the service providers and staff who worked with the ABS to tackle the difficult challenge of enumerating this population group and maximise the quality of this important information,” Dr Jelfs said.

Further 2016 Census homelessness data can be found on the ABS website. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Census Night in 2016 the number of people who were listed as homeless in NSW:

37,715 persons in total, of which 22,698 were male and 15,010 were female

1,801 of the men and 981 of the women were 65 years of age and older
3,963 were children under 12 years

On Census Night in 2016 the number of people who were listed as homeless in the NSW Northern Rivers region by Local Government Area:

Tweed – 444 (compared to 308 in 2011)

Tweed Heads 156, Tweed Heads 47, South Murwillumbah 49, Murwillumbah Region 52, Kingscliff-Fingal Head 51, Banora Point 45, Pottsville 42

Byron - 327 (compared to 279 in 2011)

Byron Bay 146, Mullumbimby 121, Bangalow 31, Brunswick Heads-Ocean Shores 29

Lennox Head-Skennars Head 4

Lismore - 309 (compared to 283 in 2011)

Lismore 153, Lismore Region 93, Goonellabah 67

Clarence Valley - 230 (compared to 198 in 2011)

Grafton 89, Grafton Region 103, Maclean-Yamba-Iluka 37

Ballina - 77 (compared to 142 in 2011)

Ballina 52, Ballina Region 22

Richmond Valley - 73 (compared to 69 in 2011)

Casino 44, Casino Region 20, Evans Head 15

Kyogle - 34 (compared to 21 in 2011)

Kyogle 27

[See ABS 2049.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Estimating homelessness, 2016]

This highlighted health statistic would come as no surprise to people living in rural and regional Australia

The Sydney Moring Herald, 18 January 2018:

NSW has been ranked the worst for healthcare affordability among older patients in the latest survey that pits Australia's most populous state against international health systems.

The results released on Thursday showed a larger proportion of NSW patients 65 and older struggled with their medical costs than their counterparts in Australia overall and 10 other OECD countries.

NSW fared worst when it came to the percentage of respondent who said they had problems paying their medical bills (15 per cent), compared to just 1 per cent in Sweden and 10 per cent in the US, found the survey of 24,000 people including 1175 in NSW.

More than one in five (22 per cent) reported spending $1000 or more in out-of-pocket healthcare costs, the third largest proportion after Switzerland (53 per cent) and the US (37 per cent), and well behind the top performer France (3 per cent), according to the 2017 Commonwealth Fund International Health survey findings released by the Bureau of Health Information (BHI)…..

Over 20 per cent of older people in NSW said they had skipped a dentist visit when they needed it due to the cost, tying with the US for the poorest result after Australia (23 per cent).

A total of 14 per cent of NSW respondents said they had skipped prescriptions, consultations or treatments due to cost in the previous year, the second lowest score after the US.

One in four NSW respondents said they found it "very difficult" to access medical care after hours without going to a hospital emergency department, trailing the US and seven other countries. [my yellow highlighting]

Australian Law Reform Commission recommends a National Plan to combat elder abuse

"4.40 Stakeholders reported many instances of abuse of people receiving aged care. These included reports of abuse by paid care workers and other residents of care homes, as well as by family members and/or appointed decision makers of care recipients. For example, Alzheimer’s Australia provided the following examples of physical and emotional abuse:

When working as a PCA [personal care assistant] in 2 high care units, I witnessed multiple, daily examples of residents who were unable to communicate being abused including: PCA telling resident to ‘die you f—ing old bitch!’ because she resisted being bed bathed. Hoist lifting was always done by one PCA on their own not 2 as per guidelines and time pressures meant PCAs often using considerable physical force to get resistive people into hoists; resident not secured in hoist dropped through and broke arm—died soon after; residents being slapped, forcibly restrained and force-fed or not fed at all; resident with no relatives never moved out of bed, frequently left alone for hours without attention; residents belongings being stolen and food brought in by relatives eaten by PCAs."

[Elder Abuse—A National Legal Response (ALRC Report 131), p.110]

In 2016 people 65 years of age and over comprised 15.3 per cent of the Australian population. This represents over 3.5 million older people, a figure the Australian Bureau of Statistics expects to grow to  9.6 million people by 2064.

The Turnbull Government needs to consider the recently published Australian Law Reform Commission report and act on its recommendations.

Australian Law Reform Commission, media release, 15 June 2017:

Elder Abuse—A National Legal Response

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) is delighted to be launching its Report, Elder Abuse—A National Legal Response (ALRC Report 131), on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2017.

The ALRC was asked to consider Commonwealth laws and legal frameworks and how they might better protect older persons from misuse or abuse, and safeguard their autonomy.

The Report includes 43 recommendations for law reform. The overall effect will be to safeguard older people from abuse and support their choices and wishes through:

* improved responses to elder abuse in residential aged care;

* enhanced employment screening of care workers;

* greater scrutiny regarding the use of restrictive practices in aged care;

* building trust and confidence in enduring documents as important advanced planning tools;

* protecting older people when ‘assets for care’ arrangements go wrong;

* banks and financial institutions protecting vulnerable customers from abuse;

better succession planning across the self-managed superannuation sector;

* adult safeguarding regimes protecting and supporting at-risk adults.

These outcomes should be further pursued through a National Plan to combat elder abuse and new empirical research into the prevalence of elder abuse.

ALRC President Professor Rosalind Croucher AM, Commissioner-in-charge of the inquiry, said, “In developing the recommendations in this Report, we have worked to balance the autonomy of older people with providing appropriate protections, respecting the choices that older persons make, but also safeguarding them from abuse.”

The Report represents the culmination of research and consultation over a 15-month period, during which the ALRC consulted with 117 stakeholders around the country, released two consultation documents, and received more than 450 submissions.

Professor Croucher said:  “The ALRC is indebted to the broad range of individuals and organisations who have contributed to evidence base that informs its recommendations. In particular I thank the many individuals who generously shared with the ALRC personal stories of heartache and frustration, and of families torn apart by elder abuse. It is significant that the Attorney-General, Senator the Hon. George Brandis QC, has chosen to mark the launch of the Report today —with advocates and service providers —at the 2017 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Forum.”

Download Final Report

Summary Report

Wondering why there are no horror stories flowing from the financial reassessment of Centrelink pension eligibility?

There are many legitimate complaints and concerns being voiced over the Turnbull Government decision to change Centrelink’s debt recovery system to one which is fully automated, with no human oversight of initial debts raised for those certain individuals receiving welfare pensions, benefits and allowances.

However, there is little being said about the reassessment of asset and income limits for aged pension eligibility which came into effect on 1 January 2017.

Centrelink states:

If you have reached age pension age, Age Pension may help to support you. To qualify, you must first satisfy age and residence requirements. How much you can get depends on your income, assets and other circumstances.

If you are a self-funded retiree or still working, you may be able to get a part pension.

Centrelink further states that the current maximum basic age pension rate is $1,203.00 for a couple and $797.90 for a single person per fortnight.

This basic rate places any recipient who relies solely on a Centrelink pension for their retirement income firmly below the poverty line.

For those receiving additional income there is a reduction in this fortnightly basic rate of 50c for every dollar of additional income above $292 per fortnight for a couple and $164 for a single person. Income is defined by Centrelink as: an amount you earn, derive or receive for your own use or benefit profits, the amount of earnings in excess of expenses, whether of a capital nature or not, and a periodic payment or benefit you receive as a gift or allowance.

Financial assets are subject to deeming rates. For a couple the first $81,600 in assets is deemed to return 1.75% and assets above that amount to return 3.25% and, for a single person the first $49,200 is deemed to return 1.75% and assets above that amount to return 3.25%.

Commencing on 1 January 2017 home-owning Aged/Veteran/Disability pension recipients who have assets of over $375,000 for a couple and over $250,000 for singles now have their part pensions reduced by $3 for every $1,000 dollars over this limit. Non-homeowners who have assets of over $575,000 for a couple and over $450,000 for singles will experience a similar reduction.

Every person who is on a part pension after 1 January will retain their Pensioner Concession Card which allows for Medicare bulk billing and subsidised prescription medicine. Those who have their part-pension cancelled will receive a Low Income Health Care Card and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card if of retirement age which allow for the same benefits.

These higher asset limits will possibly make an additional 50,000 retirees eligible for a part-pension for the first time and another est. 116,000-156,000 will receive an increase in their part-pension.

But what does that mean in practical terms?

Well it mean that a home-owning couple will lose their part aged pension if they have assets above $816,000 and home-owning singles will lose the part pension if assets are above $542,500. While the assets limit for non-homeowners is $1,016,000 for a couple and $742,500 for a single person.

What the new rules also mean for example*:

*a home-owning part pension couple with $380,000 in assets then your part pension will be est. $1,307.40 combined per fortnight;

 *a home-owning part pension couple with $500,000 in assets then your part-pension will be est. $947.40 combined per fortnight;

*with $600,000 in assets a home-owning couple would receive a part-pension of est. $647.40 per fortnight and with $700,000 in assets the couple would receive a part-pension of est. $347.40 every two weeks; and

*by the time a home-owning part pension couple reaches $800,000 in assets their combined part pension is an est. $74 per fortnight. At which point the couple's additional retirement income is deemed to have reached est. $980 per fortnight based on those assets.

* All examples are maximum amounts before any tapering for additional income over $292 per fortnight is deducted.

  

So how many people will be heavily impacted by these changes?

Estimates vary, but ABC News stated on 11 November 2016 that:

The increase in the rate that the pension is reduced, as well as the reduction in this top pension threshold, could result in some 88,000 missing out on the pension entirely, and some 225,000 seeing their pensions reduced.

So is the change to age pension eligibility fair?

Well it depends where you are placed on the wealth ladder and whether or not you deliberately structured your retirement funds to: a) act as a form of estate planning to benefit your heirs and/or b) minimised returns on retirement investments in order to qualify for a part-pension before 2017.

Estimates based on the Dept. Human Services calculations show that poorer retirees and part-pensioners will be better off.

However, those who thought they were being rather ‘clever’ in how they structured their post-retirement assets are not so lucky. Suddenly that sea-side holiday home, weekend rural hideaway, expensive boat, regular overseas holidays, top of the range Winnebago and/or speculative land purchase are no longer being comfortably subsidised by the part-pension.

The absence of individual real-life hardship case studies in media articles concerning new pension eligibility rules appears to indicate that most part-pensioners realise that the changes are relatively fair.

Unfortunately for the Turnbull Government this will not mitigate ire at the ballot box in 2018. 

Firstly, because this particular welfare cost-cutting measure is retroactive and removed a measure of certainty regarding retirement income for est. 80,000-100,000 older people. And secondly, because the cost-cutting marches hand-in-hand with the federal government's determination to continue to ignore what ordinary voters view as blatant rorting of the Australian taxation system by very wealthy individuals and corporations.

ACOSS: Drop unfair plan to lower pension indexation, reform super and pension assets test instead

Australian Council Of Social Services, 1 April 2015:

Drop unfair plan to lower pension indexation, reform super and pension assets test instead

The Australian Council of Social Service today issued a call to the Federal Parliament to reject the plan to lower the Indexation of pensions that would severely impact all pensioners, and instead focus on eligibility for the part-pension and reforming the unfair retirement incomes system, including superannuation tax concessions.

The decision to reduce the Indexation of pensions in the last Budget came as a great surprise to most of us, especially to pensioners. It would effectively lead to people on pensions, including older people, sole parents, and people with disabilities, falling behind community living standards," said ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie.

"We know these groups are already struggling to get by on a daily basis and if this measure goes ahead, they would lose as much as $80 per week over the next 10 years based on modelling by the National Commission of Audit.

"This would be a massive cut to the income of some of the most vulnerable people in our community, who simply could not afford to absorb it. The last thing we should be doing is reducing indexation of payments for pensioners down to the inadequate indexation which is still in place for people struggling to survive on Allowances, including young people on Youth Allowance (just $30 a day) and unemployed people on Newstart (just $37 a day). Two thirds of people on Newstart and Youth Allowance have been on these payments for over a year.

"Indexation to wages should be maintained for older people but also for sole parents and people with disability who already experience high levels of income poverty. Indexation for all basic income support payments -both Pensions and Allowances - should be linked to wages if they are to be enough for people to live with some dignity.

"We urge the government, opposition parties and crossbenchers to work together on alternative solutions to ensure the sustainability of retirement incomes system into the future. This must include reform to better target the Age Pension to those who need it and to superannuation tax concessions as part of the tax review.

"ACOSS has put forward sound and fair recommendations to this end, including reducing the current threshold that allows couples with as much as $1.1 million dollars in assets on top of the family home to qualify for a Part Pension.

"We also support the Government's move to abolish the Seniors Supplement, which is available to people who are not eligible for the Aged Pension because they are in a much better financial position than most.

"The Supplement extends to older people who are disqualified from the Age Pension due to the assets test - which means for example, it would go to couples with assets in excess of $1 million apart from the family home. By excluding superannuation income from the income test for existing recipients, it also extends to people with significant superannuation incomes.

"A couple could have a million dollars in a superannuation fund paying them an income of $100,000 a year in addition to their assets and still receive the supplement.

"We strongly support the need for an adequate safety net system to ensure that people are supported when they fall into hard times. However, this supplement of $858 each year for singles and $1,295 for couples, simply cannot be justified," Dr Goldie said.....

1. Tighten the Age Pension assets test 
• Reduce the assets test free area for home owners to $100,000 for singles and $150,000 for couples, and increase the taper rate for both home owners and non-home owners from $1.50 per $1,000 of additional assets to $2 per $1,000, so that the cut out point for the part pension for couples is reduced from $1.1 million in assets besides the family home to $794,250 in assets besides the family home - Savings: $1,350 million ($1,450 million in 2016-17).

2. Abolish the Seniors Supplement
• Abolish the Seniors Supplement (available to people who do not qualify for the Age Pension due to their income and assets) from 1 July 2015 leaving the Pension Supplement in place for Age Pensioners - Savings: $240 million ($250 million in 2016-1).

3. Reform Superannuation system 
• Increase the preservation age so that it corresponds to the Age Pension access age by 2027 - with early access arrangements for people with disabilities and caring roles that effectively require them to retire earlier. May include allowing access from age 55 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people whose disabilities or caring roles would ordinarily qualify them for certain social security payments (such as the Disability Support Pension or Carer Payment) or by allowing withdrawals earlier than 55 for any purpose up to modest annual and lifetime limits - Revenue neutral.
• Replace existing tax concessions for superannuation contributions with a simpler taxation structure, in which employer contributions are taxed at the employee's marginal tax rate and a capped superannuation rebate is paid into employee's superannuation accounts - Revenue neutral.
• Extend the 15% tax rate on superannuation fund earnings to accounts in the ‘pension phase', in three annual steps of 5% each year - Saving $300 million in 2016-17.
• Stem the avoidance of personal income tax by individuals over 55 years of age who ‘churn' their earnings through superannuation accounts: From 1 July 2016, reduce the annual cap for concessional contributions by $1 for every dollar withdrawn from a superannuation account in the same year by a fund member - Saving $500 million in 2016-17.

Abbott's at it again - leaving rich superannuants alone & beating up on low-income retirees & pensioners

With Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announcing that his 2015-16 Budget would be a dull and boring one, it is reasonable to conclude that the over-the-top tax concessions for super funds and rich superannuates will remain unchanged.

However, Abbott is endorsing the raising of fees paid by older low-income retirees and pensioners who want to stay at home for as long as possible in their later years.

The Australian 25 March 2015:

Older Australians will fail to get the help they need and community aged-care providers will struggle to survive if fees suggested by the government for its $1.7 billion aged-care home-support scheme go ahead as planned.

The Commonwealth Home Support Program begins in July and will provide a national, entry-level, aged-care service for those over 65 who can be aided to stay at home as long as possible, reducing the pressure on expensive and rationed residential-care places.

Draft fees released by the government, however, outline minimum expected payments for pensioners and part-pensioners up to double those paid by the same people under the four existing programs, which will be subsumed by the CHSP. “At this stage, the feedback I am getting is that the fees are probably too high and they (clients) won’t pay,” Aged and Community Services Australia chief executive John Kelly told The Australian.

“The clients will vote with their feet and they won’t use the services. That’s when you start having negative social and health consequences.”

About 750,000 people use home-support programs. Under the proposed fee schedule, single people with an income of more than $51,500 will pay a standard fee for the cost of service, those who earn less than $25,118.60 will get the full pension discount and those in-between will be given part-pension discounts.

The suggested minimum fees for pensioners for domestic assistance, personal care, nursing and allied health service is $10 per hour, $9 per hour for food and social support and $9 for meals, not including cost of ingredients……

Pensioners worried that Abbott will stop pension indexation if he becomes prime minister

Abbott to stop pension indexation?

Wednesday, 12 June 2013

“Pensioners have expressed horror at suggestions today that an Abbott-led government may cease regular indexation of the pension, as per a recommendation made by the Howard Government’s 1996 National Audit of Commission,”[1] said Senior Policy Advisor, Charmaine Crowe.

“Regular indexation of the pension ensures that it maintains pace with the cost of living, which is critical for pensioners, particularly those with no other source of income.”

“The vast majority of pensioners have no other income, so if the pension cannot cover living costs, they have nothing to fall back on.”

“Around 80 per cent of people aged over 65 receive the Age Pension, in part because of the relaxation of the means test under Howard. This made many retirees who have significantly more income or assets than a full-rate Age Pensioner, eligible for the pension.”

“Ceasing pension indexation would affect not only Age Pensioners, but over 1,000,000 carers and people with disability receiving the Carer’s Payment and the Disability Support Pension.”

“If the current indexation of the pension was removed, the pension risks losing its value as the Newstart Allowance and Parenting Payments have done, subjecting their recipients to living in poverty.”

“The Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott must come out and categorically reject any proposal to cease the current pension-indexation regime."

Media Contact: Charmaine Crowe

Mobile: 0422 707 332

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[1] Peter Martin ‘How an Abbott Government may run the economy’:The Sydney Morning Herald 12 June 2013 http://bit.ly/19nodGG