WITH power costs skyrocketing, older Australians welcomed the arrival of the one-off energy assistance payment at the end of June. But not 76-year-old Barry Herlund.
Mr Herlund was surprised when nothing arrived in his bank account as expected.
Then surprise turned to anger and outrage when he found out why: the payment was given to people on a pension, and Mr Herlund isn’t on a pension – he’s on a carer payment as he looks after his 69-year-old wife Suzanne, who is blind.
Although he didn’t get the payment, his wife, who is on a disability support pension, did – but at the lower partnered rate.
The energy assistance payment of $75 for a single person and $62.50 each for a couple was given to those on an age pension, disability support pension or parenting payment.
But it’s not the dollars that Mr Herlund has missed out on that’s the problem. “The money side’s got nothing to do with it; it’s the principle.”
Mr Herlund has been his wife’s carer since 1997 when she became legally blind. Since then, her sight has deteriorated even more; she has the incurable hereditary condition retinitis pigmentosa.
The couple, who live in Berrys Creek, 150km south- east of Melbourne, have been married for 44 years, have no children. Mr Herlund is his wife’s sole carer.
“The carer payment for older people like myself is basically the pension under another name,” he said.
“I’d heard pensioners were getting the payment and I assumed I would.
“The devil’s always in the detail.”
Department ‘mincing words’
A Department of Social Services spokesman said the one-off payment was for recipients with limited ability to earn extra income to assist them with their energy costs.
“Recipients of the carer payment already receive additional assistance through the carer supplement, which is a $600 payment each year,” he said.
However, Mr Herlund was scathing of the explanation. “Whoever dreamed up that answer has absolutely no idea of what carers are, what they do and why they do it. They are just mincing words.”
He said the supplement carers received was to assist with the additional expenses of caring for someone and for the caring role they played.
“This payment should have nothing to do with qualifying for the energy assistance payment.”
More than 41,000 people aged over 65 receive a carer payment.
Ellis Blaikie from the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association described the situation as “a real slap in the face for carers”.
She said it was unfair to deny carers the energy payment because they received a carer supplement.
“That supplement is to help with all of the extra out-of-pocket expenses and living costs that carers face.
“This really is a strange anomaly and it’s really unfair given the immense value of the work carers do.”
