THE Association of Independent Retirees has warned the Turnbull government that Australia's 3.7 million retiree voters will demonstrate their loss of trust in it at the ballot box.
Executive officer Sue Hart said confidence and trust in public policy has been eroded with the failure of federal politicians and their parties to end the continuous attack on retirees' superannuation funds.
"Changes to superannuation, the lack of a desire for bipartisan agreement on superannuation, continuing government agreement to out-of-control increases in private health insurance premiums, coupled with the government's erosion of the over 65 years health insurance rebate percentage and changes to the assets test taper rate are all elements that have evolved into distrust," Ms Hart said.
"A further issue is the government's failure to grandfather changes, which breaks a long-standing tradition to protect those who have planned or are planning their retirement income on the basis of current policy."
Retirement income review a must: COTA
THE Council on the Ageing has called on the federal government to include funding for a retirement income review in this month's budget.
It wants the review to cover the age pension, taxation, housing, and paying for health and aged care "with the intention of achieving broad political support for a retirement incomes policy that will be fair, sustainable and will bring long-term stability to retirement planning".THE Council on the Ageing has called on the federal government to include funding for a retirement income review in this month's budget.THE Council on the Ageing has called on the federal government to include funding for a retirement income review in this month's budget.
COTA supports a recommendation by Anglicare Australia that superannuation should be paid on government benefits and allowances up to age pension eligibility age.
It also wants the government to develop an older Australians oral health strategy and design, fund and implement a dental benefits schedule targeted to older people along the lines of the Child Dental Benefit Schedule.
Other matters on its wish list include:
- An older Australians mental health strategy focusing on removing discrimination against older people in accessing and receiving appropriate mental health care; and older age suicide prevention.
- Setting a legislated timetable for placing all home care and residential aged care funding in the hands of consumers and their families, and a timetable to remove the cap on subsidised aged care funding.
- Aged care funding for care recipients at their assessed level of need.
- A 30 per cent increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance.
- Establishing a comprehensive national approach to eradicating elder abuse.
- An independently-headed review of the approach taken by Centrelink in all its communications with low income Australians.
ENSURING older Australians can live in age-appropriate housing and retain their age pensions is a priority for National Seniors Australia.
"Under our Rightsizing Program, Australian seniors would have the choice of where they live and of not being trapped in an asset-rich, income-poor situation, which is what many of them find themselves in now," said the organisation's chief advocate Ian Henschke.
"We have older Australians who are living in homes they can't afford to maintain, that don't suit their needs, and that lock up their assets while, in some cases, they survive on baked beans and the house falls down around them."
Mr Henschke said the proposed program would enable up to $250,000 of the proceeds from a home sale to be quarantined from the age pension means test, enabling seniors to move to more age-appropriate and suitable housing without losing their pension, and also having funds to cover health and other costs.
A recent National Seniors survey found that almost a quarter of the nation's two million seniors who own their own homes said they were too big.
"If they could sell without losing their pension, there's no doubt many would," Mr Henschke said.
"This would free up homes for families and also promote the construction of purpose-built homes for older Australians."
