Real Action to Support Senior Australians

04/08/10

A Coalition government will pursue a range of measures to support employment, secure retirement incomes, help with cost of living pressures and ensure better representation of senior Australians.

The Coalition recognises the contribution that senior Australians make to our society and economy.  We believe that seniors should be able to participate in the workforce, live in safe communities, have a financially secure retirement and get better access to healthcare benefits. 

With an ageing population, we also believe that the voice of senior Australians needs to be heard at the highest levels of government.

To create more employment opportunities for senior Australians, the Coalition will introduce a Seniors Employment Incentive Payment.  The Incentive Payment will be paid to employers who hire a jobseeker aged 50 years or older. 

The Incentive Payment will be worth up to $250 a fortnight, for a total subsidy for 6 months of $3,250 for employing a worker on a full time basis. The Incentive Payment will be paid in a single lump sum directly to the employer after six months continuous employment by the eligible worker. To qualify for the Incentive Payment, employees will need to serve a period of continuous employment of six months. 

The Incentive Payment is designed to help employers overcome any reluctance to taking on older jobseekers and will be paid for workers who are registered with Centrelink at the time of their employment, including the unemployed, people with a disability and age pensioners. 

Recent NATSEM data confirms that there are around 900,000 people aged 50-65 years who could qualify for the Incentive Payment.  The Incentive Payment will commence from 1 July 2011. 

The Coalition will also introduce the indexation of the eligibility income thresholds for the Commonwealth Senior Health Card (CSHC).  The CSHC helps senior Australians with the cost of prescription medicines and other health services and is available to people who are of age pension age but do not qualify for the pension. 

Income thresholds are currently set at $50,000 for singles and $80,000 for couples combined.  Indexing these thresholds will allow CSHC holders who maintain their incomes in real terms to continue to be eligible for the discounts the card awards.  Funding of $25 million will be provided to the indexation of the CSHC.

The Coalition will also retain the existing income rules for the Commonwealth Senior Health Card.

The Coalition will abolish the Superannuation Guarantee age limit from 1 July 2013.  The current age limit unfairly discriminates against older workers and forces them into retirement when many would like to stay in the workforce.

The Superannuation Guarantee currently applies to workers aged up to 70 years.  Under the Coalition’s plan, any worker, regardless of age, will be guaranteed to receive contributions from their employer.

To give all Australians, and seniors in particular, more choice of secure investments, the Coalition will direct the Australian Office of Financial Management to examine the issuing of bonds for terms of up to 30 years.  One of the most secure investments is Government bonds.  Currently the maximum term of Government bonds is 15 years, limiting the period for which seniors can make highly secure investments. 

The Coalition will provide funding of $7.5 million to establish the Safer Seniors Programme.  Under the programme, local councils will be able to apply for grants funding of up to $100,000 per annum to supplement or establish activities such as:

- Home safety audits

- Senior safety workshops

- Safe routes programmes

- Phone link services where seniors are contacted regularly

- Personal security alarms, like Medic alert

To ensure the voice of senior Australian is heard at the highest level of government, the Coalition will create a Minister for Ageing and Seniors.  This is in recognition that senior Australians face more issues than just aged care.

The Coalition will commit an additional $32.5 million over the forward estimates to these initiatives.  Funding will be provided from the more than $24 billion in recurrent savings that have been identified by the Coalition over the forward estimates.