Unfortunately for Australia’s ageing population, the federal budget was full of unexpected bad news when it was announced on Tuesday.
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The only bright side to the changes being made to the pension received by hundreds of thousands of Australian’s over the age of 65 is that the many of the changes will not take place for three years.
Some of the major changes to affect pensioners include:
- Removing the wage indexation of the pension;
- Extending the cost of the $7 co-payment to pathology and diagnostic services;
- Increasing the general PBS safety net threshold by 10 per cent;
- Abolishing the Senior Supplemental payment;
- Increasing the PBS co-payment from $5 for general patients and 80 cents for concessional patients;
- Resetting the pensions assets test and;
- increasing the pension age.
“The message to Australians is if you get sick you’ll pay. If you get old, you’ll pay. If you lose your job or acquire a disability, don’t expect to get support so easily,” Amelia Christie, Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association Manager of Research and Advocacy, said.
Ms Christie said that changes to the pension deeming rates and eligibility will see pensioners with money in the bank have their pension cut or become ineligible for a pension all together.
Mudgee local Rod Tilling said these new changes to the pension were simply an “attack on those who were older”.
“A lot of the things that will affected pensioners like myself have to do with the medical side of it. Carers will also be affected but it’s the doctors visits and the medications that are going to hit the hardest,” he said.
Mr Tilling said he and his wife Patty live at Windamere Dam and would be affected by not only the cuts to their pensions but by the twice-yearly petrol price rises.
“It’s going to cost us more to come into town, more to go to the doctor and more to pick up our medication.
“It’s just going to cost more and we’re going to get less,” he said.
Mr Tilling said he was upset that the burden for a lot of the federal budgets cutbacks were being shouldered by those over 65 who didn’t always have much to begin with.
“It’s just not right. If they want us to retire at 70 its just going to get even dearer as we go - and we’ll be nearly dead by then anyway,” he said.
More information on the changes to the pension can be found at budget.gov.au/2014-15/content/bp2/html/bp2_expense-14.htm and budget.gov.au/2014-15/content/bp2/html/bp2_expense-21.htm
