A 3.7 per cent increase in the pension is a welcome relief for older Australians, but falls short of properly addressing the financial pressures that older people are facing, the Council on the Ageing (COTA) Australia – the peak body for older Australians – says.
COTA Australia Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Sparrow, says a slight increase to the aged pension won’t be enough for many older Australians and other measures such as improved rental supports for older Australians, are urgently needed to help deal with the fiscal pressures facing our seniors.
The pension increase is the result of a twice-yearly indexation of pensions and allowances based on the Consumer Price Index and other cost-of-living measures.
“A boost to the pension is certainly welcomed, especially at a time when so many older Australians are doing it tough, but it’s certainly not going to solve all of our problems at once,” Ms Sparrow said.
“The pension increase will go some way to easing the pain many people are feeling at the moment. However, the age pension is designed to ensure that no older Australian lives in poverty and with things like rent skyrocketing over and above CPI, small increases to the pension simply aren’t enough for many people.
“Every little bit helps, but we need to be looking at how we can support older Australians better.”
