It’s widely considered that Australia is missing a huge opportunity by not doing all we can to get seniors who want to work, working.

Ian Henschke, Chief Advocate for National Seniors Australia joins Luke Grant to discuss two issues around older Australians – not just giving seniors a chance to work but also an update on where we are with aged care and in particular home packages.

Let’s not forget a couple of statistics. Only 14.2% of Australians 65 and over are in the workforce compared to 24.7% in New Zealand.   The Age Pension income test punishes older Australians who need work, especially the 1 in 4 who live in poverty.

According to the Department of Social Services, only 2.9% of pensioners (74,000 of the 2.6 million) receive income from employment.  With key sectors, such as home care, hospitality, agriculture and tourism, struggling to attract and retain qualified staff, we need to tap Australia’s large resource of mature workers.

However, for every $1 work income over $480 per fortnight ($12,480 pa), a pensioner loses 50c of their fortnightly pension. With pension income also taxable, many question why they should bother working.  This situation is acute among pensioners with limited savings. They can only work one day per week without penalty.

In contrast, pensioners with adequate savings (whose pension is determined by the assets test) can work more without affecting their pension.

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