On the last two days of the election campaign, National Seniors Australia says this is the final chance for all candidates to make their pitch to older Australians who now number one in every two voters.

Australia’s peak consumer and advocacy organisation for seniors says older voters will be considering which candidates have the best policies on the following key areas:

• Retirement income
• Aged Care
• Legacy for future generations

Retirement Income

One of the most talked about issues has been the inflexibility of government policy around pensioners who want to work and work more.  

National Seniors Chief Advocate, Ian Henschke says this is why the ‘Let Pensioners Work’ campaign has resonated, not just with older voters but the entire business community desperate for workers.

“We hear countless examples of pensioners who want to work but can’t because of punitive measures which erode their pension if they work more than one day a week.

“It’s time to get rid of the pensioner worker tax.

“Senior Australian of the Year 2022 Val Dempsey, a retired nurse, has weighed into the argument saying she supports measures that would allow pensioners, like her, back into the workforce, without losing their pension.

“This reform is needed because it is a win for pensioners, a win for business and a win for the entire Australian economy.” 

Mr. Henschke says whoever wins can expect to hear more about ‘Let Pensioners Work’, “we will not stop campaigning until the policy is changed.” 

National Seniors has outlined several other important retirement income policies:

• An Independent Pension Tribunal
• A boost to Commonwealth Rent Assistance
• An inquiry on costs and benefits of a universal pension

Aged Care

Mr. Henschke says this is the first election since the Royal Commission into Aged Care, Quality and Safety handed down its recommendations.

“A time frame of five years since the commission’s findings has been outlined to implement all the recommendations.

“By the 2025 election, time IS up for all those changes, so we want to know how, whoever wins will achieve that,” said Mr Henschke.

“We’ve heard promises of more 24-hour nursing in residential care, but we also want to know who’ll ensure enough high-quality home-based care to meet the needs of older Australians?”

National Seniors has outlined several key ways to support the home care sector, including letting pensioners work, mature age traineeships, downsizing incentives, capital grants for rental homes and a home care loans scheme.

Legacy for future generations

While elections are often won or lost on bread-and-butter issues, we should not forget many older Australians want to make a contribution to future generations.

National Seniors’ surveys have shown older Australian’s care about legacy issues, such as whether younger people can afford to buy a home and whether Australia can meet our ZERO emissions targets.

“National Seniors has been calling for policies which give older Australians practical ways to make a difference.”

“Encouraging older people to give to younger generations to meet costs, such as childcare and house deposits, could be achieved by increasing Age Pension gifting limits, which have not been indexed for 20 years.” said Mr Henschke.

“Australia would also benefit from mobilising older Australians to invest in large scale renewable energy projects, such as Snowy Hydro 2.0, which could be achieved by issuing Clean Energy Bonds.”

Full details of our policy recommendation can be found in our 2022 Federal Budget Submission.