Pension changes allow older Australians to work longer hours
Older Australians will be able to work more hours without having a cut taken out of their pension, under new rules announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Currently old age and veterans pensioners can only earn $7800 a year at a job before their pension is reduced.
But an income credit added from December this year will allow them to earn another $4000 before their pension is impacted.
The measure is only temporary, lasting until the end of June next year.
The change is hoped to take the edge off the current labour shortage in Australia.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government hopes the change “spurs some additional workforce participation among older Australian workers”.
“We’ve been working on this policy, frankly, since before the election,” Chalmers said.
“We wanted to make sure it’s the right way to go about it.”
The policy change is expected to cost the government around $55 million.
It comes after the Jobs and Skills Summit touted by the prime minister.
“It has been truly an exercise in collaboration that has reinforced my government’s approach towards the way that good government should function,” Albanese said.
“An approach that says we should look for unity, not division.”
The prime minister has also flagged changes to Australia’s immigration quotas.
An overreliance on temporary labour has made Australia more vulnerable, Albanese said.
He pointed to the beginning of the pandemic.
“When people were asked to leave and when the borders were shut, that has exacerbated the skills shortages,” he said.
“My starting point is in favour of giving people the security that comes with a path to permanent migration, a path to being an Australian citizen.”
He said the best way to find the best skilled migrants was to provide a path to permanency.
“It makes no sense for example to bring in a nurse for two years, three years, and then see them leave,” he said.
“We need to be more attractive in the global labour market for the skills that we need.”
The Jobs and Skills Summit involved more than 100 forums, mini-summits and roundtables held across the country.
