SYDNEY, April 28 (Xinhua) -- The representative body for senior Australians, National Seniors, has made a call to allow retired Australians to return to work without having a cut to their retirement payments.
Val Dempsey, 2022 Senior Australian of the Year, has stepped forth as the face of the Let Pensioners Work campaign as she described how the government policy has been a barrier to supplementing her income with part-time work.
"My hourly rate instantly puts me over any amount of money that I'm allowed to earn while being on the age pension. I wouldn't even be able to get three hours in a fortnight without it affecting my pension," said Dempsey on Thursday.
In Australia once retired individuals earn over 300 Australian dollars (about 214 U.S. dollars) per fortnight, further income begins cutting into their pension.
This means a pensioner earning 400 Australian dollars (about 286 U.S. dollars) per fortnight would have their pension payments cut by 50 Australian dollars (about 36 U.S. dollars), half of the excess of the cap.
This makes it difficult for retirees like Dempsey to supplement their fortnightly pension payments of between 800 and 900 dollars (about 571 to 643 U.S. dollars), barely enough to cover rent and food costs.
"As a registered nurse, it would be so easy to supplement our household income," she said.
National Seniors CEO and Director of Research, Professor John McCallum said Dempsey's story is repeated across Australia.
"Our surveys of thousands of older Australians have demonstrated the urgent need for this change, and Val Dempsey's story puts a human face on the statistics," he said.
McCallum called on the federal government to trial a three-year program in which the current penalties on pensioner's extra earnings would be removed.
"Australian pensioners want work and Australian businesses want workers, so it just makes sense for the federal government to implement a three-year trial of waiving the age pension income test," he said.
A 2017 report from the OECD Library showed that 26 percent of Australians aged 65 and over suffered income poverty, compared to 13 percent across all OECD countries.
And with Australia's federal election fast approaching pension payments have become a flashpoint issue. Many Australians have made calls for an increase in benefits and contending political parties have promised to raise pension payments. ■