The Australian government adjusts pension payments<\/strong> twice a year\u2014March and September\u2014to help retirees keep pace with economic changes. The increase is based on the higher<\/strong> of two key inflation measures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
• The Consumer Price Index (CPI)<\/strong>, which tracks the cost of goods and services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
• The Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index (PBLCI)<\/strong>, which measures cost changes specifically for pensioners.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

  If the resulting figure is still too low <\/strong>compared to average wages, an additional adjustment is made to ensure pensioners don\u2019t fall too far behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  While this system helps protect retirees from inflation<\/strong>, NSA and other advocacy groups argue that it doesn\u2019t fully reflect the true cost of living for older Australians<\/strong>\u2014especially when housing, healthcare, and energy bills continue to climb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Why the Pension Increase Might Feel Underwhelming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

  Despite the latest adjustment, many pensioners feel the Age Pension isn\u2019t keeping up<\/strong> with real-life expenses. NSA\u2019s research found that older Australians believe they need at least $10,000 <\/strong>more per year for singles<\/strong> and $15,000 for couples<\/strong> to cover basic costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  To address this, NSA is calling for a one-off boost<\/strong> of $10 per day <\/strong>for singles and $15 per day <\/strong>for couples. This would mean an extra $3,650 <\/strong>per year for singles and $5,475 <\/strong>for couples\u2014a far cry from the current increase of just a few dollars per fortnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  The Bigger Issues Pensioners Face<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

  Beyond pension increases, NSA and other advocacy groups are pushing for policy changes<\/strong> to improve financial security for retirees. Some key recommendations include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Freezing deeming rates<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

  Deeming rates determine how much income pensioners are assumed to earn from their savings. With interest rates still high, NSA suggests freezing deeming rates<\/strong> to prevent pensioners from losing benefits based on unrealistic income assumptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  2. Encouraging retirees to work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

  Many pensioners want to work part-time but face penalties<\/strong> if they earn too much. NSA suggests exempting employment income<\/strong> from the pension income test, allowing retirees to stay in the workforce without fear of losing benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  3. Addressing the housing crisis<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

  \n
  • Exempting proceeds from home sales from the Age Pension means test (for those over 80 receiving home care).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Removing disincentives for renting out rooms, such as pension reductions or capital gains tax impacts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    4. Raising gifting limits<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Pensioners face strict limits on how much they can gift<\/strong> to family or charity before it affects their benefits. NSA suggests increasing the limit to $17,500 for singles<\/strong> and $26,500 for couples<\/strong>, with future increases indexed to inflation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Millions of Australian pensioners are set to receive a boost in their payments this March, but the increase is smaller than many expected. Advocacy groups argue it\u2019s not enough to keep up with rising costs, pushing for urgent changes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":101168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retirement","category-social-welfare","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102174"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102182,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102174\/revisions\/102182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}