Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A couple of weeks ago, in the week post the budget, I had the pleasure and the privilege of travelling around the electorate of Forde, hosting my annual budget roadshow. One of the questions that people asked, as it wasn't given a lot of airing on the night, was what was in the budget for retirees. I'm happy to note there was a lot in the budget for retirees. We repealed the work test for non-concessional and salary-sacrificed superannuation contributions, allowing Australians who are 67 to 74 more flexibility to contribute to their superannuation leading up to their retirement.

These reforms will also reduce complexity in the planning for retirement. The minimum age of the downsizer superannuation contribution will be lowered from 65 to 60. This will allow Australians nearing retirement to make post-tax contributions of up to $300,000 per person when they sell their family home. We've increased the flexibility of the pension loan scheme. Participants will be able to access lump-sum advances of up to a total value of 50 per cent of the maximum annual rate of age pension. A single person will be able to receive lump-sum payments of up to $12,385 per year, while couples combined will receive up to $18,670 per year. We're introducing a no-negative-equity guarantee, which means participants won't have to pay more than the market value of their property as a repayment for their pension loan scheme debt. For many retirees, the significant losses in the financial markets as a result of COVID-19 are having a significant effect on the account balances of their superannuation, pensions and annuities. To assist retirees, the government has reduced the minimum annual payment requirement for account based pensions and annuities, allocated pensions and annuities and market linked pensions and annuities by 50 per cent, which we originally did in the 2019-20 budget. We've extended that to the 2020-21 budget as well. These things are critically important because one of the concerns for many retirees is the risk of outliving their capital.

This budget has also committed a record $7.8 billion to reform the residential care sectors to support a better and a more sustainable system. It means that from 1 October 2022 the 21,055 senior Australians living in Ford will have better access and safer care through a new funding model, the Australian National Aged Care Classification system. This will better align funding for patients' care needs and allow providers to focus on delivering quality and safe care. From 1 July 2022 residents and their families will have access to better information, with providers required to report care staffing minutes. I'd also like to take this opportunity to talk about Care360, who do a terrific job in providing an independent assessment system and search functionality for families who are looking to place their parents or their relatives in aged care that is not funded in any way by care providers. They provide a whole range of information that makes the process of looking for suitable aged-care accommodation for their family members that much easier and that much clearer.

We've committed more money to health care, which will benefit retirees. We've provided over $220 million to update and add new health services to the Medicare Benefits Schedule. Services such as the new inflammatory tests for bowel cancer will now be Medicare rebated. We've provided $878.7 million to support access to affordable medicines through the PBS. This is in addition to the very significant investment we've already made in the PBS, in the medicines that we've added to it, over our nearly eight years in government. Between 10 per cent and 15 per cent of older people experience depression and they would be more likely to experience contributing factors such as physical illness and personal loss. We are providing support to these people to ensure they have the support to meet their mental health needs. Importantly, we're providing additional support in the Commonwealth Home Support Program. One of the things that I think a lot of people don't appreciate that is available is the Commonwealth seniors health card. It is this government that is providing the support needed to older Australians in their retirement.

House adjourned at 20:00