Labor is for Senior Australians
Through historic reforms to the pension and aged care system, as well as investing in services and supporting older Australians to continue to work, Labor is giving seniors the choice, support and certainty they deserve.
It was Labor that first put in place the pension system in 1909 and it was Labor that delivered the biggest increase to the pension in 100 years in 2009. Labor also put pensioners first with the Household Assistance Package to help with their household bills. Pensioners often have limited room to move in their budgets, which is why Labor is helping them make ends meet.
Only Labor will continue to protect the pension for those who need it most – people who worked hard throughout their lives and who have given so much to our community. Tony Abbott and the Coalition plan to claw back $1 billion of this extra support for pensioners, leaving them hundreds of dollars out of pocket.
Labor will continue to support self-funded retirees. Last year self-funded retirees benefited from tax cuts averaging more than $550 for 190,000 seniors and also made sure that self-funded retirees who hold a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card receive the same household assistance as pensioners to help cover any price impacts from the carbon price.
It was Labor that introduced universal superannuation 20 years ago, and now Labor is building on that work with our commitment to further increases and greater protections by gradually lifting superannuation from 9 per cent to 12 per cent in 2019. The first superannuation increase of .25 per cent takes place in July this year.
Since 2007 Labor has invested more than 60 per cent more funding into the aged care sector, adding more than 25,000 residential care places and 13,000 home care places nationally.
Changes are being made to the aged care system which will lift the quality of care for those in facilities and allow more people to access care in their own homes.
Older Australians who want to live independently in their own home are more likely to have that choice, with Labor increasing the number of Home Care Packages by 40,000 to nearly 100,000.
Labor has capped care costs to give financial certainty and peace of mind, with residential care capped at $25,000 per year and home care packages annually capped at $5,000 for part pensioners and $10,000 for self-funded retirees. And no one will ever pay more than $60,000 over a lifetime.
To help people keep their family home, and to prevent anyone being forced to sell their home, Labor will give families more choice about how to pay for care. Instead of a bond which can cost up to $2.6 million and bears no resemblance to the actual cost of accommodation, you will be able to pay through a lump sum or a periodic payment - or a combination of both.