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Acoss CEO strongly opposed to super access proposal based on life expectancy

The CEO of Australian Council of Social Services, Dr Cassandra Goldie, has been speaking with Sunrise this morning about a pension proposal for superannuation access to be based on differing life expectancies based on where you live.

We know that people on low incomes have shorter working lives. They’re often in hard labour jobs, nurses who have been doing labour work for a very long time and we don’t want to see anybody have to wait even longer to get access to the age pension, which is only $82 a day … but Jobseeker is way less at just $59 per day. And so, it’s a huge difference if you have to wait even longer to be able to finally get access to the age pension.

The reality is that people on lower incomes across the country are the ones who would be seriously disadvantaged by this. We really alarmed that anybody would be suggesting now, in a cost of living crisis, that you would be having to wait even longer on Jobseeker – which is woefully inadequate – whilst you’re waiting to turn, let’s say, 70, just because of where you happen to live.