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Plan to increase age pension age to 70 “gone”, says PM

The Government will drop its long-standing, but unlegislated, plan to increase the Age Pension age from 67 to 70.

PM Scott Morrison announced the policy change in response to a question from a member of the public on The Today Show.

“I was going to say this next week, but I may as well say it here, Karl. I’ve already consulted my colleagues on that and next week cabinet will be ratifying a decision to reverse taking the pension age to 70. I will remain at 67, which is what Labor increased it to.” Read more...

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Raising Age Pension age will hurt workers who can’t choose when to retire

Raising the Age Pension age to 70 will hurt many older workers who can’t choose when they retire, says the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST).

The Federal Social Services Minister, Christian Porter, recently confirmed that it was still Government policy to raise the Age Pension age to 70. Mr Porter said that the Government wanted to increase the Age Pension age from 67 to 70 over the ten year period from 2025 to 2035.

AIST is urging the Government to consider the high level of involuntary retirement before raising the Age Pension age. Read more...

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Government should rule out lifting age pension age to 70: AIST

The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) has called on the Government to rule out the proposed increase in the age pension age to 70.

The current eligibility age for the pension is 65, though it is set to increase to 67 by 1 July 2023. The 2014/15 Budget proposed that the age pension age should increase by six months every two years from 1 July 2025, reaching 70 on 1 July 2035. Though this has yet to be legislated.

AIST CEO Tom Garcia said there needs to be a recognition that many people will not be in a position to work until age 70. Read more...

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AIST calls for review of lifting Age Pension age to 70

AIST, Intergenerational Report 2015 , Age Pension AgeFollowing release of the Intergenerational Report 2015 the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) has called for the Government to review the proposal to lift the Age Pension eligibility age to 70 by 2035.

The AIST says the Intergenerational Report (IGR) provides no evidence supporting an increase to the age pension age, instead projecting that “future pension costs in our ageing population are manageable in existing policy settings.”

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Raising age pension and super preservation ages ‘last resort’

Industry Super Australia, superannuation tax concessions, age pension age, superannuation preservation ageIndustry Super Australia Chief Executive, David Whiteley, has said that raising the age pension or superannuation preservation ages should be a last resort, but the superannuation tax concessions do need reform.

Mr Whiteley told the Australian Workers Union National Conference that the aging of the population is one of the key economics challenges for Australia, and superannuation is a central part of the solution. However the significant costs of the superannuation tax concessions must be addressed. Read more...