Work Bonus for senior Australians
Legislation introduced into Parliament on 10 February will support older Australians on the age pension to stay connected to the workforce through a new, more generous Work Bonus.
The Minister for Families, Housing , Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin , said it delivered on the election commitment to help age pensioners who work earn more before their pension is affected.
The new Work Bonus is set to commence on 1 July this year and will encourage older Australians to continue contributing their skills and knowledge by remaining in the workforce.
Under the new rules age pensioners will be able to earn up to $250 a fortnight without it being assessed as income under the income test.
Pensioners will also be able to build up any unused amount of their $250 fortnightly bonus in an ‘income bank’ to a total of $6,500.
The ‘income bank’ can be used to exempt future earnings from the pension income test, so that a pensioner could earn up to $6,500 a year extra without it affecting their pension. This could be from regular work each fortnight or, for example, over a six week period before Christmas.
Any unused amount of the income bank can be carried forward across years.
The new Work Bonus is a win for senior Australians, who will get more incentive to work; it is a win for business, which will find it easier to tap into the skills of older workers; and it is a win for the Australian economy.
The changes are seen as a win for pensioners who took short time jobs, such as being Santa, or marking school exams, and were penalised as the total amount earned occurred in a short period, even though it might have been the only earning and below the total yearly pension threshold.
