Sally is sure that she’s read somewhere that the Age Pension will be cut following the Budget 2016/17 announcement. Is this true?
Q. Sally
I’m sure I read somewhere after the announcements on Budget 2016/17 that the Age Pension will be cut by about $10 for members of a couple and $14 for singles. Is this true? If so, this is ridiculous, because as it’s already too hard to live on the meagre Age Pension and I for one can’t afford to lose $14 a fortnight from my income.
There was an announcement as part of Budget 2016/17 that the Clean Energy Supplement would not be paid to new recipients of the Age Pension from 20 September 2016. That means that if you are currently on the Age Pension, you will continue to receive the Clean Energy Supplement, which is paid at the rate of $10.60 for each eligible member of a couple and $14.10 for singles.
For those who are granted an Age Pension after 20 September 2016, the Clean Energy Supplement will no longer be paid, which could be considered by some as a cut.
Correction: ‘the Clean Energy Supplement would not be paid to new recipients of the Age Pension from 20 September 2016’ replaced ‘the Clean Energy Supplement would not be paid to new recipients of the Age Pension after 1 July 2017’ and ‘For those who are granted an Age Pension after 20 September 2016’ replaced ‘For those who are granted an Age Pension after 1 July 2017’.
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