There has been much media coverage recently about the future of retirement incomes and eligibility for the age pension, which will be an ongoing issue leading into and beyond the 2015 Federal Budget. Minister for Social Services Scott Morrison has ruled out inclusion of the family home in the age pension asset test, declaring it is not under consideration.

What you may have missed in the coverage are some very encouraging statements from the Minister regarding examining current penalties that exist for age pensioners who want to ‘downsize’.
Mr Morrison told 3AW radio recently: “The costs of maintaining a lot of these larger properties (family homes) can be very expensive….and if they might want to downsize, if they were to do that, [it] can do a lot to diminish their incomes. So the system is actually penalising people for wanting to make what might be very rational choices.”

We welcome the Minister’s words and his preparedness to have a debate about the best methods for increasing housing choices for senior Australians and look forward to some positive results from the ensuing debates.
Read Retirement Living Council Chairman Derek McMillan’s report about how a housing choice solution can be found.