Self-funded retirees get more help with household bills

More than 281,000 senior Australians are receiving a boost to their household budgets with the first quarterly Clean Energy Supplement for seniors arriving in bank accounts from today.

This extra money is part of the Gillard Government’s Household Assistance Package and will be paid alongside the regular Seniors Supplement.

The Clean Energy Supplement will help eligible self-funded retirees with everyday expenses and meet the modest impact of the carbon price.

Payments to eligible self-funded retirees for this quarter include:

• a Clean Energy Supplement of about $88 for singles and about $134 for couples combined; and
• the regular Seniors Supplement of about $215 for singles and about $324 for couples combined.

This means that for the June quarter eligible seniors will receive a payment of more than $300 for singles and more than $450 for couples to help with household bills.

In total, eligible self-funded retirees will receive more than $90 million in Clean Energy Supplement payments each year.

Pensioners have already begun receiving their fortnightly Clean Energy Supplement, worth more than $350 a year for singles and more than $530 a year for couples.

Pensioners who choose to receive their Pension Supplement and Clean Energy Supplement payments quarterly will also receive their supplements over the next fortnight.

Tony Abbott and the Coalition voted against the new supplement for self-funded retirees and against the pension increase, demonstrating their lack of support for seniors.

This new payment for seniors builds on the Gillard Government’s strong record of delivering for older Australians. We have delivered:

• the single biggest boost to the pension in more than a century and a new indexation system so it better reflects pensioners’ cost of living;
• one-off payments worth up to $1,400 each to help pensioners and self-funded retirees through the Global Financial Crisis;
• a new consolidated Pension Supplement and Seniors Supplement to help pensioners and eligible self-funded retirees with the cost of living;
• the new seniors Work Bonus, allowing age pensioners to earn more from work without if affecting their pension; and
• Broadband for Seniors, which gives older Australians access to about 2,000 free internet kiosks so they can learn new skills and stay connected with family and friends over the internet.

The Gillard Government will keep delivering for senior Australians.