Greater insight into Australia’s ageing population

There are 100,000 more Australians who are fully self-funded retirees than four years ago as more people become less reliant on Government income support.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Children and Youth Affairs, the Hon Sussan Ley, today said the findings were in a paper presented on the opening day of the second Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey Research Conference at the University of Melbourne.

“The paper, Three Dimensions of Retirement – Aspirations, Expectations and Outcomes, found the proportion of older Australians not calling on any form of Age or DVA pension, increased from 20.1 per cent in 2001 to 22.3 per cent in 2005, a rise of ten per cent,” Mrs Ley said.

“This means there are more than 550,000 Australians over the age of 65 years who are independent of any Government income support.

“This clearly shows more senior Australians are accumulating wealth, working later into life and expecting to be more self reliant than current retirees.

“This important two-day forum will focus on research themes with a strong general public interest and emerging policy issues facing the Howard Government.

“Conference participants will examine the findings of current research into Australian households, providing an insight into issues including the challenges posed by our ageing population.

“Other research papers to be presented at the conference will examine how best to support working mothers, fertility expectations and income and poverty.

“The research reported in these papers provides a valuable investment by the Howard Government, assisting the further development of government policies and providing a greater insight into the changing social and economic environment,” Mrs Ley said.