Media Releases by Senator the Hon Kay Patterson
No Cuts to Pensions and Allowances
Pensions and allowances will not be reduced now or in the future, the Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator Kay Patterson, said today. “The…
Time for States to reward self-funded retirees
The Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator Kay Patterson, today called on the States and Territories to accept a new offer, which could save…
Time For Tasmania To Reward Self-Funded Retirees
The Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator Kay Patterson, today called on the Tasmanian Government to accept a new offer, which could save the…
Another day, another Swan blooper
Official Department of Family and Community Service figures clearly show that Australian families are about $2 billion a year better off under the Family Tax…
Labor Caught Out Again With Wrong Figures
A review of higher-income earners receiving Family Tax Benefit payments has found only 81 were not eligible out of a total of 860,000 Australian families…
Towards Better Outcomes for Indigenous Communities and Families
The Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator Kay Patterson, today announced funding of more than $680,000 for four new projects, which will benefit Indigenous…
Recognising the Value of our Mature Age Workers
The Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator Kay Patterson, today released the Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services’ (FaCS) Mature Workers’ Strategy,…
States urged to reduce the cost of interstate travel for seniors
The Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator Kay Patterson, today said older Australians should use Seniors Week in Victoria, NSW and the ACT to…
Labor must do its homework before announcing new policies
The Labor Party’s superannuation policy announcement yesterday by Opposition Leader Mark Latham was marred by a serious error, which Shadow Minister for Retirement Incomes and…
Mature Age Participation Guide launched
A new Mature Age Participation Guide will be available to help support the workforce participation of Australians 50 years old and above, Minister for Family…
Government Assistance Available for Older Australians
With Seniors Weeks happening in Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory next week, the Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator Kay…
Seniors week kicks off with a new program for grandparents
The Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator Kay Patterson, will today mark the start of Seniors Week in Victoria by outlining an exciting and…
Pensions to Rise on March 20
Around 3.8 million pensioners and adults receiving income support will benefit from a further rise in the pension and adult allowance rates from 20 March…
Strong jobs growth and targeted programs the keys to tackle hardship
Poverty summits and setting targets are no substitute for strong growth in jobs and programs aimed at tackling the causes of financial hardship and poverty,…
States ignore problem gambling – a key cause of hardship
The Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator Kay Patterson, today called on the States and Territories to spend more of their record gambling profits…
Swan – a policy-free zone with 48-hour used-by date
Labor’s call for poverty summits and setting targets is no substitute for strong economic growth and programs targeted at tackling the causes of hardship, the…
$225,000 Available For Disability Conference Funding
Disability organisations are eligible to apply for up to $225,000 in funding to enable people with a disability to attend conferences in Australia the Minister…
Swan Is Scaremongering Over Data Matching
Opposition spokesman on family and community services, Wayne Swan, has once again stooped to blatant scaremongering by claiming that the Government will force pensioners to…
Families To Be Tax Agents Under Labor’s Heavy-Handed FTB Plan
The Labor Party wants to make Australian families tax agents under a heavy-handed plan to require people to reconcile their Family Tax Benefit payments every…
Pension bonus provides more funds for retirement
Older Australians can receive a tax-free bonus of up to $27,666 over and above their age pension if they choose to stay longer in the…
Women’s Wages Grow Three Times Faster Under Coalition
Women’s wages have grown three times faster under the Coalition Government than under Labor, the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Status of Women,…
International Women’s Day (8 March)
The Australian Government will provide $95,000 in sponsorship for a national sexual assault conference to be held in Melbourne in September, Senator Kay Patterson, Minister…
More rewards for people who move from welfare to work
About 60,000 people every fortnight have more money in their pockets – more than $500 in some cases – because they are able to keep…
Wayne Swan stands by Labor’s economic record
Given the opportunity to distance himself from the economic mismanagement of the previous Labor Government and prove that Labor under Latham had learned some lessons…
Wayne Swan is a policy free zone!
Other than Mark Latham’s Reading Aloud to children policy, the Labor Party has not released one single policy initiative in Wayne Swan’s Family and Community…