Inflation is rapidly driving up the cost of living, interest rate rises are decreasing disposable income, and national housing shortages are creating a pressure cooker for many Australian households. In times like this, it’s never been more important to ensure the most vulnerable are supported.

Your National Seniors team has been busy since the election making sure older Australians stay front of mind for newly elected politicians as they plan the Federal Budget for the coming year.

As the country is simultaneously gripped by cost of living and housing crises, pensioners are facing very difficult everyday choices. While the Age Pension is indexed twice a year, it cannot keep pace with the runaway rate of inflation. One thing that could help ease their burden is to allow pensioners who want to work to do so without penalty through Age Pension reforms, which our Let Pensioners Work campaign has been calling for.

The Let Pensioners Work campaign generated a lot of media and political interest in the lead up to the federal election and continues to gain momentum. The Advocacy team, headed by Ian Henschke, is making sure this issue stays in the public debate in the lead up to October’s Federal Budget. In fact, Independent South Australian MP Rebekha Sharkie recently introduced a motion urging the government to adopt our proposed changes as part of the upcoming Jobs and Skills Summit.

While there are difficult times ahead, I want to take a moment to thank those who have been working tirelessly around the clock to keep the campaign going and also encourage our loyal supporters—who have been signing petitions, sharing our media coverage, writing letters of support to their local members, and donating funds to our campaign—to continue their efforts.

Another big project that has come to fruition recently is our new Downsizing Calculator. The calculator follows in the footsteps of our immensely popular Concessions Calculator, and makes it simple to estimate the costs of downsizing and how much you could contribute to your superannuation from downsizing. Since its launch in June, the Downsizing Calculator has been visited nearly 7,000 times. You can read more about downsizing in this article and access the calculator here.

We had a record number of members respond to this year’s Membership Satisfaction Survey. Thank you to everyone who completed and provided feedback in the survey. Your feedback enables us to set priorities for the year ahead, and invest time and resources into what matters to you.

Our Research team has been busy analysing the results from the tenth National Seniors Social Survey (NSSS-10) earlier this year. From these results, the team has recently developed and released two important research papers representing your views on working after retirement, and volunteering. You can learn more about how the Research team turns your insights into social action in this article.

The Board is working closely with the National Council to prepare National Seniors’ strategic plan for the next three years. The pressures of inflation are also affecting our commercial operations and our number-one priority is to ensure our financial sustainability into the future so we can continue to advocate on behalf of National Seniors members. I have initiated a search for additional directors to ensure the Board has the skills and resources to support the organisation. To ensure the Board Appointments and Remuneration Committee has the support to conduct this task, we have appointed an executive search organisation to assist.

Lastly, if you’d like to learn more about how we are working on your behalf and give us feedback, I encourage you to explore our website. 

Until next time.

Ross Glossop - Chairman