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2014/07: Should Australia's retirement age be increased to 70?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:In April, 2014, Channel 7 News ran a report on Australians possibly being prevented from accessing their superannuation funds till they are 65. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said...
'The aged pension needs to be a safety net by 2035, not a cargo net'
Joe Hockey, federal treasurer
'People cannot work until they are 70 if the system won't let them'
Susan Ryan, Australia's Age Discrimination Commissioner
The issue at a glance
On May 2, 2014, the federal treasurer, Joe Hockey, announced Australians born after 1965 will have to work until they are 70 before they are eligible for the age pension.
Mr Hockey stated that while nobody currently on the pension would be affected by a rise in the pension age, the Abbott government would raise the retirement age in coming years.
On May 14 the Abbott government's first budget confirmed the previous announcement made regarding an increase in the age at which the age pension would become available.
The projected increase has met with a mixed response. While many have greeted it as an inevitable response to Australia's aging population, others have condemned it as unnecessary and discriminatory. It has been claimed that a retirement age of 70 fails to acknowledge the difficulties many older Australians will have in finding work in later life.