On 23 July 1931, the Age Pension was reduced) from $104 to $91 a year as Australia tried to cope with what would go down in history as the Great Depression. On 13 October of that year, the annual pension amount was again reduced, this time to $78. Things are not going to be as savage for pensioners this time round, but no pension rise is going to disappoint many.
COVID-19 has seen many families re-evaluate if a nursing home is really the best place for their loved one. Some are considering taking their loved one out and accommodating them with family, but apart from the difficulties that is always likely to present, there are a few unnecessary hurdles as well.
There's a new tax break for housing specifically built to be rented out by a single landlord, but low-income households, including older renters, will be shut out of this market.
10 QUESTIONS is a series of leaflets about aged care written by nurses, doctors and experts with experience in aged care. Each leaflet focuses on an individual aspect of care to increase consumer knowledge and make the journey into residential aged care easier.
The NSW Federal Financial Relations Review recommends replacing stamp duty with a land tax. It will make downsizing easier, it spruiks, but for most it will make it impossible.
Low-income households living in poorly insulated housing is a recipe for hypothermia and death.
Languages spoken north of the Arctic circle have many words for snow, because there is so much snow and so many different types of snow north of the Arctic circle. The Australian aged care industry is all for a similar semantic deployment.
Not only does the new nursing home rating system fail to tell people looking for a nursing home how good or adequate homes are (only how bad), it also fails to mention things that would be useful to know.
The federal Department of Health has a habit of making simple things complicated in aged care funding and it's costing the taxpayer while home care providers laugh all the way to the bank. Financing of the Commonwealth Home Support Program and the Home Care Packages program explained.
A new CPSA publication explains why it is necessary for most retirees to use their capital to fund their retirement and suggests a few ways in which it can be done without running out of money before you die.
Malnourishment is not exactly what you would associate with the Michelin restaurant guide, but the Department of Health has gone ahead and done a Michelin (with dots rather than stars) for Australian nursing homes - available from July 2020. How helpful is it?
Everybody is concerned about serious incidents in nursing homes in which one resident attacks another. Often dementia is in play. But being concerned is not going to fix the problem.
Dying with Dignity NSW's Board Member Dr Liz Jacka did not agree with an article published last month on this website about Advance Care Directives. Here is her reply.
Australia's disregard for oral health continues with public dental schemes coming very close to being de-funded.
Halved overnight! Many retirees received a letter from their superannuation fund saying their pension would be halved from 1 July 2020. It's not as bad as it seems, though.
Media reports suggest that cash has all but vanished as a method of payment but the Reserve Bank of Australia begs to differ.
Powers of attorney are a great tool for people's affairs to be managed, but they can and are abused as well. What to do about this?
The Government's housing stimulus package ignores the need for social and affordable housing in favour of helping home buyers and renovators, who will appreciate the extra cash, but what about the massive waiting list for social housing?