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Submission to the NSW Legislative Council’s Standing Committee on Social Issues’ Inquiry into Homelessness Amongst Older People Aged Over 55 in New South Wales

14 July 2022

The right to appropriate housing is a fundamental human right. The fact that an increasing number of older people NSW wide are finding themselves without access to a secure home is unacceptable and urgently needs to be addressed. Without housing, people are unable to access other vital services such as healthcare or to meaningfully connect with and contribute to communities. Note of clarification: In recommendation 8 'Home at Last' refers to Housing for the Aged Action Group's program in Victoria that offers community education, assessments, tenancy and housing advice using a no-wrong-door approach that refers people to other relevant services rather than turning them away without help. In recommendation 11 'housing first approach' refers to prioritising safe, permanent housing as a first intervention rather than requiring people to engage with support services prior to being provided with housing.

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Submission to the Regional Banking Taskforce Issues Paper

6 December 2021

Banking services are an absolutely essential service, and the closure of bank branches directly impacts people’s ability to access this service. There is a cohort of people who will never be able to use internet banking services for a range of reasons. CPSA is of the opinion that this Issues Paper does not accept that this cohort of people exists and ultimately fails to address the need for a banking services safety net that ensures every Australian, regardless of their age, technological skills, and personal banking choices, has access to banking services.

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Submission Federal Treasury Retirement Income Covenant

6 August 2021

As the position paper on the Retirement Income Covenant notes, the recent Retirement Income Review suggested that the retirement income system providing income in retirement is the fundamental role of compulsory superannuation, but that 30 years since its introduction “the retirement phase of superannuation remains under-developed”. There is, the position paper says, “substantial room for improvement in how the superannuation system delivers adequate incomes in retirement”.

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Submission to the Independent Regulatory and Pricing Tribunal’s Review of Competition, Costs and Pricing in the Funeral Industry – Comments on draft report

6 May 2021

In our initial submission, we argued that (1) the NSW funeral industry should have a primary regulator with jurisdiction over the providers of funerals, interments and cremations, and (2) that Cemeteries and Crematoria NSW (CCNSW) is the agency best placed to be that primary regulator. In practice, this would mean that the oversight function currently performed by the Better Regulation Division of the Department of Customer Service would move to CCNSW, with the former retaining its complaints handling function in relation to funerals, interments and cremations, while public health regulations would remain with NSW Health.

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Submission to Supporting older Australians – exempting granny flat arrangements from Capital Gains Tax (CGT)

6 March 2021

CPSA understands the decision to not require specific terms to be included in granny flat arrangements in the interest of flexibility. However, there should be a requirement that all parties must be referred to materials that outline all possible negative outcomes, a sort of worst-case scenario list, before entering a granny flat arrangement. The negative outcomes list would aim to inform and encourage both parties to include solutions for negative outcomes in their granny flat arrangements. This list would inform people of what can go wrong with granny flat arrangements and serve as a reminder of the purpose of this legislative amendment, which is to prevent elder abuse.

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Comments on the NSW Federal Financial Relations Review

1 September 2020

The NSW Treasurer commissioned a wide-ranging review of NSW and federal financial relations. The review dealth with the issue of stamp duty, recommending it be replaced with a land tax and also suggested a number of ways land tax could be phased in. Included in that discussion was the option of accumulating land tax charges against the value of the owner-occupied home.

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Submission: Retirement Income Review

25 February 2020

The Treasurer announced a review into the retirement income system on 27 September 2019. This review was recommended by the Productivity Commission in its report Superannuation: Assessing Efficiency and Competitiveness and comes 27 years after the establishment of compulsory superannuation. The review is undertaken by a panel chaired by Mr Mike Callaghan AM PSM, with Ms Carolyn Kay and Dr Deborah Ralston as panel members.

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Turning nursing homes into tourist traps – Submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety

17 December 2019

Additional services are top-ups of the standard services provided in residential aged care services. User-pays applies, with fees and compound interest very commonly accrued against residents’ nursing home bonds. At 30 June 2018, the overall pool of money comprising refundable accommodation deposits stood at $27.5 billion. In light of the size of this money pool and, consequently, the trend for providers to market additional services aggressively, regulation is inadequate for the protection of care recipients’ consumer rights. Nursing homes are being turned into the aged care equivalent of tourist traps

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Submission on public consultation draft for the Financial Services (Improved Consumer Protection) (No. 1) Regulations 2019: funeral expenses facilities

11 October 2019

CPSA supports of the Financial Services (Improved Consumer Protection) (No. 1) Regulations 2019: funeral expenses facilities, which removes the exemption for funeral insurance products from the definition of a financial product and ensures the consumer protection provisions of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 apply to these products.

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Submission to the Inquiry into the adequacy of Newstart and related payments and alternative mechanisms to determine the level of income support payments in Australia

12 September 2019

The Newstart Allowance can no longer deliver the best means of support to Australians who need assistance the most. Newstart has not been increased in real terms for a quarter of a century and it shows. Newstart is no longer a safety net, but rather a thin cushion to soften the crash into poverty Australians on Newstart experience. Within this submission CPSA expresses concerns about the current payment rates for Allowance Payments and the mechanisms that determine these rates of payment.

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