Submission to NSW Legislative Council: Inquiry into the Property Tax (First home Buyers Choice) Bill 2022
Published 30 October 2022
Submission to the NSW Legislative Council's Portfolio Committee No. 1 – Premier and FinanceInquiry into the Property Tax (First home Buyers Choice) Bill 2022
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
Published 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.
Submission to the Regional Banking Taskforce Issues Paper
Published 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.
Submission to the Australian Energy Regulator Developing the Better Bills Guideline
Published 6 September 2021
Submission to the Australian Energy Regulator Developing the Better Bills Guideline
Submission Federal Treasury Retirement Income Covenant
Published 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”.
Submission to the Independent Regulatory and Pricing Tribunal’s Review of Competition, Costs and Pricing in the Funeral Industry – Comments on draft report
Published 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.
Submission to Supporting older Australians – exempting granny flat arrangements from Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
Published 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.
Response to the Discussion Paper Statutory Review of the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013
Published 6 March 2021
CPSA’s members and constituency are for the most part older low-income retirees. As land lease communities are, under this Act, portrayed as affordable living arrangements, CPSA has a strong interest in ensuring legislation protects the interests of land lease residents many of whom live on low, fixed incomes such as the Age Pension.
Submission to NSW Treasury concerning the NSW Government’s Property Tax proposal
Published 6 March 2021
Regardless of the larger economic benefits of the property tax proposed by the NSW Government, as more and more properties are opted into the property tax, eventually hundreds of thousands of low-income households will not be able to pay it.
Submission to the Independent Regulatory and Pricing Tribunal’s Review of Competition, Costs and Pricing in the Funeral Industry
Published 16 December 2020
CPSA's response to the Independent Regulatory and Pricing Tribunal’s Review of Competition, Costs and Pricing in the Funeral Industry.
Submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety – System Governance
Published 1 September 2020
This submission discusses the current system of governance in aged care in Australia and proposes a different model, aligning key interests with the agencies and groups best able to pursue them without being conflicted and with the welfare of aged people always at the centre.
Comments on the NSW Federal Financial Relations Review
Published 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.
A Housing Strategy for NSW – submission to NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
Published 1 September 2020
This is CPSA's response to the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment’s Discussion Paper on a housing strategy for NSW, with a focus on housing issues and solutions for older people in NSW.
Review of Rural and Regional Bus Fares 2021 – 2025 Submission to NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal
Published 1 September 2020
This submission responds to the affordability and equity of fares in rural and regional NSW, on-demand bus services and the potential broadening of concession eligibility.
Submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety: How the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission was won
Published 14 May 2020
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission was touted as the new broom that would sweep away the detritus littering aged care in Australia, but it has two CEOs of major aged care providers on its Board, plus a bevy of CEOs of organisations which have their own corporate barrow to push.
Submission: Retirement Income Review
Published 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.
Submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety: Aged care program redesign
Published 25 February 2020
In this submission, CPSA responds to some of the questions posed in the Royal Commission’s Consultation Paper 1.
Submission to IPART Max Opal Fares 2020 Draft Report
Published 31 January 2020
This submission provides recommendations that address the maximisation of community benefits and the affordability of fares, both of which have been identified as objectives of IPART’s draft recommendations.
Turning nursing homes into tourist traps – Submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety
Published 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
Submission on public consultation draft for the Financial Services (Improved Consumer Protection) (No. 1) Regulations 2019: funeral expenses facilities
Published 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.