Public HealthChanges To Retirement Age And Access To Superannuation Can Have Adverse Affects For Many Workers Including Nurses
The ANF calls on the Prime Minister to consult with nurses and other occupations that are most affected before implementing changes to the retirement age for pensions or superannuation.
The Federal Government"s federal budget decision to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 years raises significant issues for nurses. Ged Kearney, ANF Federal Secretary says the decision would impose long term hardship on nurses and their families.
Given that the nature of nursing work is heavy, stressful and involves shift work, with long unsociable hours, it is difficult to see how nurses could sustain working the extra years. It is already a struggle for nurses to continue working well into their 60s.
"These additional years could lead to falling morale, and dissuade nurses from staying on in the health system; we already have difficulty retaining nurses. It is possible that it will lead to an increase in workplace injuries as nurses try to cope with the heavy work on ageing bodies.
"We are concerned that raising the retirement age could impose long term financial difficulties on nurses and their families, especially if it is done in conjunction with raising the preservation age for superannuation," Ms Kearney said.
Raising the age at which nurses and other Australians can access their superannuation savings is not the answer to the short term broad financial problems facing our economy, nor is it an acceptable way for the Federal Government to raise tax revenue or orchestrate savings for the federal coffers.
Superannuation savings are meant to complement retirement incomes and should be made accessible in such a way as to provide choice and to allow transition from part to full retirement if required or desired by an individual. Fiddling around the edges with the preservation age will only be counterproductive, it would make much more sense to maximise superannuation savings by reviewing the tax on contributions or removing the $450 per month earning threshold for employer SG payments, or addressing the very important issue of the chronic disparity in superannuation savings for female employees.
"Importantly retirement income is only part of the picture for those moving into the retirement phase, we need to view retirement in an holistic manner - adequacy and sustainability of retirement income is as much about the hard financial issues as it is about having adequate health care, aged care and housing," Ms Kearney.
Australian Nursing federation