Pension Increase! – It’s about time...

13 Oct 2009: It has been announced that from the 20th September 2009, there will be an increase to pensioner payments. This is urgently needed and should've happened a while ago, everything goes up but the poor pensioners still receive their pitiful amount of money each fortnight.

I have called Centrelink to confirm that the increase will apply to those on the Disability Support Pension, the Age Pension and the Carers Pension.

I have been told that the maximum increase will be about $96 a fortnight for single pensioners who aren't working, this will bring the pension up to $691.90 per Fortnight. For those of us on the pension who are lucky enough to be working, the increase will still be received and the minimum amount will be $20.20 per fortnight. For couples receiving the pension, you will receive around an extra $30 per fortnight.

The amounts are being conflicted everywhere as on the Centrelink website, it's saying the maximum increase is $65.00 per fortnight for singles and $20.30 for couples, on the news article in the Sydney Morning Herald, it's saying that the increases are $70.83 for singles and $29.93 for couples.

The first amount that I've quoted should be correct though as I did speak with a representative from Centrelink. These increased prices also come with a boost to the Pharmaceutical Benefits, the Utility Supplement, Phone Allowance and the GST Supplement which may be included and could explain why there are so many price conflicts.

If you are on the pension, you should receive a letter from Centrelink in the mail explaining the increase and what it will mean for you.

Hopefully this boost will help some pensioners out there live a little bit more comfortably.

To view the entire SMH article, click here http