Sole parents' pension threatened
By Maureen Germein
The federal budget announced that from next March the sole parent pension will be merged with the parenting allowance in a new payment called "parenting payment".
While the government says that the "core conditions" of the pension will be maintained — rates, income testing and concession cards — several changes which may affect sole parents were announced. These include the application of a non-tapered assets test, the application of an income maintenance period and a reduction from 52 weeks to 26 in the length of time the payment can be made while the recipient is overseas.
The non-tapered assets test is a "sudden death" ineligibility for people who have assets above the cut-off, currently $212,500 for a single non-home owner. Previously, pensioners lost $3 a fortnight for every $1000 they were over this amount.
The application of the income maintenance period treats lump-sum payments, such as annual leave and long service leave, as income for a period equal to the number of weeks of unused leave paid by the employer.
Sole parents may also face more losses. For example, currently they can obtain a pensioner education supplement from the Department of Employment Education Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA), which is an Austudy payment of $60 a fortnight.
DEETYA is presently considering the impact the change to the parenting payment will have on the pensioner education supplement, and has not confirmed that sole parents will not be adversely affected.
The change from a pension to a "payment" for sole parents may also affect payment rates in the future. At the moment, by law, pensions must be kept to 25% of average weekly earnings. There is no such legislation for benefits or allowances.
[Maureen Germein is the Flinders University Union welfare officer.]