Would you Like Some Cherries on Top of that Government Payment?
Australia has a generous benefit system, ranging from unemployment benefits to aged and disability pensions. But the cash that the Government provides is not the only way they help. Payment recipients can also claim some additional extras which can also make life a lot easier. And the best news is that sometimes you only need to qualify for a small Government payment in order to access these added extras.
The simplest of these extra benefits is the Pensioner Concession Card. Despite the name, this card is actually available for any person receiving any of the following types of benefit:
- Age Pension
- Carer Payment
- Disability Support Pension
- JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance and are single, caring for a dependent child and looking for work
- Parenting Payment single.
That is, aged and disability pension recipients, their carers and single parents on benefits of any kind are all eligible for a PCC. The card gives holders access to a number of Commonwealth Government benefits, such as cheaper medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Once the Medicare safety net has been reached, the card also gives holders access to larger Medicare rebates.
The concession card also qualifies you for lower prices at most of the places where a concession price is available. These lowered prices differ from place to place, but they usually include entry tickets to things like sporting events, movies and other public events, public transport, utility bills, car registration, etc.
As we have written before, many Government payments are means tested. An assets and/or an income test is applied before a person is entitled to receive a payment. These tests apply two ‘thresholds’ to each of a person’s income and assets. If your income and assets are below each of the lower thresholds, you receive the full Government payment. However, if your income or assets are above these lower thresholds but lower than two other ‘higher thresholds,’ you still get a part payment.
The beauty of the PCC is that it is available to anyone who gets even a part payment. More on this later.
For people who cannot qualify for any Centrelink benefit, there are still some programs worth thinking about. The Commonwealth Government issues the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card. This is for people of aged pension age (67 or older) and, while it is subject to an income test, there is no assets test. The income test is quite generous: currently $95,400 for single people and $152,640 a year (between them) for couples living together. Couple who are separated by illness, residential care or even being in prison can each claim the single benefit.
This card will get you some of the Medicare benefits and will generally also qualify you for the non-Commonwealth benefits listed above for the PCC (such as cheaper tickets to the movies).
If you do not qualify for either of these cards, then you may still qualify for a state-based Seniors Card. These are generally available to people over the age of 60, and in some states there is also a work test (which is to say, there is an upper limit on how much paid work you can be doing). These cards will not get you the Government concessions, but they often still qualify you for things like cheaper tickets for public transport, events and sometimes even utility bills.
A dollar saved is at least the equivalent of a dollar earned. In fact, a dollar saved is worth more than a dollar earned if you have to pay tax on your earnings. So, accessing savings via any of these cards will leave you wealthier in the same way that increasing your income make your better off.
The most generous ‘cherries on top’ are those flowing from a Pensioner Concession Card. As we say above, the PCC’s ‘cherries’ are available to anyone who receives even a part payment from the Commonwealth Government. Often, qualifying for something like a part aged pension can be achieved through astute financial planning, both prior to and after you reach retirement age. So, even if you think your income or assets are too high to qualify for a Government payment, it still makes great sense to talk to us. Good planning may just help you access some of these non-cash benefits that the Government makes available.
