Yahoo Finance Centrelink increase an ‘insult’ to carers like George struggling with cost-of-living pressures
George Helon is among the 600,000 carers who will see their Centrelink payments increase by just $8.70 a fortnight.
Aussies choosing to care for their loved ones are being “driven into poverty”, with one man saying inadequate Centrelink payments mean he and his mother cannot afford nutritious food.
Toowoomba resident George Helon is the primary carer for his mother Elizabeth, 80, who has Lewy body dementia - a disease that affects thinking, memory and movement - along with osteoporosis and arthritis, and uses a wheelchair. Her medical conditions mean George needs to provide her with 24/7 care.
The 59-year-old also has his own medical conditions and receives a disability support pension, along with a carer allowance of $144.80 per fortnight.
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The carer allowance will increase by $8.70 to $153.50 per fortnight on January 1 as part of the government’s regular indexation. But George said the payment didn’t even cover the cost of putting petrol in his car, forcing him to dip into his pension and savings.
“Carers like myself are being absolutely driven into poverty … There is no respecting what we do and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a bloody insult. It’s just an injustice,” George told Yahoo Finance.
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George, who has been caring for his mother for 13 years, said rising costs meant he could no longer afford to buy them nutritious food.
“We’re not eating the way we should be eating. We’re skimping and scraping but we’re not living life. We’re existing,” George said.
“We’re eating rubbish. We’re eating frozen foods, more processed food. We can’t afford natural, fresh ingredients.”
What Centrelink payments are available for carers?
The Carer Payment is aimed at people who give up their job to care for someone full time with a disability, medical condition or who is frail-aged.
It's currently $1,096.70 per fortnight for singles, including a pension supplement and energy supplement, and is income- and asset-tested. That means some carers, including George, are not eligible to receive it.
The Carer Allowance of $144.80 is a separate payment and is designed to help carers with the additional costs of caring, on top of their usual daily living costs. More than twice as many carers - 600,000 people - receive the allowance compared to the payment.
Those who receive the Carer Payment or Carer Allowance, can also get a Carer Supplement of up to $600 per year.
Calls for increase
When the Carer Allowance was first introduced, the rate was 25 per cent of what a couple on the Age Pension received. It has now dropped to about 10 per cent.
Carers Australia found that the allowance would need to increase by 150 per cent to match that previous rate, which would cost the budget $1.9 billion a year.
It also calculated that the average carer would lose about $392,500 in lifetime earnings and about $175,000 in superannuation by the time they turn 67.
Carers Queensland chairman Jim Toohey said unpaid carers provided more than $40 billion of unpaid care per year to some of Australia’s most vulnerable citizens.
“Typically, unpaid carers will make continual sacrifices, which can significantly impact on their physical and mental health to meet their caring duties. It's in their DNA,” Toohey told Yahoo Finance.
“The rate is modest and considering how much unpaid carers save the taxpayer, an increase would be welcome.”
George is urging the government to recognise the work of unpaid carers and has a petition calling for the allowance to be increased to 50 per cent of the carer payment amount.
“Recognise the work of carers and what they are saving the community. That means recognising that we are fulfilling a major duty, community service and financial service. If we were to put our loved ones in aged care overnight, the system would collapse,” George said.
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