Black Day for carers as Rudd razor gang prepares to cut Carer Bonus
Reports out of Canberra today announce that the Rudd Government will axe the Carer bonus in the razor gang list of cuts to curb government spending. The Carer bonus was paid ex gratia by the previous government over the past 4 years, to families caring for people with disabilities and frailty, in recognition of the unpaid care provided by those families eligible for the carer payment and/or carer allowance.
The bonus payment of $1000 was given to carers in receipt of the Carer Payment (income support) and a bonus of $600 to family members in receipt of the carer allowance. Over 2.6 million families provide accommodation and care to family members with a disability, handicap or frailty but only some 96,500 receive a Carer Payment. Some 340,000 family members receive the carer allowance of a mere $50 per week, both these payments are subject to rigorous qualification criteria by Centrelink.
Over 100,000 carer allowance recipients are over 65 years old. These pensioners are struggling under the weight of the increased food, medical and other daily costs associated with living on subsistent pension payments, let along the extra cost burden faced for accommodation and care to loved ones with dependent disabilities, many of whom are adult children.
Spokesperson for Gippsland Carers Association, Ms Jean Tops said; ‘Collectively caring families contribute over $ 36 Billion to the national economy every year on saved out-of-home care costs. It is an outrage that the Rudd razor gang would even consider such a budget cut for family caregivers, under these inflationary or any other circumstances’.
‘It is outrageous that government will still make $31 billion of promised tax cuts in the light of the inflationary pressures causing the government to razor gang spending; and to suggest they say will cut the most worthy citizens in our land because they work day in and day out for nothing, or nothing much, is nothing short of outrageous’.
‘Mr Rudd prides himself on caring for the most vulnerable in our land, but his rhetoric will be badly tarnished if he allows carers to be penalised in such a manner. The utilities allowance increase being promised by the government to all pension recipients will be welcomed by caring families, but the $390 gain will be a net loss of $110 for carer allowance recipients and $1,110 for carer payment recipients, if the bonus payments are scrapped.’
Ms Tops said; ‘Some 2.6 million families are currently providing unpaid care to relatives with dependent disabilities. If carers are forced to relinquish care to enter the paid work force or to make ends meet, there will be a $36 Billion black hole in the economy. None of this makes any sense.’
‘We fervently hope that the community will be as outraged as we are and raise their voices in protest over such an unfair, uneconomic and callous suggestion to penalise family carers’. There is no ‘social vision’ in such a callous proposal she said.
Contact for Further Details: Jean Tops – President PO Box 937 , Moe 3825
Phone: 5127 1904 - Mobile: 0402 650 375
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