Nurses concerned about rise in pension age

The Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) wants the Rudd Government to consult with nurses before it raises the pension age to 67.

The federation’s federal secretary, Ged Kearney said the budget announcement would put nurses and their families under strain.

Ms Kearney said nurses would find it difficult to keep doing heavy, stressful shiftwork until the age of 67.

“These additional years could lead to falling morale, and dissuade nurses from staying on in the health system; we already have difficulty retaining nurses,” she said.

“It is possible that it will lead to an increase in workplace injuries as nurses try to cope with the heavy work on ageing bodies.”

The ANF is also concerned that an increase in the retirement age could impose long-term financial pressure on nurses, particularly if the age when people can access their superannuation is also raised.

Ms Kearney said that instead of raising the preservation age, the government should maximise superannuation savings by reviewing the tax on contributions or addressing the disparity in super savings for female employees.

“Importantly retirement income is only part of the picture for those moving into the retirement phase,” she said.

“We need to view retirement in an holistic manner – adequacy and sustainability of retirement income is as much about the hard financial issues as it is about having adequate health care, aged care and housing,” Ms Kearney.