Back at the Crossroads: The Slippery Fish of Australian Retirement Income Policy

Australia's retirement income arrangements had reached a policy crossroad by the early 1980s. Not unlike the proverbial slippery fish, the goals and roles of its constituent elements were very difficult to grasp. The ensuing reforms of the 1980s and 1990s brought increasing coherence to these a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Australian journal of social issues 2008-12, Vol.43 (2), p.311-334
Main Author: Borowski, Allan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Analysis
Australia
Cost control
Decades
Earned income
Government policy
High income
Income
Low income groups
Old age pensions
Older people
Pensions
Policy
Reform
Reforms
Retirement
Retirement income
Retirement planning
Social aspects
Social reform
Superannuation
Tax reform
Workers
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Summary:Australia's retirement income arrangements had reached a policy crossroad by the early 1980s. Not unlike the proverbial slippery fish, the goals and roles of its constituent elements were very difficult to grasp. The ensuing reforms of the 1980s and 1990s brought increasing coherence to these arrangements. Some of the more recent changes, however, have once again introduced policy slipperiness through creating a system that is at odds with the intent of the earlier reform efforts. Indeed, Australia's retirement income arrangements have morphed into a system whose function is no longer simply to protect workers from the loss of earned income arising from retirement. The 'zenith' of this situation was reached in July 2007 when the major changes in superannuation announced in the 2006 federal budget took effect. Thus, Australia is once again back at a policy crossroad as far as her retirement income arrangements are concerned.
ISSN:0157-6321
1839-4655
DOI:10.1002/j.1839-4655.2008.tb00104.x