"We welcome the Coalition’s recognition that raising the Age Pension access age to 70 is flawed policy that is out of step with the reality for many older and potentially vulnerable Australians," Ms Scheerlinck said.
Research conducted by the Australian Centre for Financial Studies and AIST in 2014 found that up to 40 per cent of older Australians do not get to choose when they retire.
Ms Scheerlinck said a range of unavoidable factors, including ill health, saw many older workers retire much earlier than anticipated.
"Ill-health, age discrimination, job type and caring demands all have a significant impact on when a person retires from paid work," she said. "Raising the access age for the Age Pension to 70 would have been unfair and discriminatory to many older Australians who simply do not have the opportunity to continue in paid work."
Ms Scheerlinck noted that those working in community and personal services, notably in clerical and administrative roles, as well as sales workers and labourers were between 35 and 50 per cent more likely to retire before the age of 60 years than other workers. ---
