London: A quarter-of-a-million British retirees living in Australia will be denied a record boost in the UK pension next year, due to “grossly unfair” rules that freeze payments for those retiring to Commonwealth countries.
Representatives from the British Pensions in Australia group will arrive in London on Monday to lobby the British government to end an “injustice”, leaving about 225,000 British pensioners with their UK pensions “frozen” at the rate in which they first retired or moved Down Under.
Mel Stride, UK work and pensions secretary (second from right) departs following a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street.Credit:Bloomberg
While the UK pension is payable worldwide, only pensioners living in certain overseas countries, such as the United States and European Union, receive annual uprating in line with inflation. As a result, the state pensions of British pensioners living in Australia fall in real terms year-on-year, with some receiving as little as £22 a week – or $40.
It is estimated that British expats in Australia receive an average £49.18 a month from the state pension and will permanently miss out on a £972 annual increase next April when it increases by inflation, which reached a 40-year high of 10.1 per cent in September. It amounts to a loss of £19,440 over the course of the average retirement.
BPiA president Patrick Edwards, who will meet leading UK parliamentarians and deliver letters to the UK Department for Work and Pensions on behalf of British pensioners in Australia, said British pensioners in Australia continued to be dismayed by the “complete disregard” in which they are treated.
“We left the UK in the knowledge that we paid in the necessary dues and contributions to our pensions – some even topping up their contributions while in Australia,” Edwards said.
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“What reason or rhyme means we should be treated inferiorly to our counterparts at home, or in other countries, simply because we live on Australian land? This is a clear postcode lottery, with the UK government more than willing to forget us pensioners now we are no longer on UK soil. But we will not tolerate this discrimination and will continue to fight for justice until the UK government reverses this cruel pension policy for good.”
The policy affects pensioners such as Patricia Coulthard, 101, who moved to NSW in her retirement to live closer to her children. After nearly 20 years on a “frozen state pension”, she receives just £46 a week – or $82 – less than a third of the full amount.
