Age pensioners who want to keep working say system punishes them

Key points

• Advocates and industry groups are calling for changes to age pension work rules, arguing they penalise older people who want to keep working. South-east Queensland pensioner Peter Gibney, 71, says the system is stacked against him and his wife, whose pensions fall the more they earn.
• The Department of Social Services says a single pensioner with no other income can earn up to $526 a fortnight before payments reduce.
• The Council on the Ageing says about 15 per cent of Australians over 67 are still working, up from 11 per cent in 2021.