UK State Pensioners In Oz Seek PM Help To Reverse Frozen Pension Law

Long-suffering British retirees who emigrated to Australia many years ago are urging PM Malcolm Turnbull to confront the UK government over the issue of the frozen UK state pension.

Vice-chairman of the British Pensions in Australia group Jim Tilley has requested Mr Turnbull raises the issue of the ‘grossly unfair’ law with the British PM during the Commonwealth Heads of Government conference this April. In spite of the many other expat destinations where frozen UK pensions are the law, Tilley sees the fight as a Commonwealth issue, quoting the case of a 98-year old retired British woman who came to Australia 40 years ago following the death of her husband. Her pension was then, and still is, £17 a week, and she’s being supported by her adopted country’s social services via an add-on pension.

According to Tilley, out of 53 Commonwealth countries, some 48 are subject to the frozen pensions rule, a division which makes no sense and is, he argues, frankly discriminatory. Should the freeze be lifted in Australia, the country’s economy would save around $90 million every year as the UK would be forced to foot a proportion of the bill.

Figures from Australia’s Department of Social Services indicate some 194,000 Brit pensioners live in Oz, with 113,725 drawing a part-British, part-Australian old age pension. Brits who choose the Philippines or the USA have their pensions upgraded annually, as do those in Europe, although it’s still not certain whether UK expat pensioners in EU member states will receive the upgrades post-Brexit.