4.8 Billion to Australian Pensioners Seniors and Veterans

MORE than six million Australians will collect a pre-Christmas gift of $1000 or more from the Rudd Government as it tries to insulate the nation from the global economic slowdown.

The Government hopes the cash injection will help stave off a recession, but is prepared to spend even more if necessary. The Rudd Government will deliver a $4.8 billion down payment to Australia's four million pensioners, carers, seniors and veterans - providing them with immediate financial help in the lead up to comprehensive reform of the pension system.

This decisive action is part of the Rudd Government’s $10.4 billion Economic Security Strategy to boost the Australian economy and support pensioners and families during the global financial crisis.

All payments will be made automatically through Centrelink and the Department of Veterans Affairs in the fortnight beginning 8 December 2008.

Welfare organisations have welcomed the Federal Government's $10.4 billion economic stimulus package but are calling for more immediate spending on the dole and infrastructure.

Pensioners, low and middle-income families, and Australian first-time home buyers will get the most out of the package, but the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) says there is one glaring omission: people on unemployment benefits.

The $4.8 billion down payment will be made available through a lump sum payment of $1,400 to singles and $2,100 to couples.

Canberra's non-government schools will share in $2 million of one-off ''catch-up'' grants as part of a $13 million package announced by the Liberals yesterday.

Mr Irvine said, ''Student enrolments in our 17 independent schools have risen 11 per cent over the past four years. This policy recognises the need schools have in meeting ever-increasing numbers of students seeking to attend our schools.'' Mr Irvine was also pleased the Liberals had promised $250,000 for students with disabilities at non-government schools and to review their needs and support levels. ''If all students with disability are to achieve their educational goals, government funding and services should be accessible no matter which schools they attend. This review would be an important and positive step forward,'' he said.

ORANGE bowlers have produced the team’s best ever results at the recent NSW Disability Championships.

A team of 12 bowlers contested the state championships in Campbelltown during the October long weekend. They returned with 12 medals across the different events. Orange Tenpin Bowl started the idea of the disability championships in 2003 and will host the state event again in 2009.

Around 2.5 million Australians aged 15 years and over care for someone at home because of a disability or old age, according to a new report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The report, A Profile of Carers in Australia brings together information from a range of surveys conducted between 2003 and 2006 to paint a picture of carers in contemporary Australian society.

The report states that women were more likely than men to be carers (17% of women and 14% of men) and carers tended to be older, with the median age of 48 years while for non-carers it was 40 years.

Primary carers spent more time on housework and less time sleeping than other people did. While one-third of primary carers reported negative effects on their relationship with their spouse or other family members, an equal proportion felt that caring drew them closer to the person they were caring for.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ANZ are gouging low-income earners through unfair penalty fees on their concession accounts, consumer advocates have claimed.

Consumer Action director of policy and campaigns Nicole Rich said the big banks needed to stop punishing people who were already struggling to make ends meet. “People on low and fixed incomes are hit hard by unfair bank penalty fees, which can quickly swallow a large chunk of a limited income,” said Ms Rich said. CBA and ANZ charge penalty fees on concession accounts, also known as basic bank accounts, which offer reduced-fee banking to recipients of government benefits including pensioners and concession card holders.

WELLINGTON - An outbreak of norovirus at an Auckland geriatric home was suspected of killing two people and putting more than 12 in hospital, the New Zealand Herald daily reported on Thursday. Health authorities shut part of St Andrews Village in the east Auckland suburb of Glendowie, home to more than 180 elderly residents. Auckland Regional Public Health Service clinical director Julia Peters said everything was being done to contain the spread of the highly contagious illness.

A growing number of New Zealand women will die of breast cancer unless they make radical lifestyle changes at a young age, a leading Auckland breast surgeon says.

About 2400 New Zealand women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Of these about 600 die a number that has been relatively static since 1995, New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation figures show. Breast Cancer Foundation spokeswoman Suzanne McNicol said enough was being done to educate New Zealanders about breast cancer, including the promotion of healthy lifestyle choices. Free breast screening, introduced by the ministry in 1998, had inflated numbers because more women were being diagnosed and more cancers detected.

FAMILY and friends of a man believed to have been killed by a crocodile will gather for a memorial service south of Brisbane today.

Vietnam veteran Arthur Booker, 62, was last seen checking crab pots on the Endeavour River near Cooktown, in far north Queensland, on September 30. Up to 200 people are expected to attend today's service, including members of the group Sailability, where Mr Booker helped to teach young people with a disability how to sail.

Researchers from Melbourne's Orygen Research Centre, Sydney's Brain & Mind Institute, and Sane Australia, said young Australians suffering psychotic illness were feeling the brunt of more than a decade of neglect. They said $200 million a year could be saved if the state and federal governments invested in 25 new youth-specific mental health centres, such as Melbourne's pioneering HeadSpace, around the country. About three in 100 people experience an episode of psychosis, and symptoms usually begin in late teens and early 20s.

News for Seniors

Disability pensioners and their carers will be eligible for free travel on public transport on Sundays across Victoria from this weekend.

The system will work the same way as the existing free Sunday travel for seniors. The Victorian Government says the move was made to help those without ready access to transport. This initiative will help around 160,000 people to access public transport on a Sunday, usually for recreational purposes to enjoy themselves, see the sights around Melbourne, and also in our regional centres, and use public transport to do so.