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Designingold-agepensions
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ments,isreducedby50centsforeachdollarovertheaforementionedlimit.The
pensionamountforincomeXmaybeexpressedwiththefollowingformula:
827.10–(X–156)*0.5
Anothertypicalconstructionofmeans-testedpensionsistheprovisionofarela-
tivelylowerpensiontoacouple,whichtakesintoaccountlowermodelcostsof
housingortheeconomiesofscale,asappropriate.Moreover,theamountofAus-
tralianmeans-testedpensioninrelationtoaveragenationwideincomeisalsore-
markable.Since2009,whenthemeans-testedpensionreformtookplaceinAus-
tralia,thebenchmarkforpensionspaidouttosinglepensionersis27.7%ofaver-
agenationwideearningsformen[Secure2009].Thisisarelativelyhighamount,
consideringitisexpressedinrelationtogrossearningsofmen;moreover,Rent
AssistanceisalsoavailableinAustralia,currentlyamountingupto$124perfort-
night.Basedonanearlierofficialpensionreview[Harmer2009]andanincreasein
pensionsduringthesubsequentofthemeans-testedpensionreform,itissafetosay
thatthecurrentamountoftheAustralianAgePensionslightlyexceeds50%ofthe
medianpovertyline,asusedinAustraliaandintheOECD,whereasthetotallevel
ofthispension–includingsupplementsandRentAssistance–clearlyexceeds60%
ofthemedianpovertyline,asusedintheEU.Therefore,AgePension,together
withvarioussupplements,playstheroleofpovertyreliefforelders,whodonot
haveanyspecialproblemsorneeds,asappropriate.Inadditiontothis,Income
Supportandother,specialsocialassistancebenefitsexistinAustralia.TheAge
PensionsystemalsocomprisesaWorkBonus,whichservesasmotivationforpart-
timeemployment.
TheAustralianmeans-testedold-agepensionisnotasimplebenefitevenafter
the2009reform;however,itprovidesbasicold-agesecuritybasedonEuropean
povertyreliefstandards.Ifwemightdescribethispension,includingsupplements
andRentAssistance,asanexpressionofmodernliberalpensionpolicy,suchpoli-
cywouldprovidegoodold-agesecurityforpoorersocialgroups.Nevertheless,the
currentAustralianpensionsystemasawholedoesnothaveamodernliberalde-
sign–asof1992,theLabourgovernmentintroducedmandatoryoccupationalold-
agesavings(SuperannuationGuarantee,orSuperinshort)amountingto3%of
wages;contributionsarepaidbyemployers.Itwassupposedtobeanexpressionof
preferenceofpensionsavingstowageincreasesinthattime.Today,themandatory
employers’contributionsalreadyamountto9.25%;asof2019/2020,therateshall
amounttothe“final”12%ofwages.TheSuperalreadyexistedpriorto1992,on
thebasisofcollectiveagreements.Inadditiontomandatorycontributions,employ-
ers’voluntarycontributionsalsoexist.Today’stotalaveragerateofsuchcontribu-
tionsamountsto12to12.5%.Asof2005,mostemployeesmaychoosefrom
a“Super”fundandapension“savingsaccount”(RSA),i.e.productsofbanks,life
insurancecompanies,andotherfinancialinstitutions.Thishasresultedinanin-
creaseinthenumberof“Super”providerstotoday’sabout500,000;itmainlycon-
cernssmallfunds[O'MearaandBruhn2013].Consequently,mostoccupational
