Everything is costly retirees offer to get back to flexible work or raise their pension in line with inflation

It's been one of the biggest talking points among voters and politicians in the lead-up to Saturday's state election and on a local level it's caused two of Dubbo's many retirees to get fidgety.

"You only have to talk to my wife about how much we've spent on basics in the last six months, it's 10 per cent more than normal," retired forestry officer Don Nicholson said.

"We do live reasonably well, but indexing the pension more frequently instead of every six months to meet the rising cost of living would get many low-income seniors out of the bind."

Retired nurse Barbara O'Brien OAM said "it's upsetting" that even simple things seniors like her regularly enjoy, such as coffee treats and and a trip to the hairdresser, are costly.

"It costs them a lot too obviously for every transaction so everyone is finding it quite difficult, we've never had these problems before, its upsetting but just saying we have to budget our money to afford basic things we need," Mrs O' Brien said.

Aspects of life like running a car, which can be up to $1000 for a green slip and insurance, also make an impact, Mrs O'Brien said.

A fellow retiree has recently calculated she needed an extra $160 a month for medications within the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) threshold.

"I would not want to find that sort of extra money every month, insuring the house is very expensive, as well as groceries and meat, it's impacting many areas of our lives," Mrs O'Brien said.

Mrs O'Brien said she was aware that last year's budget cut down the PBS scheme from $42.50 for every script to $30 while the safety net threshold was reduced from $326.40 to $244.80 to benefit more concession holders on a low income.

Mr Nicholson and Mrs O'Brien have joined the National Seniors Australia (NSA) call for next May's federal government budget to address the rising cost of living severely impacting those relying solely on aged pensions.

"Age pensioners shouldn't be waiting for the government to make the decision [on indexing], they should be adjusting it with high inflation ... After the bushfires, floods, and drought insurances are way too high and I am one of those impacted by that," Mr Nicholson said.

NSA advocate Ian Henschke said their key proposals include indexing pensions in line with inflation and removing the penalties on pensioners who want to work to make ends meet.

"The budget is an opportunity to index the age pension more frequently during times of high inflation," Mr Henschke said.

"With over 400,000 job vacancies, they should let pensioners and other government payment recipients work without penalties.

"Older Australians are an integral part of the economy, but with high inflation, uncertain markets, and cost of living pressures, the government would do well to boost seniors' confidence."

Age pensioners receive increases twice yearly, but the NSA proposed increases in June and December if inflation is too high.

"We agree pensions should be adjusted frequently to meet inflation and increasing cost of living especially for those who don't own a home," Mrs O'Brien, a volunteer at Dubbo's St Vincent de Paul said.

IN OTHER NEWS:

She said that flexible working arrangements for retirees willing to work and those on pensions should also be part of policy changes.

"Retirees in good health should be given the flexibility with working hours so they keep going and using their skills wherever there is workers' shortage they are prepared to fill in," Mrs O'Brien said.

"I've done a fair bit of voluntary work helping repair broken fences after bushfires and floods," Mr Nicholson said.

The NSA submission to the Albanese government also includes increasing the rent assistance for seniors, a mature age traineeship scheme to bolster the caring workforce, more funding for aged care, removing the assets test on those downsizing, issuing clean energy bonds and increasing gifting limits to support younger family members with housing and education costs.

"Some of these policies won't cost the government money, and in some cases will make money while improving seniors' lives," Mrs Henschke said.

"We can fight rising living costs and improve seniors' lives without hurting the budget bottom line."