GOVERNMENT FACES COURT CASE OVER FAIRNESS TO AGE PENSION FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS

The High Court of Australia. Credit: Thennicke

The Australian Government is being taken to court by an Indigenous man seeking fair and equal access to the age pension for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

The court trials which begin today will be the first time that the government faces court in connection with it’s failure to close the gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous peoples. 

Wakka Wakka man Uncle Denis who brings the legal challenge to court, argues the gap in life expectancy means Indigenous people do not have the same opportunity to retire and receive support through the age pension as other Australians.

“As an Aboriginal man, I’ve seen too many of my people dying at a very early age. We are lucky to get to 50 years old,” Uncle Denis told the Human Rights Law Centre.

“White people are living longer because they haven’t lost what we have lost. This is about acknowledging what happened here. So many things that Aboriginal people are suffering from today, are because of how we have been treated since colonisation. Our language, our culture, our identity comes from this land. We didn’t have a problem, a problem came here.

“It’s only fair for the pension age to be lowered. The pension is an important part of caring for and looking after our people when they can’t work anymore.”

The Full Court will consider whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are denied equal access to the age pension due to lower average life expectancy and whether the pension age for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be lowered, according to the Human Rights Law Centre.