Liars, Cheats & Thieves And A Little Good News

The salty senior's topic about government funding of aged care

Pork Pies For Pensioners

Every year, governments decide how much money they’ll give residential aged care providers to look after the elderly and infirm. This year, Canberra covered itself in glory increasing the daily rate for each resident from $295.64 to $303.19, an “increase” of 2.55 per cent. Not great, but any increase is better than none. Right?

Wrong. It turns out that what the government calls an increase we, more sensible folk, call highly imaginative! With inflation running at around 3.5 per cent, wages mandated to rise 4.75 per cent, and no increase in payments for meals, cleaning, laundry and energy this is no increase.

Superior Care Group CEO, Russell Egan, calls it obscene: “With CPI and wages running at 3.5% how are providers supposed to pay the bills? We are delivering services on behalf of the Australian Government!”

Anglicare Sydney’s CEO, Simon Miller, says the Government shouldn’t be allowed to get away with calling it an increase. It’s not. Unfortunately, he ignores the first rule of government: never let the facts get in the way of a good-news press release.

The $249 Million Record

The champagne bottles must have popped when law firm Slater and Gordon learned that the Commonwealth Bank and entities associated with Colonial First State had agreed, in principle, to settle a long-running class action for a whopping $249 million.

It is the largest class action settlement ever achieved by the firm. The agreement, which is yet to be approved by the Federal Court, was reached without the respondents admitting liability.

The lawyers alleged that Colonial First State entities placed members’ money with their parent company, CBA, without trying to obtain better interest rates available elsewhere. The class action sought to recover the interest members allegedly missed out on.

The settlement is a good outcome for eligible members. It’s not so comforting that it took a class action to get it.

Pass The Salt

The public shaming of online comparison site Choosi reminds us that our best weapon against misleading information is a strong sense of scepticism. Or, to put it more succinctly, take everything the marketing department tells you with a grain of salt.

Choosi’s shame was inflicted this week by the Federal Court which found it had misled consumers in relation to its funeral and life insurance comparison services.

The court found that Choosi’s advertising, website and marketing materials gave consumers the impression that it compared insurance policies from a range of insurers when, in reality, the products were overwhelmingly sourced from a single insurer and distributed by a related entity.

Almost 14,000 funeral and life insurance policies were sold through the service between 2019 and 2024. That’s a lot of consumers relying on the promise of comparison.

There is a lesson here for any company or any individuals who claim to help consumers by comparing products from a range of suppliers. How many is a range? Two? Three? Ten? Considering this decision, that range will need to be more than just a couple.

Crime Down? Fun Fact…..

According to the Bureau of Statistics, we are stealing less from each other than we have for some years – with one exception.

Here are the facts: Australia has enjoyed the first fall in reported thefts and robberies since Covid 19. Across the nation, the number of robbery victims fell 8 per cent. The number of theft victims was down 2 per cent. Falls occurred in most states and territories.

So, do we have the criminals on the ropes? Sadly, no. They’ve just become more selective.

While robberies and thefts are down, motor vehicle theft is at its highest level in 17 years: The national increase was driven by an 11 per cent rise in Victoria and a 3 per cent increase in New South Wales.

If the stats are anything to judge by, we are getting slightly better at leaving other people’s possessions alone except when the possession has an engine and four wheels.

Not So Sweet Anymore

Sweeteners have always been used by banks to sell credit cards – frequent flyer points, insurance, cashback, discounts and, in the old days, apparently even a toaster. Well, as the saying goes: the banks giveth and the banks taketh away.

From October, the sugar hits are being scaled back. New rules will ban excessive card surcharges, while changes to interchange fees will reduce the money available to fund all those lovely little rewards. So, the banks are taking back some of the perks, reducing the value of others and, in some cases, hiking the annual fee.

Which raises an obvious question: if the rewards aren’t rewarding anymore, do you really need the card?

Certainly, it’s time to start asking questions and shopping around. There is little point paying a hefty annual fee and putting all your expenses on a rewards card if the great prize at the end is a flight to Cunnamulla at 5 a.m. on a Tuesday.

No disrespect meant to Cunnamulla.

Get more detail at Money Magazine

Some Good News For A Change

After all that, here are two reasons not to throw a brick through the tele.

Twenty years after Australia launched Gardasil, the world’s first vaccine against cervical cancer, more than 800 million doses have been administered worldwide. Australian researchers say Australia is on track to eliminate cervical cancer within the next decade.

And there is encouraging news for older Australians from a world-first Australian-led trial of statins. Researchers studying almost 10,000 people aged over 70 found daily statin treatment reduced the risk of a first major cardiovascular event by 30 per cent, with no statistically significant difference in dementia rates between those taking statins and those taking a placebo. The researchers say older patients should discuss whether statins are appropriate with their GP. Good science, useful evidence and no cryptocurrency involved. We may still have hope.

The Final Word

This week, we of the sceptical bent were reminded that even through the darkest clouds, there can occasionally be a silver lining. It can just take a while to find it.

Stay Salty.