The $3 billion money pot a million retirees mistakenly ignore

One in four retirees could be thousands of dollars a year further ahead just by claiming one or more key government entitlements as soon as they’re eligible. Are you missing out?

Australia’s retirees are missing out on about $3 billion a year in money that could be used to pay essential living expenses -- often because they wrongly assume they’re not entitled to it, according to research from Retirement Essentials^. Approximately one quarter of Australia’s 4.1 million retirees apply late or completely miss out on claiming benefits designed to help offset the cost of living.  They could be thousands of dollars a year better off just by asking if they’re eligible for one or more of the following government benefits:  

• Age Pension

• Commonwealth Rent Assistance

• Pensioner Concession Card

• Commonwealth Seniors Health Card

• Government energy bill rebates.

One third of all recipients apply for the Age Pension at least a year later than they could have, the Retirement Essentials research showed – and for 16%, the delay is more than three years. Late applications for the Age Pension, Commonwealth Rent Assistance and the Pension Concession Card together resulted in an average cost of $16,800 in lost entitlements per person over 12 months, totalling about $3 billion, the research found.

In addition, about a million Australians aged over 67 fail to claim the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card – which is worth an average of $3,000 a year in reduced health and medical costs**. The vast majority of them would be entitled to it, Retirement Essentials found.  Government utility bill rebates are also under claimed, according to research from the Melbourne Institute and Roy Morgan. It found two in three concession card holders did not apply for energy bill discounts#, with most of those unaware they might be eligible. 

Why do retirees delay applying for key benefits?

People are often late to apply for key benefits because they wrongly assume they’re not entitled to those benefits.  The average delay in applying for the Age Pension alone is 1.1 years, data from Retirement Essentials shows. Reasons for this include: 

• They don’t provide the necessary paperwork. 

• They mistakenly believe missed payments will be backdated. 

• They wrongly assume they need to spend their savings before applying. 

• They wrongly believe they can’t apply if their partner is still working. 

• They mistakenly assume they can’t apply if their partner is not yet of Age Pension age. 

• They are reluctant to rely on government support. 

• They fall through the net for other reasons.      

Benefits help to offset the cost of living

Retirees could be utilising one or more unclaimed government benefits to ease cost pressures, with the cost of living named the number one concern for Australians, according to the 2025 Colonial First State Rethinking Retirement report.  While retirees have been feeling the pinch from rising inflation in recent years, data from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia released in December* found there was some good news last year, with cost pressures easing slightly in the September quarter. 

Couples aged around 65 who own their own home now need $73,031 annually to achieve a comfortable retirement, while singles need $51,814, according to ASFA’s Retirement Standard. This equates to $595,000 in superannuation savings for a single homeowner retiring at age 67, and $690,000 for a couple.  A modest retirement budget for homeowners would require $47,475 a year for couples and $32,930 for singles annually. This equates to requiring $100,000 in super at age 67 together with Age Pension support.  

Complex range of rebates available for older Australians

There are a range of payments, rebates and concessions available from Commonwealth, state and local governments and private companies designed to offset costs for Age Pension recipients and seniors. 

Government benefits include utility and rate bill rebates, and transport and travel benefits.  Private companies also offer a range of other discounts to holders of state-based Seniors Card holders.

^ Research on the cost of late applications for the Age Pension and related government benefits from Retirement Essentials and Link Advice, 2024. 

** Research on Commonwealth Seniors Health Card uptake from Retirement Essentials, 2025. 

# Research on energy concession awareness among concession card holders from the Melbourne Institute and Roy Morgan commissioned by The Energy Charter, June 2024. 

^^ CFS research, for which 2,250 Australians were surveyed in 2024 on their attitudes towards retirement. 

* Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) Retirement Standard, 12 months to September 30, 2024.

  Source: Colonial First State