LABOR’S INFLATION CRISIS FORCING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF OLDER AUSTRALIANS BACK TO WORK
SENATOR DEAN SMITH SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION LIBERAL SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA 6 February 2025 LABOR’S INFLATION CRISIS FORCING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF OLDER AUSTRALIANS BACK TO WORK The consequences of the Albanese Government’s rampant spending were laid bare in this week’s interest rate rise to 3.85 percent, the 13th cash rate hike under Labor. But new data highlights another very human cost of Labor’s economic mismanagement, revealing that a record number of older Australians are continuing – or returning – to work to cope with financial pressures. There were 760,100* Australians aged 65 and over in the workforce in October 2025. This is the highest number since the relevant data set began in 1995 and confirms that the number of older working Australians has spiked by nearly 100,000 in two years, up from 682,300*. Since Labor came to power in May 2022, the number has jumped by 124,200* workers – or just under 20 percent. The data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and collated by the Parliamentary Library for Senator Dean Smith, also details the number of working Australians aged 65 and over in the most populous states. There were 243,200* in New South Wales in October 2025, another record high, representing a 22 percent increase compared to May 2022. Victoria followed close behind with 201,400* older employees, up 27 percent from 159,200* when the Albanese Government was elected. In Queensland, numbers totalled 143,600* workers, a 15 percent rise from May 2022. It proves that Australians are delaying retirement, or coming back to work, at unprecedented rates as the cost of living crisis rages on and fixed incomes are eroded. While working into your late 60s and 70s was once a personal choice for many, it is increasingly becoming an economic necessity on the Albanese Government’s watch. This crisis, as the Reserve Bank of Australia has made very clear, is being driven by Labor’s failure to curb spending. National inflation rose to 3.8 percent in the year to December, up from 3.4 percent the month before, pushing up household costs across power, rent, groceries and mortgages. Cost-of-living stress is now the single biggest concern for Australians planning for retirement, with data from Equip Super showing workers are pushing back retirement by up to six years. At the same time, the so-called “bank of mum and dad” is placing growing pressure on older Australians, with many parents drawing on home equity or delaying retirement to help their children enter an increasingly unaffordable housing market. The Federal Government’s own Intergenerational Report has warned that rising housing costs and mortgage debt among retirees will place increasing strain on the age pension and broader Government finances. Quotes attributable to Senator Dean Smith: “These are the numbers everybody needs to see – hundreds of thousands of older Australians delaying retirement because it is the only way they can survive financially.” “It is not about choice – it’s about financial stress caused by Labor’s failure to manage inflation and the economy.” “Rising inflation, soaring housing costs and mounting interest rates under the Albanese Government are destroying the retirement plans of a record number of Australians, robbing them of the dignity and security they deserve at this time in their lives.” *Based on annualised average.