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Thursday, 7 December 2017
Page: 10153

Senator CASH (Western Australia—Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Employment and Minister for Women) (18:38): We don't actually have the numbers, but you are right: the widow allowance does close to new entrants from 1 January 2018. Over the forward estimates, the total population of people who will be on Newstart allowance from March 2020 who would otherwise have been granted the widow allowance—so these are the people you are referring to; we do have it as a figure—is estimated as 4,818 over five years to 2021-22.

Existing widow allowance recipients will be unaffected by the closure, remaining on the payment until they reach age pension age and transfer to the age pension. From 1 January 2022, the widow allowance, as you know, will cease and 400 recipients, who are over age pension age but do not meet the age pension residence qualification rules, as I said, will be transferred to age pension under the one-off transition. Does that give you the statistics?