{"id":5427,"date":"2026-06-11T00:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T00:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/?p=5427"},"modified":"2026-06-11T00:23:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T00:23:47","slug":"the-best-state-for-looking-after-its-retirees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/retirement\/the-best-state-for-looking-after-its-retirees\/","title":{"rendered":"The best state for looking after its retirees"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"5427\" class=\"elementor elementor-5427\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-f026a09 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"f026a09\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-4e057df\" data-id=\"4e057df\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-450c883 elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"450c883\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>A <strong>new analysis of 209 different concessions for retirees provided by state and territory governments has crowned Western Australia as the overall champion for looking after its pensioners and self-funded retirees.<\/strong><\/p><p>The analysis, by financial planning and retirement specialist <a href=\"https:\/\/laterlifeadvice.com.au\/\">Later Life Advice<\/a>, found concessions can vary dramatically between states and effectively deliver seniors tax-free payments of up to $3000 annually.<\/p><p><strong>Senior card benefits per state<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-b4eeecc elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"b4eeecc\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-83e0b95\" data-id=\"83e0b95\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1503044 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"1503044\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Picture8-300x300.png\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-5430\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Picture8-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Picture8-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Picture8-100x100.png 100w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Picture8-220x220.png 220w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Picture8-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Picture8.png 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-409644a elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"409644a\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-021f739\" data-id=\"021f739\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-519af43 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"519af43\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Later Life Advice founder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/brendanryanaustralia\/\">Brendan Ryan<\/a> (pictured) said WA had the best mixture of concessions and was \u201cparticularly generous to self-funded retirees holding a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au\/blog\/retirement\/the-commonwealth-seniors-health-card-has-extra-energy-in-most-states\/\">Commonwealth Seniors Health Card<\/a> or a WA Seniors Card\u201d.<\/p><p>Eligibility for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card is much less restrictive than the age pension assets and income tests. It is available for seniors over the age of 67 and has no assets test, while its current maximum income threshold is $101,105 for singles and $161,768 for couples combined.<\/p><p>\u201cWhile most states restrict primary cost-of-living concessions strictly to pensioners, Western Australia stands out nationally because it extends high-value energy, water, and council rates rebates to self-funded retirees,\u201d Brendan said.<\/p><p>These included a $342.85 annual energy assistance payment, up to $600 a year of water rebates, and up to $750 of council rate rebates annually, while people who held the WA Seniors Card \u2013 without an age pension or CSHC \u2013 still received a 25 per cent water rebate and free off-peak public transport, he said.<\/p><p>\u201cBy linking these major concessions to non-pension cards, WA has effectively eliminated the steep benefits cliff that self-funded retirees face in other parts of Australia,\u201d he said.<\/p><p><strong>Do you qualify for concession?<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-8331bcb elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"8331bcb\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-298766c\" data-id=\"298766c\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-14b2806 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"14b2806\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"451\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Picture9.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-5431\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Picture9.jpg 451w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Picture9-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-a1288ae elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"a1288ae\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-56e5422\" data-id=\"56e5422\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-82f2c96 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"82f2c96\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The second-best state for seniors concessions is Queensland, followed by NSW.<\/p><p>In the bottom half of the rankings were the ACT, the Northern Territory, Tasmania and Victoria.<\/p><p>\u201cStates like Victoria and Tasmania treat concessions strictly as welfare safety nets, restricted to pensioners, whereas higher-ranked states treat them as general seniors benefits,\u201d Brendan said.<\/p><p>Experts say that seniors should understand the three-layered support system of pensioner concession cards, the CSHC and state and territory seniors cards.<\/p><p><strong>How to get utility discounts<\/strong><\/p><p>Brendan said people should remember to manually link their seniors cards to utility accounts.<\/p><p>\u201cConcessions are never applied automatically,\u201d he said.<\/p><p>\u201cYou must actively contact your electricity, gas, water, and local council providers to register your card details and customer reference number.\u201d<\/p><p>Retirees should understand the strict work limits around seniors cards in some states \u201cthat will cancel your card if exceeded\u201d, he said.<\/p><p>\u201cHowever, the CSHC has no work hours test\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cAs long as your total income \u2013 wages plus deemed super \u2013 stays under the CSHC threshold, you can work full-time and still receive major CSHC-linked concessions like the energy and water rebates in WA or the energy rebate in NSW.\u201d<\/p><p>He added seniors concessions acted as \u201ca vital shock absorber against essential service price rises\u201d such as water, electricity and public transport, which consistently outpaced the inflation indexing of the age pension.<\/p><p>\u201cThey function exactly like a tax-free payment of $2000 to $3000 \u2013 for a single that\u2019s about 10 per cent of the maximum age pension rate, and more if safety nets like Medicare and the PBS are taken into account,\u201d he said.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-238dc74 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"238dc74\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column 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Newsletter<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new analysis of 209 different concessions for retirees provided by state and territory governments has crowned Western Australia as the overall champion for looking after its pensioners and self-funded retirees. The analysis, by financial planning and retirement specialist Later Life Advice, found concessions can&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retirement"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5427"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5434,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5427\/revisions\/5434"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}