Aus govt rules out pension increase before review
Updated
The Australian government says it will respond quickly to a review of the pension system, but its again ruled out any additional help before then.
Later this month, the single pension will rise by around $US12.70 a fortnight to reflect changes in the cost of living since March.
The government has been under pressure from pensioner groups and the Greens party to include a $US25.50 a week increase in this month's indexation of the pension.
But the community services minister, Jenny Macklin, says the government won't be making any changes, until its review is completed early next year.
"We'll be acting as swiftly as possible once we receive this report, because we do recognise that people, especially aged pensioners and people on the disability support pension and carers are finding it very hard to really manage from week to week," she said.
