Promise check: Boost the TPI payment for disabled veterans by $1,000 per year, starting January 2023

At the 2022 election, Labor promised to boost the TPI payment for disabled veterans by $1,000 per year, starting January 2023. Here's how that promise is tracking.

(Image by ABC News: Danielle Bonica)

After pushing the former Coalition government to do more for Australian war veterans, Labor went to the election promising "a package of practical support measures to improve the welfare of veterans and their families".

That package included a boost to the totally and permanently incapacitated (TPI) pension, the highest level of disability payment for veterans unable to return to civilian work.

In a pre-election policy document, Labor pledged that an Albanese government "will introduce a $1,000 permanent increase in the annual rate of the TPI Payment for Australia's 27,000 TPI veterans from 1 January 2023".

"This will help address the decline in the relative value of the payment over time and help TPI pensioners with cost of living pressures," it said.

The promise was repeated in a joint April 24 media release by Labor leader Anthony Albanese, then shadow defence minister Brendan O'Connor and then shadow minister for veterans' affairs and defence personnel Shayne Neumann, which said the pledge would cost $97.8 million.

Assessing the promise

Labor's $1,000 annual boost equates to $38.46 per fortnight.

At the time of the election, the TPI base rate, also known as the "special rate", was $38,929.80 per year ($1,497.30 per fortnight).

Some veterans also receive help with their energy bills via an additional energy supplement. With this included, the total payment was $39,488.80 per year ($1,518.80 per fortnight).

The TPI base rate is indexed twice a year, in March and September. The energy supplement is indexed separately.

In its policy document, Labor said its promise would lift the TPI rate "from $39,488.80 per year to $40,488.80 per year … if introduced now".

However, it said, the $1,000 increase "will apply to the new payment rates following the next indexation adjustment in September".

This promise will be delivered if, by January 1, 2023, the government has increased the TPI payment rate (including the energy supplement) by $38.46 per fortnight, in addition to any indexation increase that takes effect in September 2022.

Here's how the promise is tracking:

19 May 2023

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Promise check: Boost the TPI payment for disabled veterans by $1,000 per year, starting January 2023