Its true as it was supposed to be a contributory system. Other countries have had such schemes going way back eg Italy. Employers were required to pay to the govt a certain percentage of their employee wages to provide for the pension and it applied to all those who worked. For those that were unable to accrue a reasonable level due to under-employment or other factor the State still provided a basic pension component. The contributory system that has been in place in italy since the early 1900’s means workers are able to access the pension component when the get to retirement age even if they have emigrated to Australia. Many Italians who are now Australian citizens receive pensions based on when they used to do do work in Italy. Military service counted as the State was responsible for meeting the pension contribution.
