Dictionary of Sydney: Dr Arthur Renwick
The start of a new financial year can spark money-related talk around taxes, cuts and benefits. This week, Dr Lisa Murray from Dictionary of Sydney delves into the history of some of our pensions and where they come from.
The Australian aged pension was first introduced in Sydney in the nineteenth century at a time where there wasn’t much government support for charity or welfare, with any support coming from philanthropists. Glasgow-born Dr Arthur Renwick worked with The Benevolent Society, a secular group that supported Sydney’s poor, and later joined advocates to form the Old Pensions League to address the way in which the system was failing those in need.
