The Abbott government is actively considering raising the pension age to 70 and changing indexation arrangements for the payments in the budget.

This comes as Labor, seniors groups and unions have accused Prime Minister Tony Abbott of preparing to break a pre-election promise that there would be no cuts or changes to pensions.

Construction worker Phil Tuck, 60, is worried about the consequences of working on the tools for another 10 years. Credit:Rob Gunstone

In a speech in Washington DC this week, Treasurer Joe Hockey stressed the need for the federal budget to be sustainable and noted that the number of Australians aged 65 to 84 will double between 2010 and 2050, while the number of people aged over 85 will quadruple.

Mr Hockey also said that access to the pension system needed to be ''prioritised for the most vulnerable'', adding that ''over the next decade, spending on our age pension is projected to increase by around 70 per cent in today's dollars''.