For many Australians, most of their retirement wealth is tied up in their home. A simple, well-designed program to tap into those trillions in home equity could help boost their retirement incomes.

Such a program exists. However, it remains little known and underused.

The federal government’s Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) allows older Australians to access their housing wealth. It is open to Australian residents aged 67 or older who own real estate in Australia, regardless of whether they receive the age pension.

Similar to a reverse mortgage with a bank or specialist lender, the scheme lets older Australians supplement their retirement income through a federal government loan, secured against the equity in their home or other Australian real estate.

Yet government data shows just 18,691 people are currently taking part in the scheme, a relatively low take-up.

A recent report from Deloitte estimates reverse mortgages are used to access only about 1% of the A$3 trillion value of housing wealth owned by Australians aged 60 and over.

So, why isn’t the government scheme more popular?

How does the scheme work?

Retirees can “top up” any pension payment they receive up to a maximum of 150% of the maximum pension rate. People who do not receive the age pension (self-funded........

© The Conversation