Kevin Andrews defends plan to alter Disability Support Pension entitlements

Updated

The Government has flagged plans to alter the Disability Support Pension to make it harder for some people to receive it permanently.

More than 800,000 Australians receive up to $813 a fortnight on the pension, for people who are permanently blind or have a physical or intellectual condition that stops them from working.

The Government says the number of people on the pension has grown by 20 per cent in the past decade and the cost to the budget last financial year was $15 billion.

Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews says not everyone receiving the payment should be on it permanently.

"I think we have to look at people on the DSP not as a homogeneous group. Obviously someone who is in their 60s on the DSP, and has been on it for a very long time, has very little job prospect if we were to review them," he told AM.

"However, that can be quite different for people, say, in their twenties where there may be every opportunity, with some assistance, to get into work."

Mr Andrews says he is looking at a number of options for change, and would prefer a two-tier system that separates permanent and temporary recipients.

"We don't want to condemn people to what is virtually a dead-end these days in terms of the DSP," he said.

"What we want to do is to look at whether or not people have got a capacity to work because we know work is the best form of welfare.

"We know it's good for people in terms of their psychological outlook as well."

Mr Andrews is proposing to hold more reviews of younger people on the DSP, and he also wants new recipients to be assessed for how long they might need it for if their disability is deemed temporary.

The Minister is also considering establishing a specialist panel of doctors to provide advice on how long someone is likely to need the DSP before they can return to work.

Labor urges Government to target parental leave scheme instead

However, Labor says the pension should not be the first place the Government goes in search of savings.

Opposition human services spokesman Doug Cameron says the Coalition's plan to significantly increase the threshold for paid parental leave should be the focus instead.

"There are a range of areas where money could be easily identified to make sure that we look after the most vulnerable in our community," Senator Cameron said.

"This paid parental leave scheme that Tony Abbott's got in place surely that's an area we should be looking before we go for the most vulnerable in society."

Disability support advocates have also expressed concern about the potential effects of changes to the current system.

Maree O'Halloran from the National Welfare Rights Network says she is worried the Government will eventually move people off the pension and onto a lower payment.

"If it were a temporary DSP, and people were exited down to the unemployment benefit, about $35 per day, trying to live on just under $15,000 per annum and living with a disability as well, then, I don't think anyone would applaud that outcome," she said.

Ms O'Halloran says employers also need to be open to hiring someone with a disability.

Topics: disabilities, health, federal-government, welfare, community-and-society, australia

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