The Abbott government's landmark review into the welfare system has suggested that only people with a permanent disability and no capacity to work should receive the disability support pension.

In response, the Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews has said that the ''real issue'' with the DSP is that it has been a ''set and forget payment'' and that some people on it may be able to do some work.

The McClure review's discussion paper, released on Sunday, also highlighted that there is a growing number of people receiving DSP who have a mental illness, which it says can be ''episodic'' in nature.

The recent debate about the disability pension has also included newspaper headlines about ''Disabling rorters'' and ''Slackers'' - which has seen disability advocates, such as People with Disability Australia's Craig Wallace fire back: ''we are not rorters, we are not slackers''.

As the debate about the DSP continues, with the public submissions now open for the McClure review and its first round table in Canberra next week, we ask who is on the DSP? Why? And for how long?