Budget 2014: People on disability support pension to have ability to work reassessed

Updated

Thousands of Australians on the disability support pension (DSP) will have their ability to work reassessed under welfare changes to be introduced in the budget.

The Treasurer's office has confirmed thousands of people under the age of 35 will be assessed by independent doctors appointed by the Government.

News Corp is reporting almost 30,000 will be reassessed, but Joe Hockey's office will not say exactly how many people will go through the process.

The Commission of Audit recommended changes to the DSP, including moving to gradually apply the new disability assessment and participation criteria, introduced in 2012.

Disability pensioners are expecting recent, younger recipients to be medically reassessed and they are worried there could also be changes to the indexation, or rate of growth, of the pension.

More than 800,000 people currently receive the DSP, a figure that grows by 1,000 every week.

A single person over the age of 21 can claim a maximum of $766 per fortnight on the DSP.

Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews told the ABC on Friday that many on the disability support pension have the capacity to work, but there is little incentive.

"Pretty much forever [the pension has] been one that hasn't recognised people's ability or capacity," he said.

"It's just said well, if you qualify, we put you on a payment. It's kind of a set and forget for the rest of your life, more or less, or until you qualify for some other pension, such as an age pension.

"There are a lot of people who are disabled who have capacity, who have ability, and with the right sort of approach we could actually encourage them to be in the workforce and that's what we're trying to do."

Opposition to planned reassessment of pensioners

Mr Andrews says it is unfair that many young people on the DSP are capable of working but are not out looking for jobs.

"We think that there should be participation requirements for people under 35, if they're capable of working," he said.

"Obviously, if they are profoundly or severely [disabled] they shouldn't be working but, where there is a capability of working, they should not only have to go along and have an interview, but they should have some search requirements like other young people do."

The Federal Opposition has criticised the decision to reassess young disability pensioners.

Labor's health spokeswoman, Catherine King, says the changes will make life difficult for young people with a disability.

She says it will be devastating if the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme is also slowed down, as suggested in the Government's Commission of Audit.

"Why would you be punishing them, why would you be punishing their income security payments and trying to restrict their access to income support, whilst at the same time cutting a whole lot of other benefits that actually support them into work," she said.

Meanwhile, Greens MP Adam Bandt says the Government's priority is actually to cut costs rather than help people enter the workforce.

"To say that to get the budget back into balance we're going to take the axe to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country, who actually need to get help to get into work and help to have good decent livelihoods, is the wrong way to go," he said.

Support groups worry vulnerable will be impoverished

Support groups fear any changes to the disability support pension could force some of society's most vulnerable people further into poverty.

Disability Advocacy Network Australia chief executive Mary Mallett said any additional tightening would be unfair on people already struggling.

"The people who are at the level who are making the decisions about what's in or out of the budget really have no concept at all of what life is like for people on the lowest income level," she said.

Ms Mallett said any disability pensioners sent back to work must be given training and support otherwise they will end up on the dole.

"By removing people from the disability support pension and putting them on an even lower payment such as Newstart really makes it almost impossible for people to survive," she said.

"They can't take away the safety net and at the same time not provide people with opportunities that will help them get into work."

People With a Disability Australia president Craig Wallace said there must be a focus on creating jobs.

And he has questioned how the Government can be considering changes before it has released a broader review of the welfare system by Patrick McClure.

"We haven't even seen the interim report of the McClure review, which is meant to provide a methodical and evidence-based approach," he said.

Senator slams budget strategy after leaks

Meanwhile, Coalition Senator Ian Macdonald has criticised the Government for leaking information on next week's budget to the media.

Elements of the budget, including an increase to the fuel excise which will see millions of motorists pay more for fuel, have been reported in the media.

Senator Macdonald, from Queensland, says no information has been provided to the backbench about the budget, and it should be the same for the media.

"I've been around ... long enough to know that a lot of these leaks to the media do come from the people who are thinking about these things," he said.

"I'm not sure who's in charge of our strategy, but it doesn't seem to me to be a very good one."

Senator Macdonald says there should be no comment on budget measures until its released.

"There are a lot of constituents who are very, very concerned that things like what was mentioned in the Commission of Audit might in fact be government policy," he said.

Topics: disabilities, health, budget, government-and-politics, welfare, community-and-society, work, australia

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