Having a mental illness should not be an ‘‘automatic entry’’ to a lifetime of welfare support Beyondblue chairman Jeff Kennett has said, embracing a federal government proposal to shift more people with mental illness into work.

But former Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry has cautioned that in order to keep people off the Disability Support Pension, mental health and employment experts need to be able to work together to tailor early intervention programs for those with a mental illness.

Having a mental illness should not be an "automatic entry" to a lifetime of welfare support, according to Jeff Kennett. Credit:Jesse Marlow

Patrick McClure’s discussion paper on welfare, released on Sunday, suggests that only people with a permanent impairment and no capacity to work should receive the DSP.

While the paper did not define ‘‘permanent’’ disability, both Mr McClure and Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews have said that many mental health conditions are ‘‘episodic’’ in nature. The paper also says that people with mental illness have ‘‘better life outcomes’’ if they maintain some workforce participation and that more could be done to support them to work.