What a crock, what a hoax, one in 20 people in this country on the disability pension with a full third of those on the pension because of psychological problems, I knew it was the go to pension for aussie new comers in south west Sydney but this is spreading like wildfire.. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
AUSTRALIA'S Disability Support Pension scheme faces a major overhaul, with the federal government considering temporary payments for new clients and those aged under 40 to be subjected to more regular reviews.
Nearly one in 20 Australians of working age are on the disability pension, which offers up to $800-a-fortnight without a requirement to look for even part-time work.
Left unchecked, the number of Australians on disability payments is on track to hit one million in the next decade. Confronted with the staggering $15 billion-a-year cost of the DSP scheme, the Abbott government is preparing major reforms.
Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews told The Sunday Telegraph the main option under consideration was introducing a new, two-tiered system that would limit new entrants to temporary payments only if their disability was not permanent. The second option was ensuring that younger workers aged under 40 were subjected to more regular reviews to check if they are capable of working part-time. Mr Andrews said he wanted to focus on ability, not disability.
"The best form of welfare is work, if that's possible,'' he said.
"We're looking at whether or not there should be a category of what I might call temporary incapacity, rather than permanent incapacity.
"Temporary might mean you are on it for a limited period and then it's properly reassessed. Then I think you need to do more frequent reviews depending on the age and the capacity of the person."
The DSP payments offer significantly more cash than the $500-a-fortnight unemployment benefit, another incentive for people to convince doctors they are too sick to work.
Mr Andrews said that one third of DSP recipients now argued they could not work based on psychological problems, including depression. This was the largest single group of people on the DSP, overtaking people with skeletal problems, including bad backs.
"If people have got some sort of psychological condition, is that a condition that necessarily incapacitates them from permanently working? They may be able to work,'' Mr Andrews said.
Mission Australia's Toby Hall has argued that the majority of people with significant mental health problems could return to work with the right help.
Mr Andrews also conceded he simply did not have the resources to constantly review the 822,000 people currently on DSP benefits.
"As much as anything, it's a cost issue," he said.
" It costs money to review people and if you've got 800,000 people, to be frank, there's no way we could review all of the 800,000 people.
"If somebody is in their 20s on the DSP I think there is a case to be made out for more regular reviews.
"If someone is in their 60s on the DSP then that's different because the prospect of that person getting a job are less.''
Mr Andrews said the ageing population would put new pressures on the system.
"The big challenge that Australia has got is how do you maintain a welfare system that is actually sustainable, so that you avoid going into the situation that many of the European nations now find themselves in," he said. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/major-overhaul-for-our-disability-support-pension-scheme-to-crack-down-on-cheats/story-fni0cx12-1226788092542
