People with disabilities who are considered capable of working receive Newstart, the welfare allowance for the unemployed, rather than the disability support pension which needs an extra 343 AUD (235 U.S. dollar) per week.
Two in five Indigenous households relying on the Disability Support Pension ran out of money for basic items such as food and fuel in the last year, new research shows, prompting calls from disability advocates for the government to urgently review the scheme.
Women’s reproductive rights are a tough enough topic for any female-identifying person in the 21st century. For the disability community though, they raise a whole different set of issues.
BRISBANE barrister Rebecca Treston QC has delivered a shocking snapshot of abuse, neglect and disadvantage suffered by disabled people living in Australia today. “Every 10 minutes someone with profound or severe disability experiences physical or sexual violence,” Ms Treston, told the opening session of a new royal commission.
ABC News is committed to covering the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with a Disability and endeavouring to ensure our coverage is accessible to all Australians no matter what their abilities or disabilities.
Those with a mild disability would need an extra $87 per week at least to have the same standard of living as other Australians, while those with a profound or severe disability required $173 per week more. But the gap in standard of living became even more stark for people with disabilities who were deemed to have some capacity to work and placed on Newstart.
The disability royal commission is officially underway, but advocates are threatening to boycott the inquiry unless two of the commissioners stand down over alleged conflicts of interests.
The Morrison Government has agreed to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s request for an extension of six months to continue to hear evidence from Australians and conduct its deliberations. ‘I welcome the appointment of an additional commissioner, the Hon Gaetano (Tony) Pagone QC.’
The chair of the disability royal commission, Ronald Sackville, has said people will not have to make submissions to commissioners with whom they do not feel comfortable.
The Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has admitted to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety that the Younger People in Residential Aged Care (YPIRAC) initiative will not capture people who aren’t eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
An Australian delegation has travelled to Geneva to highlight concerns about the lack of support services for people with a disability in this country. The group will address a United Nations committee reviewing Australia’s progress on the rights of people with disabilities. They will also present the findings of a new report, with the high incarceration rates of Indigenous Australians among the key issues.
A group of Australians with disabilities have travelled to Geneva to tell a UN committee about their experiences of discrimination and call on the government for more support for the community.
Disability Advocacy Network Australia CEO Mary Mallett said the shift towards Newstart is a “huge concern” because there is a significant financial difference between the DSP and Newstart.
“Today’s revelations … of senior executives in disability services dining out on the disabled is yet again another symptom of the core problem … there is sickness at the heart of the NDIS.”
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety turns its attention this week to hearings focused on younger people with disabilities living in residential aged care facilities. Around 6,000 Australians aged under 65 live in aged care, and numbers have only changed slightly in the last decade.