Australian Greens Disability Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has called for an urgent intervention to lift young, disabled people out of poverty after new data, obtained by Children and Young People with Disability, was published today.
Mary Sayers, the Cyda chief executive, said the figures had “exploded” for a number of reasons, including that governments had tightened access to the disability support pension, which is paid at a higher rate. “The other is the absolute entrenched disadvantage that young people face in the labour market,” she said. “So we’ve got a whole range of these really intractable problems that need attention.
Low income Australians, including those on the Disability Support Pension, are set to receive a $500 handout from December – a welcome but ‘band-aid’ outcome of the 2020-21 Federal Budget according to peak body representatives.
People without a specific severe impairment who want to access disability payment are being forced to first do 1.5 years of job search
Applying for a government payment can be daunting. And the task can be even harder if you don’t understand the types of doctors’ reports and information that you’re required to collect. A new online tool has been designed to help make it easier for people to navigate the application process for the Disability Support Pension.
Grampians DisAbility Advocacy executive officer Debbie Verdon said the organisation already had long waiting lists for people looking for help, and cutting the coronavirus supplement would kick them while they were down. “A lot of people who sit on the former NewStart payment (now JobSeeker) are people with a disability, and they come to us and ask for help with getting the Disability Support Pension, because it’s quite a process,” she said.
Disability pensioners are turning to lawyers to fight for access to the JobSeeker payment, as recipients reveal they have had to skip meals and even stop taking medication during the pandemic.
A coalition of advocacy groups are demanding the government include people receiving the disability support pension on the fortnightly $550 COVID-19 supplement following the exclusion of disabled people and their carers, despite welfare recipients such as those on JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and Austudy being eligible.
Australians with disabilities say they are being forgotten as the Federal Government rolls out its $213 billion stimulus response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those on the Disability Support Pension will miss out on the Coronavirus Supplement payment, which is $550 a fortnight. And with the current social distancing measures in place, many people with disabilities say they’re struggling to go about their daily lives.
People with a disability claim they have been “shafted” in the government’s coronavirus response, with disability pensioners and their carers missing out on income supplements given to many other welfare recipients.
Last month, the Government announced a Coronavirus Supplement of $550 per fortnight would automatically be paid to a number of welfare recipients from April 27. This extended to those receiving payments including JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and Austudy, but those on the DSP and Carer Payment were excluded.
People with disability who receive the Disability Support Pension (DSP) urgently need access to the increased Coronavirus Supplement of $550 per fortnight, consistent with the Jobseeker Payment and other payments recently announced.
People with disability who are in receipt of DSP are experiencing and facing additional, unforeseen costs in this time of crisis, which is causing significant levels of distress and anxiety, and only serving to further entrench DSP recipients into poverty.
The Morrison government is being urged to extend its coronavirus supplement to the Disability Support Pension, after recipients were excluded from this latest stimulus measure.
People with disability who receive the Disability Support Pension (DSP) urgently need access to the increased Coronavirus Supplement of $550 per fortnight, consistent with the Jobseeker Payment and other payments recently announced. People with disability who are in receipt of DSP are experiencing and facing additional, unforeseen costs in this time of crisis, which is causing significant levels of distress and anxiety, and only serving to further entrench DSP recipients into poverty.
Closing date: June 5, 2020
If you are a parent and you receive Disability Support Pension or Carer Payment, you will currently be entitled to the two one-off payments of $750, but not the fortnightly supplement of $550. This appears to be discrimination against people with a disability and people who care for someone with a disability.