Disability Resources Centre in partnership with Social Security Rights Victoria recently ran a training day for Disability Advocates around Disability Support Pension applications, processes and appeals. They have launched resources aimed at workers and at people with disabilities to use to assist navigating the system. See attached link to download the resources.
The man, known as John to protect his privacy, was left to survive on Newstart as he battled stage 3 bowel cancer and had earlier attempted suicide after learning of a two-month wait on his pension claim, according to Katrina Newman, who took up his case in February.
Almost one-in-five Australians are living with a disability. Those with a mental health condition make up the largest group on welfare
“I am blind and there is no electronic application form. How can I be independent? This is debilitating … I don’t have a support person, family member, or a friend who can help me out with my paperwork. I can’t see to sign a form.”
Carers and people with disabilities have shared their experiences working with Centrelink to receive their support payments after a Geraldton mother spoke out about having to continuously provide proof her son “still had” Down Syndrome.
Disability advocates are deeply concerned by an almost 80 per cent increase in Disability Support Pension appeals, warning that vulnerable people are being incorrectly forced onto lower benefit payments like Newstart.
A campaign to reverse the federal government’s reduction to the suspension time of the Disability Support Pension for people in prison has been successful, keeping it at two years rather than 13 weeks.
The federal government is ditching controversial plans to review the eligibility of 90,000 people on the Disability Support Pension after only a tiny fraction of recipients were found not to qualify for the payment.
The ordeal of a father battling bowel cancer and Centrelink at the same time is setting social media ablaze, prompting a crowdfunding appeal and an outpouring of rage on Facebook.
rexplains the cruel cycle of poverty and devastation being inflicted on the mentally and physically ill by ongoing welfare cuts. THIS story is to explain to people who don’t live with mental illness, the security a home can bring.
Tougher compliance measures have led to a sharp decline in people accessing the Disability Support Pension, with the Department of Human Services revealing almost 75 per cent of claims for the scheme were rejected in 2016-17.
A new study has confirmed that people living with disabilities are vulnerable to financial exploitation and abuse by unscrupulous service providers, and that access to financial education may be able to help disabled Australians and carers make more confident financial decisions.
Disabled Australians are being turned away from the Disability Support Pension and forced onto punitive and untenable unemployment schemes.
AT JUST 23, Carmel Johnson should be enjoying the prime of her life. Instead she suffers from more than 100 debilitating symptoms that see her spending most days bedridden and using a wheelchair to get around. Unable to work or go to university due to her condition, she was not expecting Centrelink to reject her disability application.
A government-controlled parliamentary committee has questioned the usefulness of the Department of Human Services’ disability support pension eligibility reviews, arguing they cause unnecessary distress and may end up costing more than they save.