A stroke survivor and her partner have been forced to auction personal items and survive on Salvation Army food vouchers after Centrelink suddenly cut off their carer payments after a brief assessment over the phone.
The disability sector has backed calls for the Centrelink debt recovery “fiasco” to be suspended immediately amid concerns about the impact it is having on people with disability.
A man with severe disabilities who has been in state care since 1999, was ordered by Centrelink to prove his eligibility for a disability pension.
It has never been tougher to make a successful claim for the Disability Support Pension (DSP), new Government figures suggest. Hundreds of thousands of people who are unable to work more than 15 hours a week rely on the payment. But statistics from the Department of Social Services indicate only about 15 per cent of current applicants are granted the DSP. The vast majority are rejected.
Disabled Australians could be forced to wait up to a year for their disability support claims as the government’s crackdown on the pension clogs the system with thousands of medical examinations.
Disability support pensioners whose health is likely to improve could soon be medically reviewed – and kicked off the payment.
The Australian Department of Human Services has a series of videos available on their YouTube channel. These videos have been designed to make it easier for people with disabilities to understand the Disability Support Pension (DSP) and other benefits. Topics include: Are you eligible for the DSP? How do I claim for the DSP? Providing medical evidence … Continued
The reassessment of people on the disability support pension is always going to be a problem,” Ms Young said. “It doesn’t necessarily create jobs in the labour market, it doesn’t create opportunities.” Under the changes, an estimated 28,000 people on the disability support pension who are able to work more than eight hours a week, … Continued
Former Telethon child Prue Hawkins has been told she is not impaired enough to get the disability support pension. A leader among WA’s disabled community, the 33-year-old wheelchair user has osteogenesis imperfecta – also known as brittle bone disease. She currently has a broken leg. Despite her severe physical restrictions, she completed a law degree, … Continued
Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes has slammed suggestions the disability support pension is being rorted. Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes has hit back at the idea that there are too many people on the disability support pension, slamming claims that the system is being rorted as “completely unhelpful”. In the wake of fresh reports that … Continued
Forty-five per cent of the two million Australians living with a disability, live in or near poverty, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This is partly because most of us spend much of the small income we receive on services and supports. The new national disability insurance scheme will address this over … Continued
People with disability are more than twice as likely to be in living poverty than other people in our country, says ACOSS’s Cassandra Goldie. More than 600,000 Australians with a disability are living below the poverty line according to new figures from peak welfare group, Australian Council of Social Service. The figures, released on Friday, … Continued