Post by Banker on Apr 9, 2013 7:55:31 GMT 7
A CRACKDOWN in Britain which saw 878,000 people taken off the UK's equivalent of Australia's Disability Support Pension (DSP) is unlikely to be repeated locally.
Disability Reform Minister Jenny Macklin and Opposition human services spokesman Kevin Andrews declined to answer direct questions about whether the UK system would be copied. The UK's incapacity benefit was redefined as a an employment and support allowance.
Every recipient is being reassessed for their capacity to work with 878,000 dropping off because they opted not to undergo assessment while another 750,000 people were found to have capacity for work.
Reforms by the federal government have seen just 7826 people leave the DSP in the past two years, with 824,082 remaining. That compares with 796,158 on the dole and the government confirmed yesterday 254,672 people are receiving the DSP for mental health reasons.
In relation to the UK reforms, a spokeswoman for Ms Macklin said: "We have demonstrated very clearly our reforms are making a difference."
When asked about the UK reforms, Mr Andrews blamed "barriers," saying: "Governments, business and the disabled themselves must work together and set about removing these barriers and negative stereotypes."
Meanwhile, a leading NSW disability employment says providers are "chopping up" jobs and paying wage subsidies for positions which last just six months to maximise government payments.
A day after Mission Australia said the welfare system was "broken," NOVA employment's Martin Wren said the "underlying problem (was) much worse."
He said providers chopped up full-time positions into eight hour shifts to get five disabled people into positions, netting as much as $102,200 instead of the maximum $20,440 payment at six months for a job placement.
"As a result of that (the provider) gets five times the outcomes they would have got for one position," he said.
He said the payment structure was encouraging providers to seek clients who had an assessed capacity to work of eight hours.
Mr Wren said employment providers were also subsidising wages for the first six months, when maximum government payments are paid to providers, despite disabled people routinely losing their jobs when the subsidy ceased.
A spokesman for Employment Participation Minister Kate Ellis said multiple maximum payments could be made if the job matched a person's assessed work capacity hours.
If a provider attempted to place a person with an assessed capacity of 30 hours a week into an eight hour position maximum fees would not be paid, he said.
From Banjo's Paper
www.theaustralian.com.au/news/no-interest-in-disability-reform/story-e6frg6n6-1226615282879
Disability Reform Minister Jenny Macklin and Opposition human services spokesman Kevin Andrews declined to answer direct questions about whether the UK system would be copied. The UK's incapacity benefit was redefined as a an employment and support allowance.
Every recipient is being reassessed for their capacity to work with 878,000 dropping off because they opted not to undergo assessment while another 750,000 people were found to have capacity for work.
Reforms by the federal government have seen just 7826 people leave the DSP in the past two years, with 824,082 remaining. That compares with 796,158 on the dole and the government confirmed yesterday 254,672 people are receiving the DSP for mental health reasons.
In relation to the UK reforms, a spokeswoman for Ms Macklin said: "We have demonstrated very clearly our reforms are making a difference."
When asked about the UK reforms, Mr Andrews blamed "barriers," saying: "Governments, business and the disabled themselves must work together and set about removing these barriers and negative stereotypes."
Meanwhile, a leading NSW disability employment says providers are "chopping up" jobs and paying wage subsidies for positions which last just six months to maximise government payments.
A day after Mission Australia said the welfare system was "broken," NOVA employment's Martin Wren said the "underlying problem (was) much worse."
He said providers chopped up full-time positions into eight hour shifts to get five disabled people into positions, netting as much as $102,200 instead of the maximum $20,440 payment at six months for a job placement.
"As a result of that (the provider) gets five times the outcomes they would have got for one position," he said.
He said the payment structure was encouraging providers to seek clients who had an assessed capacity to work of eight hours.
Mr Wren said employment providers were also subsidising wages for the first six months, when maximum government payments are paid to providers, despite disabled people routinely losing their jobs when the subsidy ceased.
A spokesman for Employment Participation Minister Kate Ellis said multiple maximum payments could be made if the job matched a person's assessed work capacity hours.
If a provider attempted to place a person with an assessed capacity of 30 hours a week into an eight hour position maximum fees would not be paid, he said.
From Banjo's Paper
www.theaustralian.com.au/news/no-interest-in-disability-reform/story-e6frg6n6-1226615282879
