Post by Banker on May 10, 2013 15:26:53 GMT 7
A CRACKDOWN on the $15 billion-a-year disability support pension is being considered as the federal government battles to fill its budget black hole.
Disability groups said the government had raised the possibility of further changes to the scheme, including extending the requirement to draw up a return-to-work plan for more disability pensioners.
The government has also discussed making those plans enforceable for the first time.
Welfare groups said a UK-style crackdown, which involved 400,000 DSP recipients grandfathered from work test requirements having health checks, could save the government serious money.
A spokeswoman for Disability Reform Minister Jenny Macklin said the government never ruled in or out any changes ahead of the budget.
"The government has already made substantial reforms to the disability support pension and we've achieved the biggest drop in the disability support pension population in 30 years," she said.
The number of pension recipients dropped from 831,908 in December, 2011, to 824,082 in February, 2013 - the lowest since October, 2006.
Since the reforms began in 2010 the rate at which the pension has been granted has fallen from 63.3 per cent of applicants to 42.4 per cent.
National Disability Services spokesman Dr Ken Baker said changes to the disability support pension were a "very live option" as the government battled to make up declining tax revenue.
He said he would not be hostile to some constructive changes to the payment.
"A fairly constructive thing would be to engage people to think about work," he said.
Return to work plans apply only to disability pensioners under 35 and are not enforced. One option would be to extend the plans to those under 45.
The government is under pressure from welfare groups and its own caucus to lift dole payments by $50 a week.
Instead, it is examining options that include doubling the amount an unemployed person can earn before their benefits shrink from $62 a fortnight.
www.theaustralian.com.au/news/budget-review-of-disability-pension/story-e6frg6n6-1226632636301
Disability groups said the government had raised the possibility of further changes to the scheme, including extending the requirement to draw up a return-to-work plan for more disability pensioners.
The government has also discussed making those plans enforceable for the first time.
Welfare groups said a UK-style crackdown, which involved 400,000 DSP recipients grandfathered from work test requirements having health checks, could save the government serious money.
A spokeswoman for Disability Reform Minister Jenny Macklin said the government never ruled in or out any changes ahead of the budget.
"The government has already made substantial reforms to the disability support pension and we've achieved the biggest drop in the disability support pension population in 30 years," she said.
The number of pension recipients dropped from 831,908 in December, 2011, to 824,082 in February, 2013 - the lowest since October, 2006.
Since the reforms began in 2010 the rate at which the pension has been granted has fallen from 63.3 per cent of applicants to 42.4 per cent.
National Disability Services spokesman Dr Ken Baker said changes to the disability support pension were a "very live option" as the government battled to make up declining tax revenue.
He said he would not be hostile to some constructive changes to the payment.
"A fairly constructive thing would be to engage people to think about work," he said.
Return to work plans apply only to disability pensioners under 35 and are not enforced. One option would be to extend the plans to those under 45.
The government is under pressure from welfare groups and its own caucus to lift dole payments by $50 a week.
Instead, it is examining options that include doubling the amount an unemployed person can earn before their benefits shrink from $62 a fortnight.
www.theaustralian.com.au/news/budget-review-of-disability-pension/story-e6frg6n6-1226632636301