Abbott told line DSP up with mental health episodes
Mar 5, 2014 1:06:32 GMT 7
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Post by Denis-NFA on Mar 5, 2014 1:06:32 GMT 7
NSW Mental Health Commissioner John Feneley has urged the Abbott government to allow people with mental illnesses to move on and off the Disability Support Pension to match their mental episodes.
As the government prepares an overhaul of the DSP, Mr Feneley has told The Australian the aid offered to people must recognise this difference. “People with mental illness should be able to access the DSP at times when they are disabled, and suspend it when they are well enough to work, without triggering a cascade of additional consequences,” he said.
“To a degree the system supports this already. Recipients can work up to 30 hours per week and still retain a part pension provided their income is below a threshold.
“If they work 30 hours or more, they may still be eligible to resume their pension if they reduce their working hours at any time in the next two years. But this requalification process is subject to individual review, which may not acknowledge that for people with disabling mental illness, fluctuating ability to work can be not the exception but the norm.”
He said there must be an assurance that working people were able to resume their receipt of the pension, routinely and without bureaucratic hurdles, if their mental health deteriorated.
“That assurance will encourage people to work, which not only provides income but also essential social connection and a sense of purpose,” he said. “We also need to ensure that any contingent benefits such as housing and medication subsidies are not abruptly withdrawn in a way that threatens a successful transition from the pension to the workforce.
“I hope that in preparing any changes to the Disability Support Pension, the government consults with people who experience mental illness and those who support them, to ensure those changes contribute to our shared goal of having more people working when they are able to do so.”
He said the Disability Support Pension provided essential support to people who lived with disability, regardless of the nature of the condition or illness that caused it. Mental illness was responsible for more years lost to disability in Australia than cancer or heart disease, and had a disproportionately higher impact on younger adults at a time of their lives when we would usually expect people to be active workforce participants.
“Mental illness differs, though, from most other illnesses ... which tend to be relatively stable in the level of disability that results. People who experience mental illness find it can fluctuate quite dramatically in intensity; at times, a person may be so badly affected they cannot work, while a few months later they may manage very well.”
www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/national-affairs/abbott-told-line-dsp-up-with-mental-health-episodes/story-fndfj0wi-1226845208942#
As the government prepares an overhaul of the DSP, Mr Feneley has told The Australian the aid offered to people must recognise this difference. “People with mental illness should be able to access the DSP at times when they are disabled, and suspend it when they are well enough to work, without triggering a cascade of additional consequences,” he said.
“To a degree the system supports this already. Recipients can work up to 30 hours per week and still retain a part pension provided their income is below a threshold.
“If they work 30 hours or more, they may still be eligible to resume their pension if they reduce their working hours at any time in the next two years. But this requalification process is subject to individual review, which may not acknowledge that for people with disabling mental illness, fluctuating ability to work can be not the exception but the norm.”
He said there must be an assurance that working people were able to resume their receipt of the pension, routinely and without bureaucratic hurdles, if their mental health deteriorated.
“That assurance will encourage people to work, which not only provides income but also essential social connection and a sense of purpose,” he said. “We also need to ensure that any contingent benefits such as housing and medication subsidies are not abruptly withdrawn in a way that threatens a successful transition from the pension to the workforce.
“I hope that in preparing any changes to the Disability Support Pension, the government consults with people who experience mental illness and those who support them, to ensure those changes contribute to our shared goal of having more people working when they are able to do so.”
He said the Disability Support Pension provided essential support to people who lived with disability, regardless of the nature of the condition or illness that caused it. Mental illness was responsible for more years lost to disability in Australia than cancer or heart disease, and had a disproportionately higher impact on younger adults at a time of their lives when we would usually expect people to be active workforce participants.
“Mental illness differs, though, from most other illnesses ... which tend to be relatively stable in the level of disability that results. People who experience mental illness find it can fluctuate quite dramatically in intensity; at times, a person may be so badly affected they cannot work, while a few months later they may manage very well.”
www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/national-affairs/abbott-told-line-dsp-up-with-mental-health-episodes/story-fndfj0wi-1226845208942#
