Post by Banjo on May 23, 2014 7:56:15 GMT 7
Disability Employment Australia CEO Craig Harrison supports welfare reforms
DISABILITY Employment Australia CEO Craig Harrison has supported welfare reforms to get disability pensioners back to work.
Mr Harrison said education and training programs needed extra funding to help ease the stress on the disability support pension, the cost of which is ballooning to $15 billion nationally.
He said Australia was ranked 21st of 29 OECD nations in employment participation rates for people with a disability.
His comments follow The Daily Telegraph’s exclusive report revealing the number of NSW DSP recipients had increased by almost 20,000 in the past three years.
“Disability Employment Australia as an organisation looks after 70 per cent of disability employment in Australia and is strongly supportive of moves to increase employment of people with disability,” Mr Harrison said.
“I think we need to create a more enabling environment that would involve good quality education, skills formation, vocational and career advice along with better infrastructure for people with disabilities.”
ABS data reveals, while rates of profound/severe disability between 2003 and 2012 decreased from 6.3 to 6.1 per cent of the population, the number of people with severe/ profound disability increased from 1,244,500 to 1,391,000.
Mr Harrison, who has worked in the sector for 25 years, said funding cuts to state education systems in the federal budget were a concern.
He believes, if the right systems are in place, a reduction in the rate of people on the DSP would follow.
“There will always be examples of some people who are not keen to participate but the majority of people with disabilities want to work,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews last night confirmed medical practitioners caught fraudulently endorsing DSP referrals would be investigated.
Mr Andrews is expected to wait until expert advisory committee chair Patrick McClure makes recommendations on welfare reform before enacting any changes to assessment criteria for DSP claims.
www.news.com.au/national/disability-employment-australia-ceo-craig-harrison-supports-welfare-reforms/story-fncynjr2-1226927576769
DISABILITY Employment Australia CEO Craig Harrison has supported welfare reforms to get disability pensioners back to work.
Mr Harrison said education and training programs needed extra funding to help ease the stress on the disability support pension, the cost of which is ballooning to $15 billion nationally.
He said Australia was ranked 21st of 29 OECD nations in employment participation rates for people with a disability.
His comments follow The Daily Telegraph’s exclusive report revealing the number of NSW DSP recipients had increased by almost 20,000 in the past three years.
“Disability Employment Australia as an organisation looks after 70 per cent of disability employment in Australia and is strongly supportive of moves to increase employment of people with disability,” Mr Harrison said.
“I think we need to create a more enabling environment that would involve good quality education, skills formation, vocational and career advice along with better infrastructure for people with disabilities.”
ABS data reveals, while rates of profound/severe disability between 2003 and 2012 decreased from 6.3 to 6.1 per cent of the population, the number of people with severe/ profound disability increased from 1,244,500 to 1,391,000.
Mr Harrison, who has worked in the sector for 25 years, said funding cuts to state education systems in the federal budget were a concern.
He believes, if the right systems are in place, a reduction in the rate of people on the DSP would follow.
“There will always be examples of some people who are not keen to participate but the majority of people with disabilities want to work,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews last night confirmed medical practitioners caught fraudulently endorsing DSP referrals would be investigated.
Mr Andrews is expected to wait until expert advisory committee chair Patrick McClure makes recommendations on welfare reform before enacting any changes to assessment criteria for DSP claims.
www.news.com.au/national/disability-employment-australia-ceo-craig-harrison-supports-welfare-reforms/story-fncynjr2-1226927576769
