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Post by Banjo on Feb 21, 2018 12:32:23 GMT 7
New Disability Support Pension recipients down by almost 60,000, due to Gillard-led crackdownAround 60 per cent of people who apply for the Disability Support Pension are getting rejected, because of a crackdown that started under the Gillard government. Around 60 per cent of people who apply for the Disability Support Pension (DSP) are getting rejected, because of a crackdown that started under the Gillard government. With around 760,000 people on the payment, the DSP is one of the largest and most-expensive welfare payments, costing the Commonwealth $16.3 billion a year. But in the past decade, there has been a huge drop in the number of new recipients, down from a peak of 89,000 to less than 32,000 last financial year. PBO projections of new DSP recipients (thousands)According to the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), if that trend continues, the Federal Government could save $4.8 billion over the next 10 years. The PBO attributes the decline to the previous Labor government's overhaul of the eligibility criteria and new Job Capacity Assessment in 2012, which tests whether the person can undertake any work rather than simply reviewing their medical diagnosis. This resulted in a "structural break", which together with the Coalition's changes to doctors' assessments, made it much harder to qualify. Under these changes, a person must prove they have a permanent disability that prevents them from working more than 15 hours a week. The findings will take some of the sting out of Labor's argument that the Coalition's changes to the DSP have been "cruel". But they also undermine the Coalition's claims that Labor's policies were fiscally reckless. While generational change and the job market have a big impact on the rate of welfare applications, this report makes it clear that policy changes have driven the massive decline in DSP recipients. Annual change in DSP recipientsDuring the height of the Global Financial Crisis, the number of people moving onto the DSP peaked at nearly 90,000 but since Labor's changes came into effect in 2012, that number has fallen sharply. But those who fail to qualify would most likely end up on the much lower Newstart Allowance, which is worth about $540 a fortnight compared with the DSP, which pays $815 a fortnight. Psychological impairments soaring Most people on the DSP are between 40 and 60 years of age and tend to stay on the payment until they are old enough for the Age Pension, or die. Very few are kicked off for failing to comply with the criteria. About 70,000 people on the DSP have their eligibility reviewed each year and of those, only 5 per cent are taken off the payment. A lot of women moved onto the DSP in the mid-2000s, because an increase in the pension age meant they could not qualify for the Age Pension, while there was a big increase in the number of men in their 50s with a physical impairment (often as a result of their work). But as the baby boomer generation ages, that demographic is changing. An increasing number of people moving onto the DSP are men, under 40, suffering a psychological impairment. Given that most people remain on the payment until their mid-60s, the report points out that this "changing dynamic" could create longer-term budget issues. "This structural change will contribute to growth in DSP expenditure over the longer term as the total number of recipients will remain larger than would have otherwise been the case," the report said. www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2018-02-21/new-disability-support-pension-recipients-down-by-almost-60000-due-to-gillardled-crackdown/1737638
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Post by Banjo on Feb 21, 2018 7:56:30 GMT 7
Mental illness pension cases leading the wayThe proportion of new disability pensioners who qualified because they have a mental illness has soared to one out of every three cases, but growth in the cost of the payment is almost flatlining. A report by the Parliamentary Budget Office reveals new projections and analysis of the $814-a-fortnight welfare payment. It shows the pension will cost almost $5 billion less per decade than forecast but new recipients with psychological impairments are younger and could stay on the pension for more than 20 years. The changing “dynamics” mean budget pressures will resume in the long term, the report says. “This is because an increasing number of new DSP recipients are under 40 and more likely to have psychological and intellectual conditions,” the report says. “As most recipients with these conditions remain on the payment until they receive the Age Pension, this younger cohort could remain on (the DSP) for over 20 years. Around a decade ago ... the average period of receiving the payment was 10 years. “This structural change will contribute to growth in DSP expenditure over the longer term as the total number of recipients will remain larger than would otherwise have been the case.” While the number of people being granted the DSP with psychological conditions such as depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder has halved to 10,000 from 2001-02 to last financial year, the fall has not been as sharp as for other impairments. People with physical conditions under the broad category “musculoskeletal” dropped from 31,000 new entrants in 2001-02 to 3500 in 2016-17. Intellectual impairments have tripled as a proportion of new entrants to the payment and risen in absolute numbers over the same period from 4400 to 5300. It is still possible to qualify for the DSP based solely on a substance abuse or addiction problem, despite attempts to remove it that were blocked in the Senate. Social Services Minister Dan Tehan told The Australian: “In the 2017-18 budget, the government announced its intention to tighten the assessment criteria for the DSP to ensure no one qualifies for the DSP solely on the basis of drug or alcohol dependency without demonstrating a permanent functional impairment. “We did this to keep the focus on employment and added an additional measure so jobseekers can now count drug or alcohol addiction treatment towards their annual activity requirements. “Getting treatment for a drug or alcohol problem can help people get a job.” The measure, which has not yet been resurrected, was estimated to save $22m over five years because about 450 people would no longer qualify for the payment, which cost $16.3bn last financial year. The PBO says changes to the DSP, beginning in 2011-12 under then Labor minister Jenny Macklin, who is the opposition spokeswoman on welfare, resulted in a “structural break” because Labor changed the assessment tables on which eligibility was calculated and introduced new job capacity checklists for new applicants. Between the global financial crisis and this break, growth in expenditure on the DSP averaged 8.7 per cent a year in real terms. Since Ms Macklin’s changes, growth has fallen to an average of 0.2 per cent each year. “The DSP impairment tables needed to be updated; they hadn’t been updated for about two decades,” Ms Macklin said. She said the fact the Coalition government tried to cut pension indexation rates in 2014 and “still want to axe the energy supplement” for people on the DSP showed they were a threat to vulnerable Australians. The PBO report finds little credit should go to changes under the Abbott government in 2014-15 that contributed to a decline in the payment but to a lesser extent. Those changes included new assessments being made by government-contracted doctors and a compliance crackdown that, the PBO says, had a “temporary effect … not expected to persist over the medium term”. Most DSP claimants must undergo an assessment of their ability to work, regardless of their medical condition, and where this recommends a grant of DSP this is confirmed by a government-contracted doctor. Labor’s changes required all mental health conditions to be diagnosed by an “appropriately qualified medical practitioner” with evidence from a clinical psychologist where the diagnosis had not been made by a psychiatrist. Harder to diagnose than physical conditions, psychosocial disabilities pose a challenge for both the DSP and the $22bn National Disability Insurance Scheme, which is estimated to provide support for 64,000 people under this category. The NDIS, like the welfare payment, requires evidence that a condition is “stabilised” and permanent. www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/health/mental-illness-pension-cases-leading-the-way/news-story/740934e6fce36fcd726715ae868105cf
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Post by Banjo on Feb 21, 2018 7:50:56 GMT 7
Issue 40
Australian Pension News
Doing business with us overseas
There are many ways for you to do business with us while you’re overseas. You can call us during business hours to talk to a staff member or go online.
We know that it’s not always easy to call us during business hours due to time differences. We also know that there are some things you can’t do using our online services. This is why we have other ways for you to do business with us.
It can be difficult for people outside Australia to provide us with the information we need to assess payments correctly. If you’re overseas, the main way for you to provide information to us is through our forms.
You can find most of the forms you need at humanservices.gov.au/forms
For forms specific to people outside Australia, click on the ‘International forms’ link on the left hand menu.
You can use these forms to make a claim for a payment or to simply update your details at any time, this includes updating:
• bank account details
• changes to your income and assets, and
• changes to your partner’s details.
If you’re not looking to make a claim or update your details but you have a general question you can ask us on one of our social media accounts. One of our team members will respond to you. Remember to also like and follows us. It’s a great way for you to keep up-to-date with the latest news and information from us.
Go to humanservices.gov.au/socialmedia to find out more about our different accounts.
Changes to payments while you are outside Australia
Sometimes there are changes to our payments and services. These may apply to you if you return to Australia.
If you are thinking about returning to Australia, go to humanservices.gov.au/australiansoverseas to see the current rules for your payments, including:
• Age Pension
• Disability Support Pension
• Wife Pension, and
• Widow Pension.
Go to humanservices.gov.au/budget to find out about Budget announcements that may affect your payments.
Budget measures are subject to passage of legislation. Updates to the webpages may occur regularly, so you should continue to check for any new information that might be of interest.
Stay connected with us on social media. Follow Seniors Update on Facebook or Twitter to keep up with the latest department news, and have your general questions answered by staff. Go to humanservices.gov.au/socialmedia for more information.
Rates
Outside Australia pension rates and thresholds are re-assessed in January, March, July and September each year.
Rates and thresholds
These Australian dollar (A$) figures are a guide only and are effective from 20 September 2017 unless otherwise stated.
Outside Australia pension rates and thresholds
SINGLE
COUPLE both eligible
COUPLE one eligible partner
COUPLE separated due to ill health
How much pension1, 2, 3
Per year
Per year
Per year
Per year each
Maximum basic rate
A$ 21,164
A$ 31,907.20
A$ 15,953.60
A$ 21,164
Basic Pension Supplement
A$ 600.60
A$ 988
A$ 494
A$ 600.60
Total
A$ 21,764.60
A$ 32,895.20
A$ 16,447.60
A$ 21,764.60
Allowable Income4
Per year
Combined
Combined
Combined
Full pension
Up to A$ 4,368
Up to A$ 7,800
Up to A$ 7,800
Up to A$ 7,800
Part pension
Less than A$ 47,897.20
Less than A$ 73,590.40
Less than A$ 73,590.40
Less than A$ 94,858.40
Allowable Assets5
Single
Combined
Combined
Combined
Full pension— Homeowner
A$ 253,750
A$ 380,500
A$ 380,500
A$ 380,500
Full pension— Non-homeowner
A$ 456,750
A$ 583,500
A$ 583,500
A$ 583,500
Part pension— Homeowner
Less than A$ 533,000
Less than A$ 802,500
Less than A$ 802,500
Less than A$ 939,000
Part pension— Non-homeowner
Less than A$ 736,000
Less than A$ 1,005,500
Less than A$ 1,005,500
Less than A$ 1,142,000
Deeming rates and thresholds
Single
Combined
Combined
Combined
Threshold
A$ 50,200
A$ 83,400
A$ 83,400
A$ 83,400
Rate below threshold
1.75%
1.75%
1.75%
1.75%
Rate above threshold
3.25%
3.25%
3.25%
3.25%
These rates apply to recipients who are permanently outside Australia or absent from Australia for longer than six weeks.
1. The rate of payment is calculated under both the income and assets tests. The test that results in the lower rate or nil rate is applied. Some assets are deemed to earn income and there are special rules for other types of income. There is no income or assets test for recipients who are permanently blind.
2. Some recipients may receive a transitional rate of pension based on the pre 20 September 2009 income test rules and payment rates.
3. Some recipients may receive a reduced rate of pension based on how long they were an Australian resident.
4. Every two weeks, the Work Bonus disregards up to A$250 of employment income earned by eligible pensioners over age pension age unless you receive Parenting Payment Single. If your employment income is less than A$250, the unused Work Bonus is banked up to a maximum amount of A$6,500. If you are eligible for a transitional rate, we will compare the transitional rate that has no Work Bonus to the new rate which has the Work Bonus. The transitional rate is paid whenever it pays the higher rate.
5. From 1 January 2017, single and combined couple rates are reduced by A$3.00 per two weeks for every A$1,000 of additional assets above the allowable assets limit. The allowable asset limit has also been increased. Certain assets are not included in the assets test.
Information about your payments
You will receive 13 regular four-weekly payments each year.
Four-weekly pension payment calendar—December 2017 to May 2018
Your payment will be issued on:
Direct deposit recipients should receive payment by:
Cheque recipients should receive payment by:
Payment covers the period:
14 December 2017*
20 December 2017
3 January 2018
23 November to 20 December 2017
18 January 2018
24 January 2018
7 February 2018
21 December 2017 to 17 January 2018
15 February 2018
21 February 2018
7 March 2018
18 January to 14 February 2018
15 March 2018
21 March 2018
4 April 2018
15 February to 14 March 2018
12 April 2018
18 April 2018
4 May 2018
15 March to 11 April 2018
10 May 2018
16 May 2018
30 May 2018
12 April to 9 May 2018
*Payment has been brought forward due to an Australian Public holiday.
Cheques may be delivered later than these dates dute to delays in mail delivery.
Direct deposit payments
In most countries we pay pensions directly into bank accounts. We encourage this method of payment as it is safe, quick and reliable.
If you receive your payment by direct deposit into your bank account it will be available within two to six days after issue. If your payment hasn’t arrived within 10 days of being issued, check with your local bank before contacting us.
How to contact us
Go to humanservices.gov.au to find out information about your payment as well as our other payments and services.
Call us Monday to Friday, between 8.00 am and 5.00 pm Australian Eastern Savings Time (AEST).
Phone calls from the following countries are Freecall™. Dial the number shown without any international or country codes before it.
Austria Freecall™ 0800 295 165
Canada Freecall™ 1888 2557 493
China (North)* Freecall™ 10 800 6100 427
China (South)* Freecall™ 10 800 2611 309
Denmark Freecall™ 8088 3556
Germany Freecall™ 0800 180 2482
Greece Freecall™ 0080 0611 26209
India Freecall™ 000 800 61 01098
Indonesia Freecall™ 001 803 61 035
Italy Freecall™ 800 781 977
Korea Republic Freecall™ 003 081 32326
Netherlands Freecall™ 0800 0224 364
New Zealand Freecall™ 0800 441 248
Philippines Freecall™ 1800 1611 0046
Poland Freecall™ 00 800 6111 220
Portugal Freecall™ 800 861 122
Singapore Freecall™ 800 6167 015
Spain Freecall™ 900 951 547
Thailand Freecall™ 001 800 611 4136
Turkey Freecall™ 00 800 6190 5703
United Arab Emirates Freecall™ 800 061 04319
United Kingdom Freecall™ 0800 169 5865
USA Freecall™ 1866 3433 086
*China (North) includes the provinces of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, Shandong and Henan. All other provinces are considered as China (South) for this purpose.
Please include your name, Centrelink Customer Reference Number and your telephone number in your query.
Note: a Freecall™ may not be available from every location within the country and may not be free from mobile or public phones. If using a pay telephone, you’ll need to insert coins or a card as for a local call and this may not be refunded at the end of the call.
If you’re in a country that’s not listed, or if you’re not able to use the Freecall™ number listed above, please contact us on +61 3 6222 3455.
You can fax us on +61 3 6222 2799, or write to us at PO Box 7809, Canberra BC, ACT 2610, Australia.
Disclaimer: The Commonwealth of Australia has attempted to ensure the information in this publication is accurate. However, the Commonwealth does not warrant that the information is accurate or complete nor will it be liable for any loss suffered by any person because they rely on it in any way. You should contact the Australian Government Department of Human Services for full details of any entitlements and services to which you may be eligible or how any pending changes in legislation, programs or services may affect you.
INT001.1709
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Post by Banjo on Feb 21, 2018 7:47:52 GMT 7
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Post by Banjo on Feb 21, 2018 7:37:48 GMT 7
Go to the link to download the full tables etc.
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Post by Banjo on Feb 21, 2018 7:37:19 GMT 7
Issue 401. Australian Pension News Doing business with us overseasThere are many ways for you to do business with us while you’re overseas. You can call us during business hours to talk to a staff member or go online. We know that it’s not always easy to call us during business hours due to time differences. We also know that there are some things you can’t do using our online services. This is why we have other ways for you to do business with us. It can be difficult for people outside Australia to provide us with the information we need to assess payments correctly. If you’re overseas, the main way for you to provide information to us is through our forms. You can find most of the forms you need at humanservices.gov.au/forms For forms specific to people outside Australia, click on the ‘International forms’ link on the left hand menu. You can use these forms to make a claim for a payment or to simply update your details at any time, this includes updating: bank account details changes to your income and assets, and changes to your partner’s details. If you’re not looking to make a claim or update your details but you have a general question you can ask us on one of our social media accounts. One of our team members will respond to you. Remember to also like and follows us. It’s a great way for you to keep up-to-date with the latest news and information from us. Go to humanservices.gov.au/socialmedia to find out more about our different accounts. www.humanservices.gov.au/sites/default/files/2017/10/int001-1709en.docx
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Post by Banjo on Feb 20, 2018 9:35:39 GMT 7
That was bad luck Pete, hope everything works out. I had similar issues with my mother but she refused to cooperate at all with having a carer because "it was the first step in being put in a home".
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Post by Banjo on Feb 18, 2018 17:34:03 GMT 7
Jongen's just the head suit, he's probably well paid but I doubt that he has any real authority. The email probably would have been forwarded to the people who are already ignoring you.
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Post by Banjo on Feb 14, 2018 12:53:15 GMT 7
Centrelink forced to wipe or change one in six robo-debts Coalition ‘should apologise’ for wrong debt notices, Labor says after data revealedCentrelink was forced to either wipe or change one of every six debts it raised against welfare recipients in the first year of its so-called robo-debt saga, new figures show. About 29,000 of the 165,000 debts raised against welfare recipients were either wiped to zero, reduced partially, or revised upward in the 14 months between July 2016 and September last year. The government has also only recovered about $84m of $350m debts the automated system identified over the same time period. The new data, contained in departmental responses to a Senate inquiry, again confirms problems with the government’s automated debt recovery system, known as robo-debt. The automated system came under significant scrutiny last summer. For many years, the recovery of welfare debts has relied on a process of automated data-matching to compare what welfare recipients told Centrelink against their tax records. But the system changed significantly from July 2016, when the government reduced a layer of human oversight, significantly ramped up its recovery efforts, and funnelled debtors onto a new online portal. Where previously compliance teams would manually check discrepancies in tax and Centrelink records, the new system immediately sent a letter to the welfare recipient, shifting the onus onto vulnerable Australians to prove they had not been overpaid. Thousands of letters were sent to the wrong address and others were misunderstood or disregarded, either due to confusing wording or because the recipient could not find years-old payslips or bank statements to prove their income. If a welfare recipient didn’t respond, a flawed process was used to calculate their debt, which involved averaging out their yearly income across all 26 of Centrelink’s fortnightly reporting periods. The process led Centrelink to assume, often falsely, that a welfare recipient had worked across an entire year and was ineligible for welfare. External debt collectors were brought in if an individual failed to pay or respond to Centrelink with updated information. New figures were given to a concluded Senate inquiry into the robo-debt system on Tuesday, in response to questions on notice posed by Labor and the Greens last year. They showed that 10,560 debts were issued and then later reduced to zero in the 14 months between July 2016 and September last year. That’s about 6.4% of the total 165,000 debts raised during the period. A total of 29,000 debts were either reduced, increased, or wiped completely, after new information was received from the welfare recipient. That meant the amount of debt raised by Centrelink was $15m less than the total initially demanded of recipients. The government has routinely said the reduction of debts does not show flaws, but rather that welfare recipients can provide Centrelink with new, accurate information about their income and have their debts adjusted accordingly. But critics say many people would have simply paid the initial debt without checking, either because they trusted the government, were confused, or were unable to track down the proper evidence to prove otherwise. The shadow human services minister, Linda Burney, said the government ought to apologise to those affected. “Receiving these kinds of debt notices can be a very anxious experience for people who are already managing very difficult and complex personal circumstances,” Burney said. “The government should apologise to the over 10,500 people whose debts were reduced to zero.” A spokesman for the Department of Human Services, Hank Jongen, said improvements had been made to the system. He said the department supported a “flexible, fair, and realistic approach to debt collection”. “Taxpayers are happy to support those who are in genuine need but they expect integrity in the system, and the online compliance intervention is just one activity in place to achieve this,” Jongen said. Jongen said the department considered an individual’s financial and personal circumstances when negotiating payment arrangements. That helped to explain the discrepancy between the volume of debts identified ($350m) and debts recovered ($84m). He said debts were not always recovered immediately, or even within the same financial year they were raised. Jongen cited the commonwealth ombudsman report that said it was fair and reasonable for the department to ask customers to explain discrepancies in the information they reported to Centrelink. The ombudsman’s report made a series of criticisms of the system and the department’s approach to its implementation, but also found it was able to accurately calculate debts if it was given the right information. The government is continuing its crackdown on overpayments to welfare recipients and still boasts of its ability to use automated data matching processes to claw back debts. Last week, it claimed the system was allowing it to conduct 600,000 checks every year, which it said was “half a million more than when Labor were in government in 2012-13”. Jongen said department paused the mailout of initial letters in early November so that people did not receive “a debt notice over the Christmas period”. The letters resumed in mid-January this year. www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/14/centrelink-forced-to-wipe-or-reduce-one-in-six-robo-debts
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Post by Banjo on Feb 14, 2018 10:39:30 GMT 7
I have a few waiting for approval, unusual IP addresses or strange board names etc, if they see this and want to email me through the provided link I can discuss the issues.
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Post by Banjo on Feb 13, 2018 14:09:44 GMT 7
I believe the standard cash paid is $200 a fortnight which is hardly an incentive not to drink. Crime goes up and addicts barter food and other goods for their drug of choice.
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Post by Banjo on Feb 13, 2018 12:30:05 GMT 7
The danger of forcing it upon anyone, even targeted individuals, is that the statistics obtained would always be used to justify a much wider rollout.
I'll point out, once more, the principal beneficiary of this system is, and always will be, Indue.
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Post by Banjo on Feb 11, 2018 14:55:32 GMT 7
Members are reminded that opinions on immigrants and religious groups will not be tolerated on this forum. They will be removed without comment and repeat offenders banned.
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Post by Banjo on Feb 11, 2018 13:37:43 GMT 7
#closed
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Post by Banjo on Feb 11, 2018 9:03:38 GMT 7
Remarkable what can be achieved with imaginative bookkeeping. I wonder if the same thing can be said about jobs growth, the unemployment numbers etc? Once you drift into the field of unemployment figures you move into spectacularly imaginative bookkeeping.
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