New South Wales,
Australia — Australia's peak welfare bodies
warned the government against adopting quick fixes in a
bid to move people off disability pensions.
The federal government wants to
introduce a mixture of coercion and incentives to
encourage those on the Disability Services Pension (DSP)
back into work.
A report on a pilot program which
encouraged 671 people on the Disability Support Pension
to find work, showed that within three months one third
were in employment or education.
The government spent almost $7.5
billion on Disability Support in 2003/04.
Australian Council of Social
Service president Andrew McCallum said of the 1,100
voluntary participants who started the pilot only 57 per
cent completed it and less than 10 per cent obtained a
substantial paid job.
"This pilot study
underlines how hard it is for people with disabilities
to find work and the importance of employment
assistance," he said.
"It's important to have
realistic expectations about employment for people on
DSP.
"Quick fixes such as forcing
more new applicants for DSP onto Newstart - which
would lead to a loss in income for a single adult of
$42 a week - would be cruel and
ineffective."
More investment in support and
training was the key to moving people who can work into
jobs, he said.
Australian Federation of Disability
Organisations chief executive Maryanne Diamond said many
people with disabilities who found work had difficulty
keeping a job over a longer period.
"The government must keep
in mind that the success rates from this pilot may not
be sustainable over the long term and so adequate
support in the form of the DSP is vital to prevent
hardship," she said.
"The report itself finds
participants were concerned about losing DSP and
pensioner concessions and employer discrimination was
a common problem."
National Welfare Rights Network
president Michael Raper said it appeared there was a bit
of agenda setting going on by the federal government, and
that any tightening could have adverse impact.
"They talk the talk but
they don't walk the walk," Mr Raper said.
"People in this particular group
are not the same as unemployed people, they are
vulnerable people with particular needs, and they need
additional investment to make it work."
Australia Institute deputy director
Richard Denniss said the pilot study was a success
because of the intense assistance given to the
pensioners.
"If you take a small group
of people and you provide them with very intensive
assistance, what this pilot study shows is that it
works very well," Mr Denniss said.
"But intensive assistance has
been wound back most dramatically under this
government.
"Why are they sacking people at
Centrelink if they're really going to put these types
of resources into it?"
He said Centrelink announcing it
would axe 175 jobs in its regional Victorian operation
was not a good sign.
Mr Denniss said it was also
important to distinguish between helping an individual
find a job and the creation of a new job.
"We still have 545,000
able-bodied, unemployed people in Australia," he
said.
"If we put more effort into
helping the disabled find work there's a difference
between creating an extra job and putting the disabled
person in ahead of the other unemployed
person.
"So, I really think there's a
bit of smoke and mirrors going on in the way that
these sort of programs are talked about as solving
unemployment, as opposed to solving an individual's
unemployment."
Mr Denniss said he was concerned by
comments made by Workforce Participation Minister, Peter
Dutton, that the government might use coercion to push
people back into work.
"I think it's outrageous
that you would actually put pressure on all people
receiving DSP because you suspect that some people
shouldn't be there in the first place," he
said.
"They should focus on that group
who shouldn't be receiving DSP and pretty much stay away
from people who have legitimate disabilities."
