Australia — "Many arguments used to justify a crackdown on disability pensions are false or misleading. It's not true that 'it's easy to get the DSP' or that 'governments put people on DSP to hide unemployment,'" said ACOSS President Andrew McCallum. "This research outlines the facts of who is on the DSP and why." Findings revealed in Ten Myths & Facts about the Disability Support Pension include: Most Australians do not support a tough approach to people on DSP. A recent survey found that half felt it was reasonable to ask DSP recipients to retrain, participate in their community or improve their literacy skills but 2/3rds did not support requirements for people with disabilities to look for work. 75% did not support requirements for people with disabilities to participate in Work for the Dole. It's not easy to get the DSP. Recipients must have a serious medical condition independently assessed by doctors and vocational experts. The condition must prevent them within the next two years from working 30 hours a week or more. Disabilities of people on DSP are more diverse and serious than 'sore backs'. 33% of people on DSP have musculo-skeletal disabilities (loss of mobility & limbs), 25% have psychological & psychiatric conditions, 11% have intellectual & learning disabilities, 5% circulatory system problems and 21% other conditions. The doubling of the number of DSP recipients over the past 15 years is due to: Increased recognition of disabilities in society. The ABS estimates that the number of Australians of workforce age with a "core activity restriction" rose from 1.2 million in 1988 to 1.5 million in 1998. Improved identification of disabilities such as mental illness and lower mortality rates after accidents account for this increase. The strongest growth was in severe and profound disabilities. The closure of payments and pensions to older women. The fastest growing category of DSP recipients is not older men but mature aged women. The closure of payments such as the Wife Pension, Widow's Pension and the Age Pension for women 60-65 years old means that more women with disabilities applied for the DSP. The decline in of number of low-skilled full time jobs and lack of employer support for people with disabilities. In the 1990s, all growth in fulltime permanent jobs was in higher skilled employment when people with disabilities on average have a low level of skills. Source ACOSS, 30 January 2005 - Andrew McCallum ###