Australia — The
Federal Government says old and new recipients will be
treated the same.
Tougher activity tests could be
imposed on the 700,000 people now claiming the disability
support pension - not just future applicants - after the
Howard Government yesterday ruled out creating "two
classes" of welfare recipients.
After business spoke out in The
Age yesterday urging consistent rules for old and new
claimants, Employment Minister Peter Dutton moved to
allay fears about a two-tiered system.
"We don't want to draw a line
behind those people who are in receipt of benefits at the
moment and cut off any support to those people," he
said.
"(But) we do want to make sure that
we aren't creating two classes of people. The Government
is very conscious that we aren't going to do
that."
Cabinet yesterday considered
uncosted proposals from a special inter-departmental
committee on welfare reform, but deferred agreement on
key measures.
The senior ministers responsible,
Kay Patterson and Kevin Andrews, flew out of Australia
straight after cabinet to attend an OECD conference on
social policy in Paris.
The reform push includes plans to
force single-parent pensioners to work part-time once
their children start primary school, and full-time once
their children reach high-school age.
Also on the cards is a boost in
funding for Job Network agencies and Open
Employment Services, the Government's disability
employment network, to provide more intensive support to
disabled job seekers.
Possibly the most contentious
change is a push to slash the work test for disabled
pensioners. Those who can work 15 hours a week would be
forced to find a job or risk being moved to the
lower-paid general unemployment benefit, Newstart. The
current test is 30 hours a week.
Mr Dutton also spoke out against
extending the two-year period in which disability pension
recipients can keep their concession cards and retreat
back onto benefits if their attempts at work fail, saying
more publicity of existing benefits was all that was
required. He rejected claims the Government's approach
had too much stick and not enough carrot.
"A lot of people have said this is
a cost-cutting exercise. Nothing is further from the
truth," he said. "The most cost-effective option for the
Government would be to do nothing, but the Government is
committed to making an investment in those people who
have the ability to work."
Physical
Disability Council of Australia
executive officer Sue Egan slammed the push to force
people already claiming disability benefits to adhere to
the the tougher activity test.
"That's like taking the ladder away
after someone had climbed up onto the roof and saying
'you can't get down now, we've changed the rules'," she
said.
"Because many employers don't want
to hire people with disabilities, chances are you will
just shift people into Newstart, blowing out the
unemployment figures."
Garry Davison, chairman of ACE
National, the peak body for disability employment
agencies, said New Zealand had just waived its 15-hour
activity test.
"I can't see what these changes
will do other than push many of these people onto
Newstart and increase the unemployment rate," he
said.
