Australias disability support pension would be abolished for anyone not suffering a permanent disability under proposed Government reforms. The McClure Report into welfare will recommend all other disability pension recipients be moved to a new, temporary “working age entitlement” in a move that is expected to force many thousands into the workforce. “My concern is that for too long, many people get on to a DSP and then government tends to forget about them,” Federal Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews said. Warning the nation’s welfare system is a complex mess of payments, supplements and confusing income tests, welfare expert Patrick McClure will outline sweeping changes in a report commissioned by the Federal Government. Mr Andrews said he was concerned the disability support pension had become a “set and forget” payment. “I have asked Mr McClure to look at what can be done to simplify the welfare system and get those with a capacity to work back into the jobs market,” he said. The McClure report includes calls for tax reform for all Australians, warning the interaction of personal income tax and means-tested welfare payments can reduce rewards for working and diminish incentive to work. For the disabled, he suggests a new working age payment for people who have some capacity to work and bridge the gap between the DSP that pays people more than the dole. The report calls for the DSP to be quarantined as “only for people with a permanent impairment”. (from the article) - [Cat]
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 23:37:33 +0000
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