2016-01-29
The Government’s plans to reduce the number of people over 35 on the Disability Support Pension after targeting young people shows a full scale attack on people accessing support, Senator Siewert said today.
“The Government should not boast a reduction in DSP recipients or move to target recipients over 35 without telling us what has happened to those denied access or dropped off the DSP so far”.
“There are now 806,169 people claiming the DSP compared with 830,454 in June 2014. In estimates I will be asking what happened to those people who had financial support pulled from underneath them.
“The Government is happy to spruik the statistic but there are people behind these numbers. One in seven young people kicked off the DSP is a huge concern, especially since we know young people already struggle to enter the workforce.
“We need data on what happened to these people, did they move on to find jobs? These questions must be answered.
“It is also worrying that a higher percentage of people were denied support when they applied, with just 34.6 percent of people who apply for the scheme being approved compared to 65% of applicants in 2008. This is worrying because we know that when these decisions are appealed the amount of decisions adjusted or overturned is high.
We understand 30% per cent of DSP decisions are adjusted or overturned when they’re appealed to the Social Security Appeals Tribunal, this raises serious questions. I will be following this in estimates.
“It is worrying that the Government is now turning to older recipients. Instead of trying to shave down people accessing the DSP and going after people with disabilities the Government should focus on the big end of town. We are a caring society and can do better”.