Those who are receiving dole and disability pensions could find eligibility is about to get a whole lot tougher with the announcement that the Government will be cracking down on these as a way to reduce costs.
According to a Government report, the number of Australians receiving Newstart and either the disability or aged pension reached more than 5 million in June 2012.
“One in five Australians receives an income support payment,” Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews said.
“This costs the Australian Government more than $70 billion each year and this relentless growth … is not sustainable,” he said.
Because of these statistics the Department of Social Services will be carrying out a review of the welfare system.
Minister Andrews says, “There is no doubt that income support payments provide a critical safety net for people who are unable to fully support themselves, but those who are capable of working must be better supported to do so”.
The number of people receiving Newstart has jumped after the global financial crisis and was just shy of 550,000 people in 2012.
The number of Australians on disability pensions is up to 827,000 in 2012.
The Government says that this disability pension amount has grown by 20 per cent in the past decade and the cost to the budget in the last financial year was $15 billion.
In December, the Government said that not everyone receiving the payment should be on it permanently and will be it much harder to receive over the long term.
However, they are taking into account individual circumstances and have said,
“I think we have to look at people on the DSP not as a homogeneous group”.
“Obviously someone who is in their 60s on the DSP, and has been on it for a very long time, has very little job prospect if we were to review them.
“However, that can be quite different for people, say, in their twenties where there may be every opportunity, with some assistance, to get into work.”
The Government is suggesting a preference for a two-tiered system that separated permanent and temporary recipients.
This includes holding more reviews of younger people on the DSP, and new recipients assessed for how long they might need it for.
Do you receive a disability support pension and are you concerned with how this could affect your payments?
Or perhaps you have some thoughts on this cost cutting measure?
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