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The Forum > Article Comments > The welfare revolution that has passed disability pensioners by > Comments

The welfare revolution that has passed disability pensioners by : Comments

By Jessica Brown, published 12/10/2011

Around two-thirds of disability pensioners have mild or moderate disabilities, yet let less than 10% earn any income through work.

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Naomi Anderson says, in her OLO article 'Separating fact from fiction in the disability support pension debate', published on 28 September 2011, that:

"Australians are less critical of welfare payments if we
believe that we could be in the same situation ourselves;
it is rare to hear criticisms of the Aged Pension."

Naomi Anderson (OLO userID 'NaomiMelb', who has posted in this discussion) went on to say:

"Over half of [the 800,000 claimed by the author of
'The welfare revolution that has passed disability
pensioners by'] DSP recipients are over the age of 50,
with the largest increase in those over 55."

I drew attention in the discussion thread of Anderson's article to an unquantified possible overlap in classification as between DSP recipients and age pension recipients that may have arisen as a consequence of the option given to DSP recipients upon reaching pensionable age to retain the description of their benefit as a DSP. See: http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12667#218863

With over half of DSP recipients being over 50, it would seem important to quantify the extent to which some of this group would, irrespective of disability, currently qualify for the age pension. Failure to do so could result in an effective double counting of welfare recipients that would doubtless be used in support of policy recommendations aimed at the 'soft' target constituted by the disabled.

Could such an overlap in categorisation explain the apparent conundrum of a claimed continued increase (the author, Jessica Brown, paragraph 2 of http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=12727&page=0 ) in the number of DSP recipients over a period in which "for the majority of older Australians workforce participation has increased, and welfare dependence decreased from 38 per cent to 17 per cent" (Anderson, paragraph 8 of http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=12667&page=0 )?

Given the proven misrepresentation surrounding the DSP 'debate' already noted by the Press Council (Anderson's article, paragraph 1), in contrast to the already noted rarity of criticism of the age pension, it would seem all the more important that those seeking to influence policy in relation to the DSP use sound and relevant statistics.

Better scholarship, and clarification, required.
Posted by Forrest Gumpp, Thursday, 13 October 2011 7:49:04 AM
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I am appalled at Jessica Brown's lack of understanding about disability politics and the key number of environmental, economic, social and political realms that challenge this oppressed group. For too long, people living with disability (PLWD) are often viewed as 'others', and have long endured medical model ideologies that frame us.

As a woman living with severe disability, I love to work, I love to make money, and I do my best to give back to my community. But I have endured many self-esteem destroying attitudes by some employers who have major issues with my wheelchair, my disability. Unfortunately what is prevalent in our community, and clearly perpetrated by less-rigorous research by Jessica Brown, is the 'unconscious prejudice' is alive and well in Australian society.
Posted by Path-Maker, Thursday, 13 October 2011 8:39:03 AM
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Jessica Brown asserts/assumes “Australia has been at the forefront of ... welfare payments ...”. If so, Australia leads a race to the bottom. Like Government and big business, she blames people with a disability (easy targets) avoiding that Government and business are the real problem.

Ms Brown and the authors of the Government's latest federal disability bashing in the Budget are too lazy themselves to understand the issues.

The Shut Out report (see http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/disability/pubs/policy/community_consult/Pages/default.aspx) shows clearly that “By far the biggest barrier identified was employer attitudes” and

“... people with disabilities want to work. What most lack is not ability but opportunity.”

If Ms Brown and her Government mates were not so incredibly lazy, or if they actually wanted to know rather than just wanting to kick people with a disability while they are down, they would analyse Centrelink's data to check this. They would look beyond the superficial. They would show some respect for people with a disability who desperately want jobs and try very hard without success to get a job.

Not only does Ms Brown expect people with a disability to deal with a disability system that the Productivity Commission found is “underfunded, unfair, fragmented, and inefficient, and gives people with a disability little choice and no certainty of access to appropriate supports” (see http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/111270/disability-support-volume1.pdf), she wants people with a disability enslaved in a psychologically damaging and soul-destroying treadmill of failed job applications. She disregards the consequences for the vulnerable people involved.

If Ms Brown were serious about employment for people with a disability, she would be calling for a revolution in HR practices. Major employers would have HR plans with targets for employing people with a disability. Rates of employment for people with a disability would be rising instead of falling. And disability would appear in the same sentence as addressing skill shortages.

Clearly people like Ms Brown are not serious … just malicious. And sad to say Australia probably is at the forefront of this political disability-bashing.
Posted by bobb, Thursday, 13 October 2011 9:13:12 AM
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