Future growth in DSP receipt—not all bad news

Image source: Department of Social Services

No doubt one of the priorities of the proposed review of income support payments will be the Disability Support Pension (DSP). DSP numbers have risen substantially in recent decades, despite numerous reforms designed to tighten eligibility and hence restrict growth. However a recent paper suggests that changes made to other income support payments have offset these reforms, and that the story is more positive than previous reports suggest.

DisabilityCare Australia launches

Image source: DisabilityCare Australia

DisabilityCare Australia, a new scheme for providing support for people with disability, has commenced in locations across Australia. The launch of the scheme, formerly known as the NDIS, is the culmination of years of advocacy from the disability and carers sectors. It builds on work undertaken through the National Disability Strategy, the Productivity Commission, COAG and agreements reached between the Australian and state and territory governments.

This post provides a brief guide to some key aspects of the DisabilityCare Australia launch.

Paying for the NDIS: what about a levy?

Image source: Australian Government

There is increasing speculation that the Gillard Government is considering introducing a levy to help pay for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The question of how the NDIS would be financed was one of the key issues examined by the Productivity Commission (PC) in its inquiry which lead the Government to introduce the scheme.

This post outlines the importance of the financing issue and what the Productivity Commission recommended as a model for funding the NDIS. It highlights some of the key questions relating to the design of a levy for the NDIS.

Disability employment in Australia and the OECD

Source: University of York

Accounting firm, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has released a report outlining a series of principles that it believes should guide the implementation of the national disability insurance scheme proposed by the Productivity Commission. In the report, PwC cites statistics which indicate that Australia ranks 21st out of 29 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in employment rates for people with a disability. It also highlights the fact that Australia is ranked 27th out of 27 OECD countries when it comes to relative poverty risk for people with a disability.

The first of these figures begs the question: Why does Australia perform so poorly relative to other OECD countries in terms of employment of people with disability? And, relatedly, are there any lessons to be learned from other OECD countries as to how this situation might be improved?

Disability Support Pension Customers: Statistical Summary

The Disability Support Pension (DSP) is a means tested payment for people with a disability. To be eligible for the DSP a person must be permanently blind or have a permanent physical, intellectual or psychiatric impairment. To qualify for the DSP, a person must be aged 16 years or over but have not reached pension age at the time of claiming (for more information on eligibility see the Centrelink website).

As at June 2010, there were 792 581 DSP customers, this is an increase of 35 463 (4.7 per cent change) from the previous year. As a proportion of the total Australian working age population, DSP customers (aged 15 to 64) made up 5.2 per cent. Of the 792 581, only 20 per cent (158 714) did not received the maximum rate of payment due to the income or assets test.

National disability insurance and the new parliament

Australia’s hung parliament has raised questions about the future of large-scale economic reforms such as emissions trading, the mining tax and national broadband. One significant potential reform in the social policy area over which there may also be uncertainty is national disability insurance.

In recent years, there have been increasing calls from within the disability sector in Australia for the introduction of a new, national, long-term mechanism for funding support for people with disability—known as national disability insurance.