on โ12-07-2014 11:28 AM
Australian convicted terrorist Khaled Sharrouf reportedly continued to receive a disability pension months after arriving on the battlefields of Syria.
Sharrouf, who fled Australia for Syria using his brother's passport on December 6, continued to receive his disability support pension at least until February, about two months after he left Australia to join insurgents fighting the Syrian government, The Weekend Australian says.
The newspaper says revelations that the former Sydney man was paid his regular disability cheque - about $766 a fortnight - long after authorities knew he was gone raise the possibility that the taxpayer may have been inadvertently funding his activities.
It is not clear if Sharrouf accessed the money, the newspaper says, but his journey to Syria took him through Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey, countries where he would have had ready access to any money paid into his bank account.
Sharrouf was jailed in 2005 for nearly four years for possessing six clocks and 140 batteries connected to a terrorist conspiracy in which 18 men were convicted over plans to attack targets in NSW and Victoria.
He's come full circle hasn't he?
The parents come here to escape war and terror and give their kids a better life. Then the kids go back to the old country keep the viscious circle going.
All at Aussie taxpayers expense.
Very disappointing.
on โ12-07-2014 12:56 PM
Which is my point entirely.
If you are one like me who doesnโt deal in absolutes, then you accept there are persons on the DSP but are not entitled to it.
Therefore to protect the benefits of those who are legitimately entitled to it, (the genuinely disabled), you must first acknowledge that there are some who should not be entitled but are in receipt, you should then ascertain how they got to be in receipt, which then allows you to take remedial action close that loophole.
on โ12-07-2014 01:01 PM
The number would be very small and since the person in question was diagnosed with schizophrenia he was eligible for the DSP. Have you ever applied for DSP?
โ12-07-2014 01:03 PM - edited โ12-07-2014 01:05 PM
on โ12-07-2014 01:13 PM
After leaving the military, I worked in disability insurance for nearly 20 years and I can assure you I know how easily doctors can be bought.
As for having applied for a DSP, though severely disabled, I couldnโt be bothered because my DFRDB combined with funds received progressively selling off my accumulated assets (my book collection), provide me with enough to get by.
That is I could qualify, but I can get by without it.
on โ12-07-2014 01:17 PM
So, the answer is "no", therefore, you don't know what is involved and how difficult it is for those with a mental illness to be granted the DSP.
on โ12-07-2014 01:23 PM
on โ12-07-2014 01:25 PM
Not quite.
No I havenโt applied.
Yes I know the qualifying conditions.
As part of my disability is a mental disorder, if I wanted the pension I know which doctors in Adelaide I could go to see who would be guaranteed to certify exactly what I want them to certify.
โ12-07-2014 01:39 PM - edited โ12-07-2014 01:40 PM
Why don't you try it then and see if your 'theory' is accurate? You must think your condition/disability would not make you eligible for DSP, if as you say, you would have to 'fool' a Dr into certifying your condition as being eligible for the DSP.
on โ12-07-2014 01:55 PM
@icyfroth wrote:This young man was born in Australia. What influences did he have growing up to make him turn against the country of his birth, is another question you might want to ask, before you trivialise this offence to a "few batteries" bought with his disability pension.And are these infuences actively recruiting other young men like Khaled?
What influences? How about being bullied at school for looking different, and witnessing Muslims being called terrorists, and told to go "home", and women wearing hijab on the street being spat on? The hatred shown against people from middle eastern countries is worse than any other bigoted prejudice against any wave of new migrants before.
As far as getting the disability pension goes; I do not think it is all that easy to get one, and the department does order new reports now and then. However, pensioners are allowed to travel, albeit only for limited time. This man left on somebody else's passport, but being out of Australia would have no effect on his pension until the time limit expired.
on โ12-07-2014 02:08 PM
As the man in the opening post is described as a young man:
Changes to Disability Support Pension
At June 2013, only around 17 per cent of DSP recipients were aged under 35 years, while over half (56.2 per cent) were over 50 years old.
[5] Department of Social Services (DSS), Characteristics of Disability Support Pension Recipients, DSS, June 2013, p. 10, accessed 16 May 2014.
.................
Indeed, the authors show that the percentage of the working age population with a disability receiving welfare has declined since 1993, leading them to wonder โwhether there would be quite so much concern about the rise in DSP receipt were this simple fact widely appreciatedโ.
[12]. Ibid., p. 351.