As it's more than 100 days now, it has been suggested that a new thread was needed. The current govt has been breaking promises and telling lies at a rate so fast it's hard to keep up.
This below is worrying, "independent" pffft, as if your own doctor is somehow what? biased, it's ridiculous. So far there is talk of only including people under a certain age 30-35, for now. Remember that if your injured in a car, injured at work or get ill, you too might need to go on the DSP. They have done a similar think in the UK with devastating consequences.
and this is the 2nd time recently where the Govt has referred to work as welfare???? So when you go to work tomorrow (or tuesday), just remember that's welfare.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-20/disability-pensioners-may-be-reassessed-kevin-andrews/5400598
Independent doctors could be called in to reassess disability pensioners, Federal Government says
The Federal Government is considering using independent doctors to examine disability pensioners and assess whether they should continue to receive payments.
Currently family doctors provide reports supporting claims for the Disability Support Pension (DSP).
But Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews is considering a measure that would see independent doctors reassess eligibility.
"We are concerned that where people can work, the best form of welfare is work," Mr Andrews said at a press conference.
@durruticolumna wrote:You got something against white shoes and 12 year old Attorneys-General ? 🙂
@boris1gary wrote:
@durruticolumna wrote:
Seen the latest poll results for Slick Newman?Not real good I'm sorry to report.A 14% swing back to Labor since the last state election. If an election were held in Qld,Labor would win back power.After the hammering they got at the last election which left them with only a handful of seats,that's a massive turnaround. I'd like to think Tony's popularity had some bearing on the poll swing.when i read QLD news i find it hard to remember that its 2014 and QLD is still part of o z.
white shoes are fine if you like that sort of thing
And yet another article. I think they have it the wrong way around. The focus should be on more job creation for the disabled, not cutting benefits with no hope of a job,thyse plunging them further into poverty.
Disability Support Payment provides 'enormous incentive' for unemployed to claim a disability, says Kevin Andrews
Updated 32 minutes ago
Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews has pointed to the higher rate of the disability pension as an "enormous incentive" for job seekers to seek eligibility for the payment.
Mr Andrews made the statement the day after the release of the interim report from the Government's review of welfare payments, which recommended the Disability Support Payment (DSP) be reserved for those with a permanent impairment.
"At the moment, there is a $300-a-fortnight gap in the rate of payment between the Disability Support Pension and the Newstart allowance," he said tonight at a speech at the Sydney Institute.
"This gap creates an enormous incentive for people on unemployment benefits to test their eligibility for the DSP."
According to rates published on the Government's human services website, the maximum paid to those on the DSP is $766 a fortnight, while the top rate of Newstart allowance for people who are unemployed is $552 - a difference of $214.
Mr Andrews has signalled support for the review's recommendations that those people on the DSP who have some "current or future" capacity to work be switched to a payment for all working age people
Recipients with "episodic" mental illnesses have been used as an example of those who could lose the DSP.
"There are some people with mental illness who are incapable of working and they should continue to receive disability pensions," he told the ABC’s 7.30 program tonight.
"But there are some people who've got a mental illness which ... is episodic.
"So what our challenge is ... how [can we] enable them to use the capacity they've got, the episodic capacity to work?
"You could maybe define it by the type of illness, you could define it by the number of hours they're capable of working, but we don't have a final position on that."
People with mental illness have a disability, says Discrimination Commissioner
Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes, who will finish up in the job this week after his position was cut in the budget, argues the changes would place more pressure on people, many of whom are already living in poverty.
"Anyone with mental illness does have a disability," he tells Lateline tonight.
"The problem is not with welfare; the problem is that there aren't jobs for people with disabilities."
He says there has been "significant demonising" of people with disability, particularly in tabloid newspapers.
"It is unfortunate that the Government has been drawn into that process with this sort of attempt to toughen up welfare when what we need from our Government is a positive approach and a jobs plan," he said.
The Government has opened up the review for six weeks of consultation - a timeframe that has been criticised as too short by stakeholder groups.
The final report is due by the end of this year.
"We are accustomed to being surprised by what is happening in superannuation but the latest superannuation projections have taken my breath away. The trends are exciting but require fundamental rethinking of how superannuation must be harnessed to maximise benefits to retirees and the community.
Projecting forward just six years -- by 2020 -- the retirement funding managed by self-managed superannuation funds is set to double from $100 billion to $200bn. Then by 2024 -- just 10 years away -- the self-managed pension paying pool will double again to $400bn and by 2030 self-managed funds will be managing $800bn in pension-generating retirement savings.
Remember, this is not the total money in superannuation but just those funds actually financing people’s retirement. These staggering figures come from Deloitte Actuaries and the Australian Tax Office and are contained in the SMSF Professionals’ Association report to the Financial System Inquiry.
It is a simple graph so it should be easy to understand (or just look at)
These incredible growth rates come about first because people are moving into retirement at an increasing rate of knots and an increasing percentage are choosing to fund the pension phase of their retirement via a self-managed fund (it’s now 50 per cent but the swing to self-managed funds is accelerating and is projected to rise to 60 per cent of superannuation-funded retirees).
Meanwhile, as the above graph shows, industry and retail funds have been decimated and have become minor players in this market. The total public relations mess the Commonwealth Bank is making of financial planning will give self-managed funds a further boost.
On the performance front, a series of surveys now confirms -- the latest came from the National Australia Bank -- that self-managed funds are beating or equaling the highly paid professional funds, measured over the last eight years. Far from being a danger to retirement, the funds are run by well educated people who know what they are about. And when they don’t know, they seek advice.
Aghast at what is happening to their ‘growth’ market, the big institutions lobby Canberra day and night for more restrictions on self-managed funds. The funds don’t need more restrictions -- it’s the big institutions that have the governance gaps. The SMSF Professionals’ Association has set out how we can harness this movement to benefit both the self-managed funds and the community.
For those in retirement, well structured infrastructure can be a wonderful investment but at the moment to participate in most projects you need to be a wholesale investor.
Normally that requires a superannuation fund of $10 million. The SMSF Professionals’ Association says the wholesale category threshold should be reduced from $10m to $1m and parcels of infrastructure should be made smaller to tap the growth market.
For the most part self-managed funds are ‘sticky’ investors but in the retirement phase they do need revenue for pensions, so sometimes it is necessary to sell securities to meet pension requirements. Accordingly, a secondary infrastructure market needs to be established.
The lowering of the wholesale fund limit could also be used for self-managed funds to participate in the corporate bond market and perhaps loans for houses.
Australia is going to need funding for infrastructure but the current rules make it hard for most self-managed funds to participate. Given their stranglehold on retirement pensions, that makes no sense. The SMSF Professionals’ Association’s proposed changes are not difficult to implement and make sense but most institutions will oppose them rather than work on low-cost products to service the market."