HOOKED on welfare

nero_bolt
Community Member

NSW Disability Support Pensioners now outnumber Australia’s total war wounded by more than 44,000 

 

  • Almost 20,000 people have joined the disability welfare line in the past three years
  • Since 2001, successful mental health claims for the DSP have jumped from 140,965 to 256,380
  • The federal electorates of Cowper, Richmond and Page are in the top 15 DSP hot spots in Australia

ONE in 10 people in some NSW regions is now relying on the disability support pension, with statistics showing almost 20,000 people, the equivalent of five Australian Army brigades, joined the disability welfare line in the past three years. 

 

Despite the federal government’s attempts to rein in the ballooning costs of the $15 billion disability pension fund, of which NSW leads the country in claimants, 2500 people across the country continue to make new applications for the payment every week.

 

And while the number of physical injury claims under the DSP have decreased, the number of claims relating to psychological and psychiatric conditions continues to climb at a record rate to make up ­almost one-third of all claims.

 

EDITORIAL: THE NATION CAN’T CARRY THIS UNFAIR BURDEN

 

ANDREW CLENNELL COMMENT: IT JUST DOESN’T ADD UP

 

Since 2001, successful mental health claims for the DSP have jumped from 140,965 (22.6 per cent of overall claims) to 256,380 (31.2 per cent of overall claims). In comparison, the number of musculoskeletal and connective tissue recipients decreased by almost 17,000 claims since 2010.

 

NSW leads the country in overall DSP claims with 270,415, followed by Victoria and Queensland.

 

As previously highlighted by The Daily Telegraph in 2011, the number of NSW disability support pension recipients outstrips the overall number of Australian servicemen and women injured in foreign conflicts since the 1880s.

 

The size of the number of DSP recipients in NSW is double that of Ukraine’s active army personnel and exceeds the population of Pacific Island states, including Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

 

Regional NSW and western Sydney are fuelling welfare ­increases across the state, with more than 483,000 people now relying on payments from either DSP or Newstart Allowance, better known as the dole.

 

The state’s north coast, from Port Macquarie to Tweed Heads, features prominently in the country’s most reliant welfare zones, with thousands of residents tapping into the nation’s $70 billion welfare pot.

 

The federal electorates of Cowper, Richmond and Page, along with four other NSW regions, are in the top 15 DSP hot spots in Australia.

 

In the Coffs Harbour area, statistics show an average of one in 9.9 eligible voters is on the DSP, which has a maximum payment of $766 a fortnight.

 

Further north, in Tweed Heads, Byron Bay and Nimbin, one out of every 13.5 eligible voters takes home a Newstart Allowance.

 

Sydney’s west has also emerged as a welfare wasteland, with the Labor-held seats of Fowler (Liverpool and Green Valley), Blaxland (Bass Hill, Merrylands and Fairfield) and ­Chifley (Mt Druitt, Doonside and Rooty Hill) combining to have 23,665 residents on the dole, the highest number in the state.

 

In Blaxland, held by Labor MP and potential future leader Jason Clare, an average of 1.49 taxpayer-funded payments are made for each of the electorate’s 100,284 eligible voters across 28 welfare categories.

 

Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews said changes announced in the federal Budget would help people back into the workforce and help ease psychological pressure on jobseekers.

 

The DSP, an income support payment for people ­unable to work for 15 hours or more per week due to permanent physical, intellectual or psychiatric impairment, has seen a spike in recent years of psychological claims.

 

“More stringent payment conditions and activity ­requirements are essential to ensuring the sustainability of our income support payments. Support must be targeted to those in most need,” Mr Andrews said.

 

“Changes are designed to help people move into ­employment when they are able to do so. This is particularly important for young ­people, so they don’t become trapped in a lifetime of welfare dependency.”

 

The government has said that despite the slight increase in DSP recipient numbers over the past nine months, the grant rate has fallen.

 

Also, from July 1, compulsory work-focused activities for certain Disability Support Pension (DSP) recipients aged under 35 years will be ­enforced. In early 2012, the impairment tables for DSP ­recipients was revised to ­ensure those who can work are rehabilitated.

 

The federal Budget revealed the government will spend $46.4 million over five years reviewing the eligibility of DSP recipients under 35 who were granted the pension between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011, against the revised tables.

 

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/nsw-disability-support-pensioners-now-outnumber-austr...

 

 

 

 

 

Message 1 of 41
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HOOKED on welfare

Ha .. Not Aussie slackers then!
Message 21 of 41
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HOOKED on welfare

HOOKED ON WELFARE....the real bludgers

 

'Tax leakage': Multimillionaires exploiting superannuation

 

Accountants and tax advisers have blown the whistle on multimillionaire clients exploiting tax concessions in self-managed superannuation funds, urging the federal government to act against "tax leakage".

 

Analysis by Fairfax Media of Australian Taxation Office statistics shows almost 9200 self-managed super funds have a balance of more than $5 million, a rise of 76 per cent in the past three years, and the number of funds with over $10 million has doubled.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/tax-leakage-multimillionaires-exploiting-superann...

 

 

Message 22 of 41
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HOOKED on welfare

Have you really sat down and thought to yourself, why has there been such an increase in DSP? Sure there are those who maybe should not be on the payment .......personally I don't know of any, but then again I don't know others peoples lives inside & out.
The reason I believe there has been a sharp rise is because they are finally recognising disabilities that were not previously acknowledged. Mental illnesses like Bipolar & Depression have come to the fore and they finally recognised that these people really did need medical & financial support. They recognise things such as Autisim, ADD/ADHD and Aspergers as genuine lifelong disabilities. 

Getting approval for the DSP is not easy, it tooks months of fighting to get it for my daughter because there is no name for what she has .......no basket they could put her in........she is simply ......intellectually disabled.

My daughter is almost 18.........she looks just like everyone else, she can talk like you & I but she can barely read & even when she does read ....she does not understand what she just read in most instances. Nevertheless she is disabled and she deserves all the support she gets. She is in Year 12 and she will finish with a HSC Life Skills certificate. I am so proud of her ........she tries so **bleep** hard.....but sadly her reading never improved despite all efforts from myself, teachers & assistants.
My daughter wants to work but to what capacity she can remains to be apparent, so she will finish school this year and move on to a "Getting ready for work" program next year. Would you deny her the support she is getting? If you saw her, met her, talked to her you would more than likely say "no way, there is nothing wrong with her", but then.......you know nothing about her, really.  You can't judge a book by its cover.

 

 

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HOOKED on welfare

The size of the number of DSP recipients in NSW is double that of Ukraine’s active army personnel and exceeds the population of Pacific Island states, including Vanuatu and New Caledonia

 

What? No mention of the Swiss Navy?

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HOOKED on welfare


@the_great_she_elephant wrote:

The size of the number of DSP recipients in NSW is double that of Ukraine’s active army personnel and exceeds the population of Pacific Island states, including Vanuatu and New Caledonia

 

What? No mention of the Swiss Navy?


That brought a giggle from me!

 

I am still wondering about the connection with wounded soldiers.

 

Message 25 of 41
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HOOKED on welfare

Written for The Daily Telegraph readers..says it all. Fudged photos irrelevant comparisons, misinformation... Designed to stir up hate and contempt for others less fortunate.
Message 26 of 41
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HOOKED on welfare

to OP:

 

Misinformation. The analogy used is out of context and quite inappropriate IMO and your approach I find offensive.I do not for the life of me understand why anyone reading your opener would grant you a kudo. Beats me why.

I am a carer.

Message 27 of 41
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HOOKED on welfare

This made me chuckle from the OP:

 

"Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews said changes announced in the federal Budget would help people back into the workforce and help ease psychological pressure on jobseekers."

 

Pray tell, what changes are these ? 

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Message 28 of 41
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HOOKED on welfare

     Very well said lindamaree63, Centrelink like to put people in baskets & not everyone fits in one. Good luck to you & your daughter, i hope she does well in the rest of the HSC.

          I can see it from both sides here, i understand people who are working & struggling to make ends meet etc might want someone to blame for the ridiculously high cost of living in many parts of this country. They might look at people on DSP/Newstart as 'bludgers' and think they have it easy when here they are working their backsides off to make ends meet & not getting the same benefits like concessions on bills.

              This is exactly what politicians want people to think & so they do things like propose no one under 30 will get the dole etc, its to appeal to the right wing dole hating brigade so they can distract people from the real issues. Some people who are disabled but deemed to have a partial capacity to work, i think its 15 hours per fortnight, will be put on Newstart & sent to a job network to help them prepare & find suitable work.

            I have a friend in this situation, she has a mental illness which severely effects their ability to be consistent in anything really. she has mood swings which make it very hard for her to either get motivated when depressed or get to sleep when more energized. She did hold down a 20 hr a week job for 2 years but was then sacked after having to go into hospital for a few weeks. She can probably never work full time because its too stressful, but if she was at least she could have taken sick leave which part timers don't get.

        Anyway so now she's with the job network which is fully funded by the govt & costs ALOT OF TAX PAYERS MONEY, have a look on Google if you want to know just how much. She has found them to be quite useless as far as they have not had enough training and to understand her problems. All its doing is causing her further stress, she woud be far better of on DSP doing some voluntary work that she wants to do when she's able. It would probably cost about the same or less to the govt for her DSP than what they are paying the job network to have her on their books.

     The issue is not so much some people on DSP cannot work at all, its all the barriers to them being able to hold down a job, including lousy employers who only care about their bottom line. I also know of a guy who was let go from a job once revealing their mental illness to the boss who conveniently came up with some unrelated reason to fire him, against the law yes, but hard to prove.

           There are many disabled people who want to work but its not practical for whatever reason, just think about that before you judge someone!

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HOOKED on welfare

windrake
Community Member

I think they are more interested in Middle Eastern Drug gangs who are on the disability support pension. I don't think they are going after the disabled or needy.

 

I am happy if they get the rorters but I have 2 disabled nephews and they say  are safe from any cuts because they have read   about what the budget is about and asked the right questions.

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