Government urged to transform Disability Support Pension after its 'lacklustre' response to Senate report
The disability sector has criticised the government's response to the 2022 Senate report into the DSP. (ABC News)
In short
A coalition of peak bodies and advocacy groups have condemned the federal government for what they say is a failure to act on a 2022 Senate inquiry into the Disability Support Pension.
The government says the Morrison government did not respond to it at the time and it has made a number of other improvements "relevant to the report and its recommendations".
What's next?
Advocates want to see further reform to the payment.
A coalition of disability and social services groups has called for further reform of the Disability Support Pension (DSP) and condemned the federal government for its official response to a Senate inquiry into the payment.
In 2021, a months-long Senate inquiry into the purpose, intent and adequacy of the DSP received 134 submissions and held four public sessions.
The inquiry reported early the following year while the Morrison government was still in power, and heard "overwhelming evidence" the DSP was inadequate and that its "overly complex and difficult to navigate" claims process led to inequitable outcomes.
It made 30 recommendations to change the way the payment was administered and assessed to make it more accessible.
More than two years later, the federal government last week tabled its official response in the Senate, stating that a "substantive government response [was] no longer appropriate" due to "the passage of time since the report was tabled".
That has upset advocates in the sector, who on Wednesday released a joint statement calling for action "to address barriers to accessing the DSP, the risk of poverty for recipients and to reform how eligibility is assessed and avenues for dispute resolution".
"It's unacceptable that this report has sat on the shelf for over two years and received such a lacklustre response. The government has not explained why the report's recommendations are no longer relevant," People with Disability Australia president Marayke Jonkers said.
Marayke Jonkers says the government's official response was not good enough. (ABC NEWS: Lexy Hamilton-Smith)
"Every day people with disability struggle to afford the basic essentials of life due to a system that does more to exclude them than support them," Australian Council of Social Service CEO Cassandra Goldie said.
In a statement, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the government has been working on a number of disability reforms, including changes to employment programs and responding to the royal commission, in "close consultation" with the disability community.
"Our government recognises that the issues raised in the Senate committee's report … impact many Australians and we note the recommendations," she said.
"I note this report was not responded to by the former Liberal-National government, during the parliament when it was tabled."
Left without the resources 'necessary to live'
There were 805,715 DSP recipients in September 2024, according to government data.
The DSP is separate to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and available for people with permanent disability whose conditions prevent them from working.
Applicants need to meet medical and non-medical rules, the latter of which includes things like age and residence status.
Claims are assessed against impairment tables, which were updated last year after a review separate to the Senate inquiry.
Amanda Rishworth says the government has been working on other disability reforms, some of which are relevant to the recommendations made by the Senate inquiry. (ABC NEWS: Lincoln Rothall)
Ms Rishworth said the release of the new tables "included several changes relevant to recommendations in the inquiry's report".
The advocacy groups said while that represented "a starting point" for reform, a failure to act more comprehensively on more "systemic flaws" has left people with disability "without the financial resources necessary to live".
The maximum basic rate for the DSP is $1047.10 a fortnight, or $74.79 a day.
A recipient's assets and income – as well as their partner's assets and income – can reduce that amount.
The Henderson Poverty Line, one of the most common measurements of poverty, estimates income under $1,224.36 a fortnight, or $87.45 a day, places someone in poverty.
The Senate inquiry heard many DSP applicants and recipients were living in poverty but did not recommend the rate of the payment be raised.
Dr Goldie said "a bureaucratic, stressful and impersonal claims process" pushed many DSP applicants onto the lower $55.57-per-day JobSeeker payment. Unlike the DSP, JobSeeker has mutual obligations requirements.
About $21.3 billion was paid in DSP during the 2023-24 financial year, according to the most recent Services Australia annual report. The government expects that number to grow to $21.9 billion next year.
Of the roughly 113,000 DSP claims last financial year, 50,100 were thrown out, according to the annual report. The rejection rate of about 44 per cent was among the highest of any major payments.
Ms Jonkers said too many people with disability and chronic illness that needed the "lifeline" the DSP provided didn't have access to it.
"The government cannot sweep this national shame under the rug," Dr Goldie added.
"It has a duty to ensure Australia's social security provides people with enough to cover essentials, including the extra costs that disability brings, and are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve."
Cassandra Goldie says the government should be doing more with the DSP. (AAP)
The statement comes amid a deepening cost-of-living crisis and major reform to the NDIS, with many participants worried that could lead to service gaps or their level of support changing.
About 5.5 million people in Australia live with disability, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.
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