Tag Archives: Welfare Review 2014

Disability pension for under-35s comes under Coalition scrutiny

The Guardian

20 April 2014

Minister for social services, Kevin Andrews, may renege on promise not to make retrospective changes to DSP.

People younger than 35 who are on the disability support pension (DSP) may be reassessed by an independent doctor, under a reform being considered by the Coalition government, and contrary to previous promises.

The minister for social services, Kevin Andrews, is considering an interim report on the welfare system, written by a welfare consultant, Patrick McClure, and says the government’s focus is to keep more people in work.
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Welfare quarantining to be expanded

24 March 2014 | Dean Maloney

Red Flag newspaper

Welfare quarantining (or income management), which locks up to 70 percent of a welfare recipient’s income on a government-controlled BasicsCard, will soon affect many more people across Australia.

On 15 March, social services minister Kevin Andrews told The Australian that he was “considering the next steps for income management” and “keen to explore opportunities to expand it to other areas”.
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Welfare system needs root and branch reform: Mission Australia

WELFARE recipients must have more regular assessments to address changes in their personal circumstances that require different levels of support, the country’s largest welfare organisation has told the Abbott government’s review of the sector.

Feb 21 2014

The Australian

Mission Australia chief executive Toby Hall said his organisation, which had participated in informal consultations with the review in recent weeks, argued the system needed root-and-branch reform because it was failing vulnerable Australians by not providing the right supports to improve their lives.
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