House debates

Wednesday, 29 February 2012

Bills

Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Disability Support Pension Participation Reforms) Bill 2012; Second Reading

11:06 am

Photo of Kevin AndrewsKevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Housing and Human Services) Share this | | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Disability Support Pension Participation Reforms) Bill 2012. This bill implements two participation reforms to the disability support pension as outlined in the 2011-12 budget. The changes include amendments relating to overseas travel for Australians with a severe disability.

The bill incorporates a range of measures. The first is the work rule for disability support pension. This measure allows all recipients of the disability support pension to work for a total of 30 hours per week without jeopardising their pension payment. The measure essentially extends the 30-hour rule to those participants who were granted disability support pensions since the introduction of the Welfare to Work program—that is, on or after 11 May 2005—and who currently have their pension suspended or cancelled if they work more than 15 hours a week. This is an important change which is designed to encourage DSP recipients to re-enter the workforce or engage with it in a greater way. For too long the DSP has been viewed as a 'destination payment'. This measure will go some way to encouraging greater productivity from those who can contribute without penalising their payment.

The second is the amendment relating to participation requirements for the disability support pension. This measure will also boost productivity by mandating new requirements for certain disability support pensioners under the age of 35 who have a work capacity of at least eight hours a week. These recipients will now have to engage with Centrelink, through a participation interview and the development of a participation plan, to assist them to develop their work capacity.

The third measure addresses the issue of portability of the disability support pension, first raised by my colleague in the other place, Senator Fifield, who aired the coalition's concern after a diplomat was unable to accept an overseas posting without jeopardising the DSP of their dependant. This set of amendments addresses some of those concerns. It does so principally by providing more generous rules for disability support pensioners who have a severe impairment that is likely to continue for at least five years, and therefore result in the recipient having no future work capacity, allowing them to continue to receive their pension payments in the event that they travel outside of Australia for 13 weeks or more.

The fourth measure promulgated by this bill relates to average weekly earnings and a range of other amendments. These include amending references in child support legislation to average weekly earnings data derived from an Australian Bureau of Statistics publication, due to a change in the frequency of that publication, as well as some other minor amendments and corrections.

The next measure amends pension ages. The pension loans scheme debt recovery provisions currently stipulated in division 4 of part 3.12 of the Social Security Act provide that in certain circumstances a debt that is owed to the Commonwealth is not recoverable. Section 1139(2)(b)(iv) of the Social Security Act provides that one of the exceptions to the Commonwealth being entitled to recover a debt until after the person's death is that the person's partner has reached pension age. Sections 1139(2)(b)(iv)(A) and (B) define pension age for a woman as 60 years and as 65 years for a man. These ages are incorrect. The amendments will remove these incorrect references. Indeed, the changes will mean the Commonwealth will not be entitled to recover a section 1135 debt until the conditions of section 1139(2) are fully met.

This bill also seeks to align the provisions of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 used to calculate the minimum instalment payment for a service pensioner in receipt of either the pension supplement or the clean energy supplement, or both, with corresponding provisions promulgated in the Social Security Act.

Let me turn now to disability reform. The approach of the government to disability support has been disingenuous. They talk about the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which I reiterate has bipartisan support; however, they are yet to fund the scheme. They are even yet to identify how they are going to fund the scheme. What they have done is announce it and reannounce it. In fact, all the government has announced is that they will 'lay foundations' for such a scheme. They have announced that they will 'support such a scheme.'

Let us turn our mind to the timeline of the government's announcements. First, on 10 August 2011, Labor announced they would work immediately with the states and territories on measures that would build the foundations of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. On 7 October 2011, the government tried to reannounce the establishment of foundations for an NDIS advisory group. A week or so later, on 20 October 2011, Labor reannounced the laying of the foundations for the NDIS, this time adding that they would lay such foundations in mid-2013. A couple of months later, on 3 December 2011, Labor again reannounced the need to lay foundations for the NDIS, this time announcing a new agency would be created to lead the design of the launch of the NDIS. Three days later, on 6 December 2011, Labor announced the government's progress in laying the foundations for the NDIS. Six days later, on 12 December 2011, the Prime Minister said that she was appointing Ms Macklin as the Minister for Disability Reform. Labor decided to play catch-up with the coalition on this front, recognising that we have had a shadow minister for disabilities in the coalition shadow ministry since the 2010 election. On 19 December 2011, Labor announced that they would work with the South Australian government on measures to help get the state ready for the NDIS, despite having already announced that the Commonwealth would work closely with all state governments.

My challenge to the Labor government here and now is very simple: tell us how you are going to fund this important scheme. Identify how you will fund it. If you are serious about the National Disability Insurance Scheme, do not be disingenuous by reannouncing and reannouncing and reannouncing your support for laying the foundations. Give us real detail. Australians, particularly those with a disability and those caring for loved ones with a disability, deserve to know the real facts—that is, how it is going to be funded and a timetable for that funding. Labor have promised big things on this front. It is time they told us how they are going to deliver.

11:13 am

Photo of Gai BrodtmannGai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Before I begin my speech on the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Disability Support Pension Participation Reforms) Bill, I would like to comment on what the member for Menzies has said about the NDIS. At least we on this side are getting on with it and getting on with trying to implement this new strategy. All that you on that side have got is a wait-and-see attitude on the whole thing. I find completely outrageous the comments that the coalition are making on this issue when they do not even know what they are going to do on it. That is a wait-and-see attitude. We are having discussions with the states, as the member for Menzies outlined, and we are engaging with the community, as he outlined. What is the coalition doing? They are just going to wait and see—'Oh, we will just stick our finger in the air when the day comes to see what we will do.' It gives me great pleasure to speak today about an important bill that will mean so much to some of our most disadvantaged Australians. This is a bill that goes to the heart of Labor values, and the amendments it will make will give peace of mind to many people within our community who are living with a disability. Supporting Australians with a disability is important to the Gillard Labor government because we understand that more needs to be done in this area. We understand that fundamental reform of disability services in Australia is required which is why we are determined to deliver a national disability insurance scheme, not adopt a wait-and-see attitude on it.

An NDIS will give people with a disability the kind of support they have the right to expect. It will give Australians who are born with or acquire a disability the confidence that they will get the help they need to live a good life. I am proud of the work the Gillard Labor government has done to make a disability insurance scheme a reality. I thank John Della Bosca and his team at Every Australian Counts for all their hard work in making sure that this issue is at the top of the national agenda. Only a national disability insurance scheme will deliver high-quality care and support to people with disability, regardless of the nature of the disability or where they live. It will provide opportunities for people with a disability and their families to break down the barriers to work, to education, to being involved and active in their communities.

This year the Gillard Labor government will begin work on the design and the launch of the NDIS. We will establish a Commonwealth agency to lead our work on planning for the launch of the NDIS, working with the states and territories to achieve our goals. This is actually doing something; this is actually getting on with the job. At the same time we are continuing to deliver real services and better support for Australians living with a disability and their carers, to ease the pressures now while we get on with the job of delivering an NDIS. The bill I speak on today will go a long way to delivering better support for those Australians. But there are many other things the Gillard Labor government has done to support people with disabilities which I would like to touch on today.

In 2009 Labor introduced the disability support pension and carer payment, an historic pension reform which provided a significant boost to the rate of the pension and an improved indexation system to make sure the pension keeps better pace with the cost of living. Since September 2009 our pension reforms have delivered increases to the maximum pension of about $148 per fortnight for singles. Over 530,000 carers now receive an annual ongoing carer supplement of $600 for each person they care for. We have also delivered support for specialist disability services. Labor is doubling Commonwealth funding to around $7.6 billion over 6½ years for states and territories to deliver more and better specialist disability services under the National Disability Agreement. In 2013-14 the Commonwealth contribution will be around $1.35 billion, compared to $620 million in 2006-07 under the former coalition government—that is, double.

We are helping children, their parents and carers by giving children with disabilities that are affecting their development flexible funding to access up to $12,000 in early intervention services through the Better Start for Children with Disability program. This builds on our Helping Children with Autism package which since 2008 has helped more than 14,000 children with autism spectrum disorders access early intervention services. We have established more supported accommodation for people with disabilities through a new $60 million supported accommodation innovation fund to build up to 150 innovative community based supported accommodation places for people with disability.

Shortly after I was elected I visited one of the group houses in my electorate, which we had set up to get people with disability out of either hospitals or aged-care facilities and into something more in keeping with their age group and their peer group. This is a beautiful new house in a really good spot in Narrabundah. I went there with the then Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services who is now Assistant Treasurer. The young people, their families and carers visiting this new house were overjoyed with the new facility that provides them with independence and age-appropriate care. The house is beautifully designed with beautiful woodwork, fretwork and glasswork. It was designed with a great deal of sensitivity and respect, as well as architectural integrity. It was a real privilege to visit that lovely home in Narrabundah and see the joy on the faces of those who were moved from age-inappropriate caring facilities into something more suitable for their age group and their level of disability. I look forward to visiting this beautiful home again soon.

The support for people with disabilities I outlined above builds on our $100 million capital injection in 2008 to build over 300 supported accommodation places which are on track to be delivered by 2012. Then there is the National Disability Strategy that Labor is implementing with the states and territories, setting out a 10-year plan for improving life for Australians with disabilities, their families and their carers. The National Disability Strategy is the first time all governments have agreed to a joint national approach for disability care and support. And finally, Labor has launched the National Carer Strategy and Australia's first national carer recognition legislation to improve recognition and support for Australia's 2.6 million carers. This includes $60 million in funding over the next four years to improve access to the carer allowance and other carer payments. As you can see, Mr Deputy Speaker Leigh, the Gillard Labor government is leading the way when it comes to support for people living with disabilities, not waiting and seeing while having a big think about it.

The bill we are debating today focuses on ensuring Australians with a disability are able to participate in the workforce where possible, while also acknowledging the government's responsibility to continue to provide a safety net for those unable to support themselves fully through work, so it has the best of both worlds. The bill contains some key reforms to the disability support pension that are part of the Australian government's 2011-12 budget package, Building Australia's Future Workforce. The Gillard Labor government understands that working benefits people in many ways. It helps boost self-esteem, improves social contact, provides more income and leads to improved health and financial security. And the Gillard government is absolutely committed to ensuring people with a disability can access these opportunities wherever they are able to do so. The Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Disability Support Pension Participation Reforms) Bill 2012 contains a number of measures that will better support Australians living with a disability here or abroad. First there is the work rule for the disability support pension. This measure allows all disability support pensioners to work up to 30 hours a week without having their payment suspended or cancelled. It extends the 30-hour rule to people granted disability support pension since the introduction of the Welfare to Work changes—that is, on or after 11 May 2005—who currently have their pension suspended or cancelled if they work more than 15 hours a week. The amendment acknowledges that disability support pensioners subject to the 15-hour rule can find it difficult to find work limited to less than 15 hours a week. Many want to test whether they can work more hours, but are worried about losing their qualification.

This change will remove any disincentive for disability support pensioners to take up work or increase their hours if they are able to do so—it is very important to emphasise that point—and will help address the low workforce participation rate of people with a disability. I have had a number of representations and a number of constituents come in about this, most recently two women who want to make their own way in the world. They want to get some savings in the bank so they can go on holidays; they want to enjoy what many of us take for granted. The extension of their ability to work will be very welcome to these women, because it will allow them to get some money in the bank and go on a holiday. It will allow them to plan for the future, which is something they are really keen to do but have been unable to do because of the limitation on their hours. We estimate that this change will encourage around 4,000 people to take up work and encourage 3,900 people who are already employed, like the women I just mentioned, to work additional hours.

Participation requirements for the disability support pension is a further measure from the Building Australia's Future Workforce package. Many people with a disability want to work if they can but may need extra support. This measure will ensure that disability support pensioners under the age of 35 who are able to work at least eight hours a week will be able to engage with Centrelink to develop a work participation plan. They will attend an initial participation interview and develop a participation plan, tailored to their individual circumstances, to help build their work capacity. The participation plan could involve working with employment services to improve job readiness, searching for employment or undertaking training, volunteering or rehabilitation. While attendance at Centrelink interviews will be compulsory, participation in activities identified in the plans will be voluntary. There will also be exceptions, particularly for pensioners who are manifestly disabled or who have a work capacity of fewer than eight hours a week.

Another measure in this bill relates to portability of the disability support pension. It introduces more generous rules for disability support pensioners with a severe impairment, allowing them to retain access to their disability support pension if they travel overseas for more than 13 weeks. This is an incredibly welcome measure, particularly for many people in my electorate. It is a particularly important and long-awaited development for Defence and Foreign Affairs families, who can be posted overseas for significant lengths of time. Disability can affect these families just as it affects others in our community, and we should not allow these families who do such important work in Australia's national interest to struggle because their work takes them and their family overseas.

I am sure many in the chamber today will remember Hugh Borrowman. He is a distinguished diplomat and a fine public servant, and he is one of my constituents. He and his wife have been strong advocates of this reform for many years. Mr Borrowman faced difficulties of his own when he discovered his son would no longer receive the disability support pension in the long term if he accepted an overseas posting. Mr Borrowman testified at a Senate inquiry that his son would lose $329.20 a week if he moved overseas with his parents. It is for cases like Mr Borrowman's that we have moved to make this important amendment. It will ensure that a family member of a person who has been posted overseas by their employer—by Foreign Affairs and Trade, Defence, Immigration, Customs, the Australian Federal Police and a range of other government agencies—will retain their pension for the period of the person's posting.

I am proud that, this year, we can close this loophole so that a person who meets the criteria can live outside Australia indefinitely and continue to be paid the disability support pension. For many people like Mr Borrowman, living overseas and flying back to Australia every 13 weeks to continue receiving the pension is simply not possible, so I welcome this aspect of the bill. I take this opportunity to commend Hugh Borrowman and his wife for the tenacity they have shown and the fine work they have done over many years to get this measure introduced. It has been a very long road for them. I have spoken with them since I have been elected and I know it has been frustrating for them at times. It is such a welcome relief that we have finally reached this day. Many families in government agencies, but particularly those in Foreign Affairs and Trade, will rejoice when this bill is passed.

Finally, this bill also contains minor amendments that change references in the child support legislation, and make minor corrections to veterans' entitlements and social security legislation. The primary amendments will take effect from July 2012 via an investment by the Gillard Labor government of $124.8 million over four years.

These measures are important amendments that have required the coordination of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Veterans' Affairs. I commend those departments and their wonderful public servants on their work. (Time expired)

11:28 am

Photo of Adam BandtAdam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | | Hansard source

I rise to make some brief remarks on the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Disability Support Pension Participation Reforms) Bill 2012, in particular on schedule 2, which deals with participation requirements for disability support pensioners. The bill introduces a requirement for disability support pensioners under the age of 35 with a work capacity of at least eight hours a week to attend an initial participation interview at Centrelink and make a participation plan. These requirements may not appear overly onerous, but they deal with a group of very disadvantaged people who have not been subject to participation requirements before. These measures are new; consequently, it is essential that, at a minimum, appropriate and sensitive safeguards are built around them. My electorate of Melbourne includes almost 6,000 people who rely on the disability support pension. These people are some of the most disadvantaged in our society. We should encourage them to participate, rather than punish them if they do not. I note that the bill does include the possibility of exemptions from the participation requirements in some circumstances, namely prenatal and postnatal relief, supported employment, illness or accident and special circumstances. These last two exemptions, illness or accident and special circumstances, are at the discretion of the secretary. It remains to be seen how these exemptions are exercised. I urge the minister and the department to ensure that they are used appropriately.

My colleague Senator Siewert has noted that there are already concerns from people on the disability support pension who worry that they will be chucked off their pensions when these measures take effect on 1 July this year. These fears are due to the government not making it clear what the changes will do and who they will apply to, and this legitimate fear must be addressed. At a minimum, a comprehensive information campaign is required to ensure that people are properly informed about how these measures will affect them. There is lack of knowledge and there is concern amongst many recipients of the DSP. There also needs to be flexibility when these measures are implemented to ensure that people can attend appointments at a time and a place that is appropriate to their needs. I also question why there is such a measure targeting people under 35 years old when it is the number of people over 45 years old on disability support pensions that is increasing.

Unfortunately, the measures do appear to be part of a wider attempt to limit the disability support pension. The Greens do not support this approach and we never will. The DSP is now harder to get than ever before. Except for those with a severe disability, everyone is required to engage in participation requirements for up to 18 months before being given access to the disability support pension. During that 18 months they must exist on the lower Newstart allowance—up to $128 per week less than the disability support pension. This bill will create even more participation requirements. The Greens do not believe this is the right approach. What we need is proper assistance and support for people living with a disability to enter the workforce if they are able. We do not need punitive broadbrush measures. If they do pass in their current form, I urge the government to take a sensitive and flexible approach to the implementation of the measures outlined in this bill.

11:32 am

Photo of Craig ThomsonCraig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I speak in support of the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Disability Support Pension Participation Reforms) Bill 2012, which contains a whole series of key reforms to the disability support pension that are part of the Australian government's 2011-12 budget package Building Australia's Future Workforce. The Central Coast is an area where there are a high number of people with disabilities and on disability support. Over 12,000 residents of the Central Coast are in receipt of disability pensions, and it is an issue that is very close to my heart in terms of how we deal with these issues.

I have a particular constituent who is a regular lobbier of our office, Paul Davis. Paul has been looking after his son Logan for in excess of 20 years. Logan is severely disabled. Together we have been able to make sure that access to disability toilets on the Central Coast is something that can happen. Previously we had the experience that, because of vandals, the disability toilets were locked and so you had these toilets that no-one could actually get into, which sort of defeats the purpose. Through this association with Paul Davis I have been able to see the kind of strains and stresses that having someone with a disability and caring for them puts on an individual, a family and their friends. Paul certainly has gone through a lot, willingly, for his son, but it is an everyday struggle in relation to how you deal with that disability and the obstacles that are in your way. Paul has been a terrific advocate for those with disabilities.

While I am talking about local issues in terms of disabilities, I would like to mention a couple of other areas and pay some credit to some locals. Councillor Doug Vincent on the Wyong Council leads the disability tourism group on the Central Coast. People with disabilities also like to get away and have a break and have holidays, and again one of the things in our society that is difficult is that we often do not cater for this sort of thing. So the Central Coast has taken a position, led by Councillor Vincent, that we need to make sure that we have tourism facilities available to make sure that this takes place. We have already had a number of events for disabled surfers and the like. One of the areas we are focusing around is Camp Breakaway. It is in the electorate of my neighbour Jill Hall, the member for Shortland, but is very close to my border. Camp Breakaway is a terrific facility that enables people—not just those from the Central Coast but a lot who come up from Sydney—to come and have a holiday and a break, away from the everyday struggles and strains of looking after someone with a disability. They are a great local organisation who do a terrific job. They are also pivotal to looking at how we develop disability tourism on the Central Coast so that people have that sort of access. I know I diverted a little bit there, Madam Deputy Speaker, but it is very much worth recording in this place these sorts of achievements, these sorts of things that local people are doing on the Central Coast, and acknowledging the terrific work that they do.

The government is improving support for Australians with disability to help them into work where possible while ensuring we continue to provide an essential safety net for those who are unable to support themselves fully through work. This is because the government recognises that working benefits people in many ways. It helps to boost people's self-esteem and improve their social contact, it provides more income and it leads to improved health and financial stability. The government is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities can access these opportunities whenever they are able to do so. From 1 July 2012 more generous rules are being introduced to allow all disability support pensioners to work up to 30 hours a week without having their payments suspended or cancelled. These people will be able to receive a part pension, subject to the usual means-testing arrangements. Currently, people with disability support pensions granted on or after the introduction of the Welfare to Work changes on 11 May 2005 can only work up to 15 hours a week before their payment is suspended or cancelled. So this is a major change. Those recipients granted pensions before this date were grandfathered under the Welfare to Work changes and can work up to 30 hours. Disability support pensioners subject to the 15-hour rule can find it difficult to find work limited to less than 15 hours a week. Many want to test whether they can work more hours but are worried about losing their qualification. This change will remove the disincentive for disability support pensioners to take up work or increase their hours if they are able to do so. It will help address the low workforce participation rate of people with disabilities. It is estimated that the change will encourage around 4,000 disability support pension recipients to take up work and 3,900 recipients who are already employed to work extra hours.

The reform helps disability support pensioners to engage with the workforce by introducing new participation requirements for certain disability support pension recipients with some capacity to work. This supplements other measures which deliver extra support for people with disability, including more employment services, generous rules for disability support pensioners to encourage them to work more hours and support for employers to take on more people with disability through new financial incentives.

Many people with disabilities want to work if they can, but they need extra support. Through this measure, disability support pension recipients under the age of 35 with a work capacity of at least eight hours a week will be required for the first time to attend regular participation interviews—engaging with Centrelink to develop participation plans tailored to their individual circumstances to help build their capacity. The participation plans could involve working with employment services to improve job readiness, searching for employment or undertaking training, volunteering or rehabilitation. The participation interviews will also help make sure disability support pension recipients are connected to the other services and supports—such as drug and alcohol rehabilitation, mental health and other community services—they need to overcome barriers to participation.

While attendance at Centrelink interviews will be compulsory, participation in activities identified in the plans will be on a voluntary basis. There will also be exceptions to the new participation requirements for pensioners who are manifestly disabled or who have a work capacity of less than eight hours a week, or while a pensioner is working in an Australian disability enterprise or the supported wage system.

The third measure in this bill is based on the recognition that the disability support pension is an essential safety net for people with severe impairments who cannot work. New, more generous rules will allow people receiving the disability support pension who have a permanent disability and no future work capacity to travel overseas for more than 13 weeks while retaining access to their pension. In addition, a disability support pension recipient who is severely disabled and required to accompany a family member who has been posted overseas by their Australian employer will retain their pension for the period of the family member's posting. These pensioners will not be eligible for add-on payments, such as the pension supplement or rent assistance, while they are overseas.

Existing portability rules will continue to apply to disability support pension recipients who have some ability to work. Other working-age payments will not be affected by these changes. The bill contains other minor amendments changing references in the child support legislation to average weekly earnings data derived from an Australian Bureau of Statistics publication—necessary because of a change in the frequency of that publication.

This government has a great record in disability services reform. This government understands that fundamental reform of disability services in Australia is required, which is why we are determined to deliver a national disability insurance scheme. A national disability insurance scheme will give people with a disability the kind of support they have the right to expect. It will give Australians who were born with or acquire a disability confidence that they will get the helping hand they need to have a good life.

I know, Madam Deputy Speaker Bird, that you went to your electorate's launch of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Many of us went to such launches in our electorates and met with people who were going to be affected by the scheme. As a new and, at that time, very sleep deprived father who was feeling a little sorry for himself, it was an eye-opener for me to meet families who had children with disabilities but who do not currently have the support of such a scheme. Their lives are so much harder.

I was able to go to a place called Chipmunks Playland and Cafe at Westfield, where a local charity, Blair's Wish, was supporting the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I met young Blair, who has a disability that his family is living with. He is one of three children. Seeing the effect on the family unit of having a child with a disability was absolutely profound. Any feelings that I had been having about the difficulty of dealing with a young child soon evaporated when I was given details not just of Blair's life and how his disability affects his family but of the difficulties faced by the many children and parents who were there. One mother told me how, for the last five years, she has had to wake every hour on the hour, turn her child over and check that he is okay—24 hours a day. For those of us who do not have a child with a disability, it is incomprehensible to see how you could live a life in such circumstances. But they do—because these are their children, these are people they care about and love. As a nation we need to make sure that these people are looked after—and that is what a national disability insurance scheme is about. It is about making sure that the most vulnerable in our community, the most in need, get the assistance they have a right to expect. This side of parliament can be incredibly proud that we have been determined to introduce this because of the profound effect it will have on those people with disability, the profound effect it will have on communities that have large numbers of people with disability and the profound effect it will have on families who will rely on the help of the Disability Insurance Scheme. It is certainly not going to mean that their life will be easy, in any sense, but it will mean that they will get much needed assistance. It is something that everyone in this House should be supporting and making sure that we bring about.

On this side of the House, we have a very proud record of making sure that we are there for those who are most vulnerable. This legislation is part of that suite of packages. It pre-empts some of the issues that we are going to be dealing with with the National Disability Insurance Scheme, but the issues that we are talking about today with this bill are important for the dignity, the participation and the care of those people in our communities who suffer from a disability. For that reason, this is a very important bill. It is a marker as to where this government are going to support people with disabilities and it is something that we should all support, and I commend the bill to the House.

11:46 am

Photo of Laura SmythLaura Smyth (La Trobe, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I am very pleased to speak on the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Disability Support Pension Participation Reforms) Bill 2012. It is one of many measures this government have put in place to respond to the needs of people with disability. It is one of many measures we have put in place to ensure that those people have better access to services in our community, better opportunities to participate in the workforce as volunteers and more opportunity to improve their self-esteem and their community connectedness and to join with others in the workforce and contribute to our broader community.

We have heard a little in today's debate about the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and rightly so. While it is in its early stages of development, it is an extraordinary prospective reform, an extraordinary thing that will transform the lives of those people with disability as well as the lives of their families, their friends and their social networks. It will open up opportunities for people with disability that will really change their lives considerably. So it was unfortunate to hear the somewhat negative reflections of the shadow minister in the debate earlier on the topic of the NDIS during the course of discussion on this bill. It was unfortunate to hear that because people in my community speak resoundingly about the importance of the NDIS and are hungry to be part of a significant reform and to have their views put forward at a national and a state level regarding the implementation of the scheme.

In the last couple of weeks I have been out knocking on doors in my electorate talking to people specifically about the NDIS. I can recall the circumstance of just one street in one suburb of my 127,000-constituent-strong electorate where I was astonished by the number of people with carer responsibilities, with profound disabilities or with children suffering intellectual disability or learning difficulties. There was an extraordinary range of people whose lives are touched by disability each and every day. It was remarkable that people were willing to speak about such an important national reform.

So it is with pleasure that today I am able to speak on one additional reform that this government have put in place and I commend the work of Minister Macklin, and indeed the member for Canberra for her contribution to some of the measures in this bill. The bill is really about reforming the disability support pension to enable people who have the capacity to do so to participate more fully in the workforce while at the same time providing an appropriate safety net. That is really what Labor are all about—ensuring that people who have the capacity to participate in the workforce, make a contribution to the community and improve their skills and their lives can do so through these measures, and so many of the other measures that we have put in place since coming to office; and ensuring that those people have access to a safety net that protects them and gives them the appropriate financial support to carry on their daily lives.

The bill contains some key reforms to the disability support pension and they are a part of the Australian government's 2011-12 budget package, members will recall: Building Australia's Future Workforce. It is a significant move by the federal government. It will improve support for Australians with disability to ensure that they are able to get into work where possible and that they are given appropriate financial support at the same time. We know that the government is committed to ensuring that people with disability can access those workforce opportunities where they are able to do so.

This bill will do three things which arise from those commitments in the 2011-12 federal budget. Firstly, it will allow disability support pensioners to work up to 30 hours a week before their payments are suspended, cancelled or affected. Members will know that the existing criteria for the disability support pension requires that a person has a continuing inability to work, and under the existing arrangements 'work' is defined to be work of at least 15 hours per week. The changes being made in this bill will allow disability support pensioners who would like to take up further work to test that capacity to work for longer periods, at the same time providing them with the safety net that they need. So it is an incentive to get involved in the workforce but it will ensure that people are not placed in any position of risk.

In the case of disability support pension recipients who will be encouraged to take up work under the changes in this bill, it is estimated that some 4,000 people will fall into that category. It is also estimated that around 3,900 recipients who are already employed will be able to work extra hours under these new arrangements. It is likely to affect a significant number of people in our community and will have flow-on effects for their families and those who support them and care for them. So it will certainly be a significant reform to have put in place. Secondly, the bill includes new participation requirements for the disability support pension to encourage greater workforce engagement by certain disability support pensioners who have some capacity to undertake work. And again, members will recall that his was a measure put in place under the Building Australia's Future Workforce package, arising out of the 2011-12 budget. So it means that certain disability support pensioners under the age of 35 who have a work capacity of at least eight hours a week will meet with Centrelink staff through an initial participation interview. From there they will put together a participation plan together with Centrelink to help them build their work capacity. That could mean that the person works with employment services to give them the skills they need to be job ready. It could also mean undertaking training, doing volunteer work or undertaking further rehabilitation. The participation plan is to be tailored to the needs and circumstances of the particular disability support pension recipient.

In relation to some of the comments from the member for Melbourne in his contribution to this debate, I should say that it is very important to note that participation in activities included in the participation plan will be on a voluntary basis. It is also very important to note that there will be exceptions to the new participation requirements where pensioners have a work capacity of zero to seven hours a week or while a pensioner is working in an Australian disability enterprise or the supported wage system. So, throughout the measures in this bill there are important safeguards put in place and there are sensitivities in there to ensure that the measures contemplated by the bill really reflect the needs of the particular person whose participation plan is being considered by Centrelink and the particular person who wants to get back into the workforce.

One of the key things that this government has been focused on is ensuring that recipients of pensions and payments are better connected to the other services and supports that they need in order to ensure that they can participate in the workforce or take on volunteer work to the extent that they are able to. The important function of a participation interview contemplated by this bill is such that it will better enable disability support pensioners to be connected to services they may need, such as mental health services, drug and alcohol rehabilitation and other community services. The bill has been considered in great detail, and those very detailed measures ensure that the participation of a disability support pensioner in volunteer or work activities will really suit their needs.

The third thing that the bill provides for is portability of disability support pension. This measure introduces more generous rules for disability support pensioners with a severe impairment that is likely to continue for at least five years and result in the person having no future work capacity. The changes will allow them to retain access to their disability support pension if they travel overseas for more than 13 weeks. Additionally, it will enable a disability support recipient who has a severe disability and who must accompany a family member who is posted overseas by their Australian employer to retain their pension for the period of the overseas employment. I commend the member for Canberra for her work in relation to that particular reform.

I said at the outset that this is but one of the measures that this government is putting in place in order to ensure that the lives of people with disabilities and their carers are improved and to ensure that they are given the best opportunities they can to participate fully in the community, to the extent that they are able. I should mention, in the context of this debate, the various things that this government has done to assist people with disabilities and their carers. Members should know that we have done some great work to increase pensions available for a variety of people throughout Australia. One of the things I will mention is that over 530,000 carers now receive an ongoing carers supplement of $600 for each person that they care for. That is a very significant thing for so many carers in our community, in suburbs in electorates such as the one I represent in La Trobe.

We have provided further support for specialist disability services, and members should know that this government is doubling Commonwealth funding to around $7.6 billion over 6½ years for states and territories to deliver more and better specialist disability services under the National Disability Agreement. We are looking for the states to reciprocate in their support of initiatives that the Commonwealth is undertaking, and we have good faith that they will continue to work constructively with the Commonwealth to improve the lives of those with disabilities and their carers. The Commonwealth has stumped a considerable amount of funding—as I said, it has been doubled for the delivery of more and better specialist disability services—and this is but one of the Commonwealth's initiatives.

Amongst the other things that we are investing in and reforming is supported accommodation for people with a disability. Members may know that this government is establishing a new, $60 million, Supported Accommodation Innovation Fund so as to build up to 150 innovative community based supported accommodation places for people with disability. I know very well, from the interviews that I have with constituents with disabilities in my electorate, that this is a really hot-button issue: ensuring that there is appropriate accommodation that is available to ensure that people with disability can be supported and can have, at the same time, the independence and autonomy that they want to be able to live in their own homes and be able to personalise things to their own needs. This considerable amount builds on our $100 million capital injection in 2008 to build over 300 supported accommodation places, which are on track to be delivered by 2012.

I mentioned earlier the NDIS and the extremely positive response to it in my electorate, and the hunger of people in my electorate to that reform. The government is also implementing a National Disability Strategy, which has been mentioned during the course of this debate. This is the first time that all governments have agreed to a joint, national approach for disability care and support. So it gives me great faith that the negotiations and the discussions which are being held at the moment in relation to the NDIS will be able to be undertaken on the same good faith basis. I certainly hope that that is the case. One of the other very significant things we have done in the area of disability is to launch the National Carer Strategy, Australia's first national carer recognition legislation. It is important to note that this includes $60 million in funding over the next four years so as to improve access to carer allowance and other carer payments.

Today I have mentioned a fairly full suite of initiatives that this government has delivered and is delivering in the area of disability and in support for carers. I am very pleased to have been able to speak in relation to the measures before us today. I know that disability organisations and advocates in my own electorate have been very supportive of so many of these reforms. In relation to supporting people in employment and ensuring that they are able to participate in the workforce I commend very much the efforts of Knoxbrooke Inc. in my electorate, which provides support and employment to around 112 people in Knoxbrooke Industries and Yarra View Wholesale Nursery. I was pleased to be out there a few weeks ago to see the fantastic work they are doing. I am pleased to be able to support them through my work as a local member and also to support them through the reforms we are delivering. (Time expired)

12:01 pm

Photo of Shayne NeumannShayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I speak in support of the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Disability Support Pension Participation Reforms) Bill 2012. There are three aspects in relation to this bill: one is permitting all disability support pensioners to work up to 30 hours a week and not lose their payment or have it suspended or cancelled. Previously, it was 15 hours a week. The second aspect is a requirement that all disability support pensioners under 35 years of age with a work capacity of at least eight hours a week engage in a participation review, an interview and development of a participation plan with Centrelink to ensure that they can participate in the workforce, if at all possible. The third aspect is the portability of the disability support pension. I commend the member for Canberra for her strong advocacy in relation to that. I support all of these measures.

I would like to talk about a couple of aspects of the local impact of the disability support pension and also to recognise a number of people who have worked hard in this area for a national disability insurance scheme. I held a forum on a national disability insurance scheme with Every Australian Counts in Ipswich in October 2011. I held it with the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers, Jan McLucas, and dozens and dozens of people attended. There was strong and overwhelming support for a national disability insurance scheme—tomorrow, if at all possible. The member for Menzies criticised us in relation to it, but their policy and plan is on the never-never—possibly it is an aspiration; possibly it might come when they potentially get the budget into one per cent surplus. We are not sure. We do not know. They are neither Arthur nor Martha on this. We are not sure what their policy is. They say they are supporting a national disability insurance scheme, but one would never know with the coalition. After having all positions possible in relation to e-health, you just never know. On the national disability insurance scheme we are not sure what their policy is.

We want to get the major reform right. We want to make sure we provide for this. Why is it so important in my electorate? It is because my electorate probably has more carers and more people with disability than any other electorate in Queensland. It is because of the socioeconomic background, as Carers Queensland pointed out to me about a year or so ago when I met with them.

We are supporting Ipswich people through great programs and wonderful local organisations that do great work: organisations like ALARA; Alzheimer's Association of Queensland; Brisbane Valley Car and Concern Meals on Wheels; Cabanda Care; CODI; Ipswich Community Aid; Ipswich Meals on Wheels; Spiritus; Ozcare; Blue Care; Kilcoy Meals on Wheels; Lowood and District Meals on Wheels; the Lutheran church; We Care Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Service for the Aged and Disabled; and West Moreton Health Service, all of whom recently got funding under the HACC program. There was $973,600 for domestic assistance and centre based care—many for people for disability. There was great funding for organisational, financial and operational support. There are great organisations like Ipswich Hospice Care, RSL HomeCare, West Moreton Care, Ipswich Multi-Service Centre, the National Respite for Carers Program and Alzheimer's Association of Queensland, all of whom received funding recently—nearly $4.2 million in extra funding for two years.

I particularly want to mention two people who have been strong advocates. They were there on the day we had Parliamentary Secretary Jan McLucas in Ipswich at the Trades Hall. They met with me on many occasions to talk about this. They encouraged me to put on what I now have as our annual event, which is the Blair Disability Links, where disability support groups come to the Brassall Shopping Centre. We had 27 disability support groups located there on 2 December last year to talk about how they can support people with intellectual and physical disability. Two great advocates in my electorate for this are the regional facilitators for Queenslanders with Disability Network. They are Peter and Linda Tully. Peter moved to Ipswich—he had the misfortune of not being born in Ipswich—in October 1997. He moved there from Wynnum, in the electorate of Bonner. But he saw the good sense of coming to Ipswich. He started attending the Catalyst Church in Brassall in Ipswich and started working as a volunteer doing IT. He is still there today with the media arm of the church. He assisted in a number of events over the years throughout Ipswich. On Linda's return to Ipswich she started driving for her parents as a courier driver before obtaining a maxi-taxi licence with Yellow Cabs. She drove that until purchasing a local flower-delivery business. She started attending Catalyst Church in August 2007. They work together and they work hard. They are great advocates in the local community. They are excited as they have been recognised as local heroes for their work by the Catalyst Church and by other organisations. They have been involved in the Ipswich community for Queenslanders with Disability Network and Ipswich Community Aid. I believe their background and the disability from which Peter particularly suffers has given him a real understanding of and empathy for people with disability.

Peter wants to ensure that Ipswich is a place where people with a disability come to live, work, rest and play. I commend them for the great work they do and I thank them for what they do in my community. They make it a better place. This legislation we have here will make this country a better place.

12:07 pm

Photo of Jenny MacklinJenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Disability Reform) Share this | | Hansard source

The Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Disability Support Pension Participation Reforms) Bill 2012 introduces two key reforms to the disability support pension announced in the 2011-12 federal budget as part of the Building Australia's Future Workforce package of measures. These significant reforms will, for the first time, introduce new participation requirements for certain disability support pensioners and allow disability support pensioners to work more hours without having their payment suspended or cancelled. This improved support for Australians with disability will help them into work, where possible, but will still make sure that there is an essential safety net for those who are unable to support themselves fully through work.

Many people with disability are great contributors in the workforce, and many want to do more. This bill contains three disability support pension measures, all effective from 1 July 2012. With the first measure, more generous rules will allow all disability support pensioners to work up to 30 hours a week without having their payments suspended or cancelled. These people will be able to receive a part pension subject to the usual means testing arrangements.

Since the previous government's introduction of the Welfare to Work changes on 11 May 2005, those with newly granted disability support pensions can only work up to 15 hours a week before their payment is suspended or cancelled. The 15-hour rule can make it difficult for disability support pensioners to find work that is limited to 15 hours a week. People will now be able to take up work or increase their hours if they are able to do so. The change will help address the low workforce participation rate of people with disability.

The second measure will introduce new participation requirements to encourage disability support pensioners with some capacity to work to engage with the workforce. Disability support pension recipients under age 35 who have a work capacity of at least eight hours a week will be required to attend regular participation interviews with Centrelink to develop participation plans tailored to their individual circumstances, helping build their capacity. Participation plans could involve working with employment services to improve job readiness, searching for employment, undertaking training, volunteering or undergoing rehabilitation. There will also be the opportunity to connect disability support pension recipients to other services and supports that they need to overcome barriers to participation, such as drug and alcohol rehabilitation, mental health services and other community services. Exceptions to these participation requirements will apply to disability support pension recipients who have a work capacity of zero to seven hours, those who work in an Australian disability enterprise, those under the supported wage system and those who are manifestly eligible for the disability support pension.

The third measure introduces new, more generous, rules to allow people receiving a disability support pension who have a permanent disability and no future work capacity to travel overseas for more than 13 weeks while retaining access to their pension, excluding certain add-on payments such as rent assistance. Existing portability rules will continue to apply to disability support pension recipients who may have some ability to work. Other working age payments will not be affected by these changes to portability arrangements. I thank all the members who have contributed to the debate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.