By Disabled World - 2008-09-30
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Weekly review of disability and health news from Australia for the 30 September 2008.
The government last week rejected legislation proposed by the opposition in the Senate which would have given pensioners an immediate $30 a week rise. Federal Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has rejected an interim handout to pensioners, because, he says, it would inevitably become permanent. Consequently, the government would wait for a broad-ranging pension review due to be released early next year before making any decisions, he said. Mr Tanner said there were very complex questions about eligibility entitlements with, for example, the aged care subsidy system built around the pension rate. The Federal Opposition should extend its call for a $30 increase to the single Age Pension, single Service Pension and Widow B Pension to include the Disability Support Pension and Carer Payment. As well as the usual living expenses, people with disability and their carers often incur significant additional costs as a result of disability.
$2bn welfare relief package - SOCIAL security recipients are in urgent need of a $2 billion financial relief package to help cover rising living costs, the nation's leading welfare body said. The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) wants the Federal Government to increase rent assistance, and utilities and pharmaceutical allowances for five million welfare recipients. Under the package, rent assistance and utilities allowance rates would be increased by 30 per cent. The pharmaceutical benefit would be increased by 100 per cent for pensioners and unemployed people with disabilities or a chronic illnesses. The ACOSS package would provide relief for aged and service pensioners, disability support pensioners, carers, single parents and the unemployed.
The Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Dr Derek Sikua has signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability. The signing ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in New York means the Solomon Islands Government must honour the Convention through enacting appropriate legislation and administrative arrangement to ensure both private and public sectors respect the rights of people with disabilities.
Current estimates by Access Economics indicate that carers save government upwards of $30 billion annually - by providing 1.2 billion hours of care that governments at federal, state and local levels would, in other circumstances, be required to find to ensure adequate and appropriate support for those Australians who need it most.
Government departments that post materials inaccessible to people with disabilities will be publicly named and shamed on the Australian Human Rights Commission’s website. The launch of the WebWatch list came in response to difficulties being experienced by people with a disability, particularly people with vision impairment in accessing some formats of the governmental documents online.
James Wischhusen, 16, who attends West Lea School, a special needs school, and has moderate learning difficulties, only began playing cricket at school in the summer of 2007. He is now in training with the England Disability Cricket Squad, and could be chosen to represent Australia next year when the squad holds its own Australian tour.
NIGEL Smart has joined local not-for-profit recruiters Jobs Statewide and Excel Recruitment, in a role which provides both personal and professional rewards. Mr Smart's new role follows a two-year stint at another not-for-profit organisation, Disability Works Australia. It has a Federal Government contract to help firms recruit people with disabilities.
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