politicalowl

There was a timely contribution this week from the Australian Bureau of Statistics to the debate being created by the Coalition government on the  Disability Support Pension – with the suggestion that only people with a permanent disability could receive the payment. Some of the commentary on the just released report  A New System for Better Employment and Social Outcomes  suggests that much of the increase in the number of people on disability pensions is the result of some kind of rorting of the system. Hence the value of the ABS’s first issue reporting on  Intellectual Disability, Australia, 2012   Noting that intellectual disability may affect every day social, emotional and cognitive skills, resulting in a reduced ability to live independently, the Bureau finds: In 2012, around 567,000 people with intellectual disability needed assistance with at least one activity. The level and type of assistance required for people with intellectual disability...