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Thanks to supporter of NATSEM Research
ADD YOUR VOICE - Increase the impact
ACOSS National Advocacy Day at Parliament HouseTelstra Disability Forum report
WWDA Submission to Review of Commonwealth Disability Strategy
Case Studies on Employment Experiences
Media Release 28 September - Call for Senate Review of Welfare-to-Work
WWDA applauds government initiatives which will assist women with disabilities to participate in the workforce in greater numbers, and in meaningful, appropriately remunerated positions. As signalled in bulletins in the past several months, we have considerable concerns that the current Welfare-to-Work 'reforms' will not bring about such an outcome. Much of WWDA's work over the past month has been concentrated on briefing politicians and the public about the inequities which are apparent in these reforms.
The outcomes reported make sobering reading. People with disabilities who apply for the Disability Support Pension (DSP) on, or after 1 July 2006, and who are assessed as having the potential to work for 15+ hours per week in the general workforce, will be placed on Newstart Allowance (NSA). Those on NSA will face a raft of negative impacts, amongst which are:- more stringent entry-level income tests (perhaps necessitating drawing down their assets until they reach the eligibility threshold); a base level income support which is $46 ($20%) per week lower than their DSP counterparts; loss of their disability support allowances at much lower levels of income earned, and lowered tax free thresholds.
The more alarming parts of the research revealed that the government will claw back a large part of their earnings in tax, so that disposable incomes of people with disabilities will be negatively impacted. Single adults with disabilities will lose up to $122 a week in 2006-07, compared to those on the DSP. When their earnings are between $50 and $300 per week, the effective marginal tax rates they will pay will range from 65 % to 75%.
Of greater concern is the fact that people with disabilities are as having the potential to work irrespective of the actual availability of suitable work. Many people with disabilities face considerable practical restrictions which limit job choices. Women with disabilities face the further restriction of gender discrimination.
If you would like an e-copy of the report, send your request to sudata@optusnet.com.au
Also on September 14, delegates representing the three women's secretariats (which convened the original forum at which it was decided to engage NATSEM) met with the Hon. Kevin Andrews (Minister for Workplace Relations) and the Hon. Kay Paterson (Minister for Family and Community Services). WomenSpeak Secretariat was represented by WWDA President, Annie Parkinson, and Rebecca Vassarotti, with Sue Conde and Ros Kinder from the Australian Women's Coalition, and Erin Wood and Kerry Ann Dear from Security4Women). The meeting was very positive with a useful exchange of information between the delegation and the Minister. The delegation was able to raise a range of issues in a constructive and positive manner.
Discussions with backbenchers and opposition members continue, as do negotiations with key ministers. Minister for Workplace Relations has already signalled that there will be some changes to the NSA requirements for some categories of single parents. As yet similar concessions for people with disabilities have not been announced. So far, the announced adjustments seem to be made in a piecemeal fashion, and details of their administration are vague. The consortium of women's organisations believes that a Senate Review is needed. A press release calling for such a review is at Item 12 in this Bulletin.
Legislation on both the Welfare-to-Work and Industrial Relations 'reforms' is expected to be tabled in mid-October. The women's secretariats are planning a forum at this time, so that ongoing strategies to get the best outcomes for disadvantaged groups can be discussed further.
The politicians need to know that:
Chief amongst these concerns is the need to preserve and extend the Universal Service Obligations to ensure equity of access to the Standard Telephone Service for people with disabilities; to preserve additional services which Telstra currently provides (such as the Disability Enquiry Hotline, the Disability Assistance Helpline, Centre for Accessibility (which undertakes a raft of activities/research on Telstra internal services), and to ensure the continuation/improvement of a Disability Equipment Program.
The 2 days of lobbying took place at the time when the 5 relevant pieces of legislation were being debated in both Houses. Ongoing dialogue is being conducted with Ms Astbrink.
The matters remain urgent and current, even though the legislation enabling the Transition to Full Private Ownership has now been passed.
The TEDICORE document Best Practice in Telecommunications for People with a Disability in Australia is available at http://www.tedicore.org.au/publications_best_practice.html; and the TEDICORE Position Paper People with a Disability and Telecommunications - Moving forwards after the possible sale of Telstra, can be obtained from TEDICORE, Ph & Fax: (07) 3876 0880, Email: g.astbrink@gsa.com.au.
If anyone would like a copy of the Submission emailed to them, please contact the WWDA Office via email on: wwda@wwda.org.au
A Summary of the Recommendations in WWDA's submission include the following:
1. WWDA favours a strengthening of the CDS to introduce targetted programs to encourage the employment of women with disabilities.
2. Strengthen the CDS so that strategies and incentives which address the employment inequities which exist for all people with disabilities can be supported. Targetted supports are needed to address the exacerbated inequities which exist for women with disabilities. Increased workforce participation rates at higher levels of income will enable greater whole-of-life equity for people with disabilities.
3. Increase levels of support for people with disabilities so that they can participate in mainstream programs, services and facilities.
4. Support disability organisations to build capacity so that they can increase levels of systemic advocacy and participate more fully in decision making processes which affect their lives.
5. Maintain/increase programs which raise awareness of the information access needs of people with disabilities.
6. Set up a feedback mechanism so that information about agency success in the provision of access to programs, facilities and services, including complaints incidence and resolution rates are publicly available.
7. Strategies to address these barriers (which recognise their disproportionate impact on women with disabilities), need to be put in place and/or strengthened.
8. Put strategies in place to address: the lack of portability of disability support programmes; the linking of disability supports to income supports; the double discrimination which affects women with disabilities; research into impediments to uptake of Vocation and Educational Training programmes; and reinstatement of the collection of disaggregated data in all areas affecting people with disabilities accompanied by appropriate remedial programmes to address disparities revealed.
9. Strengthen the resourcing of the Disability Rights Section of HREOC.
The dossier of case studies was forwarded to Erebus International to give the consultants an understanding of the experiences of female job seekers with disabilities. They have indicated that the information will be of use to them in the review process.
"The confusing range of temporary opt-outs to his Welfare to Work policy announced on 21 September by Employment Minister Andrews will add to administrative complexity, and develop inequitable comparisons" spokeswoman for the consortium of women's organisations Marie Coleman said today.
"The consortium supports the policy objective of encouraging sole parents and people with disability who have the capacity to do so to move from welfare to work. Our concern has always been with the strategies proposed. Having met with Ministers and officials and examined the recent changes the consortium of sixty plus national women's organisations considers that the public interest will be served, and the genuine concerns of informed people best resolved, through a comprehensive review of the policy in the Senate.
"The legislation is likely to come to the Parliament in the second week of October. The legislation is likely to be bare-bones only, with the administrative details later laid out in guidelines and Regulations, which the Parliament can't examine.
"There are unresolved issues surrounding the situation in rural communities and the availability of child care. There is lack of clarity about Newstart Allowance accepting part-time study to enhance employability as meeting activity requirements, there are inequities about loss of access to pensioner concession cards. A particular concern is the need for improvements to the Austudy Payment to allow sole parents and people with disabilities to study part-time. The list goes on", Mrs Coleman said.
The consortium urges the Government to set up a Senate Committee to review the Welfare to Work policies before the legislation is passed so that the problems can be ironed out in advance or implementation.
"The What Women Want consortium considers that the public interest will be served, and the genuine concerns of informed people best resolved, through a comprehensive review of the policy in the Senate."
Sue Salthouse, speaking on behalf of Women with Disabilities Australia, said: "WWDA is alarmed at the lack of detail in the deceptively compromising statements coming from the Minister on 21 September. The Minister has acknowledged that some groups, such as the parents of children with disabilities, will need 'adjustments' to their Mutual Obligation requirements. But there has been a frightening silence about adjustments needed for women with disabilities who face even greater restrictions on their workplace choices. Tinkering at the edges of the policy will only exacerbate the inequalities already inherent in it. The only way forward is for it to undergo a concerted re-examination at the level of a Senate review."
The What Women Want consortium will hold a Canberra workshop in early November to examine the Welfare to Work legislation and the Industrial relations legislation, so the sixty plus national women's organisations and their members can be properly informed.
CONTACT:Marie Coleman 0414 483 067, Sue Salthouse 0411 157 164, www.nfaw.org, nfaw@nfaw.org 02 4422 2208.
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