Australia?s Disability Discrimination Commissioner is firing back at recent reports that too much of the increase in the country?s disability support pension is unwarranted. Commissioner Graeme Innes called the rhetoric ?completely unhelpful? and cited numbers that showed that, as a percent of the total population, the number of Australians utilizing the system has fallen since 2011. The 800,000 Australians receiving benefits cost the program about $15 billion annually, which equates to less than $20,000 per person per year. A review of the medium- to long-term health of the Disability Support Pension by the Social Services Ministry is underway and will report on its findings soon.
See "Disability not rorting the support pension, Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes hits back", Judith Ireland, The Sydney Morning Herald, March 11, 2014