Productivity Commission Inquiry into a National Disability Support Scheme "Treat disability related to injury the same as other disabilities”

Abstract

The draft report Disability Care and Support contains an exciting vision of improved disability support for all people with disabilities, with provision as an entitlement to every Australian based on their need for support. This vision is strongly supported. It is quite unacceptable in a prosperous and fair society, as exists in Australia in 2011, that social security and universal health insurance provide a wide set of entitlement benefits, but that people with support needs due to disability have heavily rationed benefits, and that families bear the load of support in many cases, often with no or totally inadequate assistance. The Commission’s report is a once in a generation opportunity to correct long standing injustices to people with disability and the injured, and to remove the inefficient and inequitable support and compensation systems that have grown up piecemeal over a century or more. The Commission is urged to build on its draft proposals and so provide a base for governments to grasp the opportunity provided for the complete reform that is necessary.