Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Payments) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on Disability Services Amendment (Linking Upper Age Limits for Disability Employment Services to Pension Age) Bill 2017. Labor will support this bill. This is a technical but important bill for people with disability throughout Australia. This bill amends the Disability Services Act 1986 to ensure there is no gap between the age that people are able to access services under disability employment services—disability management service and age pension eligibility. Without this amendment, people with disability who are aged 65 or older but who have not reached pension age, and who are on income support with mutual obligations to seek work, could be excluded from receiving support to meet those obligations.

The bill amends the Disability Services Act 1986 to align the upper age limit in section 18(a) of the act to the pension age in the Social Security Act 1991, by removing references to '65 years' and replacing them with the term 'pension age' as defined in the Social Security Act. This will make sure that rehabilitation services and employment support can continue to be provided to individuals under the Disability Employment Service—Disability Management Service program until they reach the age pension eligibility age. The total estimated cost of the bill is $4.6 million over the forward estimates.

The government estimates that, without the amendments proposed in this bill today, there would be around 200 vulnerable people affected and left without support later this year, and those numbers would only increase further in the coming years. This is a bill that will help people with disability, and for that reason it is a bill that we support.

Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Jagajaga and other members for their contributions during the second reading stage of the Disability Services Amendment (Linking Upper Age Limits for Disability Employment Services to Pension Age) Bill 2017. By way of summation of the second reading stage of the bill, it is necessary to note that the bill gives effect to a need to make a mechanical amendment aligning the existing upper age limit in the Disability Services Act 1986 to the qualifying age for the age pension in the Social Security Act 1991.

From July this year the qualifying age for the age pension will begin to gradually increase for both men and women from 65 to 67 years, with the qualifying age increasing by six months every two years. That process commences on 1 July until fully implemented by 1 January 2024. The DES-DMS program is supported by the act, specifically section 18(a), which at present limits the age of the target group for those services to persons who have not attained 65 years of age. Therefore, the mechanical amendment contained in this bill replaces the existing upper age limit for the DES-DMS program in section 18(a) of the act with a reference to the qualifying age as determined by the Social Security Act 1991. This need is due to the pension reform package legislated in 2009, which brought about improvements to the longer term sustainability of the pension system and adjusted the age pension qualification age to reflect the fact that Australians are living longer than ever before. It is estimated that someone retiring today who qualifies for the age pension can expect to receive it for 20 years. The increase to the age pension qualifying age will also mean that there will be people with a disability who are aged 65 or older but have not reached pension age who are on income support with mutual obligations to seek work and who, under the current provisions of the Disability Services Act 1986, might be excluded from receiving support to meet those obligations. So the bill therefore ensures that rehabilitation services can continue to be provided to individuals under the Disability Employment Services—Disability Management Service program until they reach the age of pension age eligibility.

This bill also ensures that jobseekers with temporary or permanent disability, injury or health conditions who require the assistance of DES-DMS and who may require flexible ongoing support but are not expected to need regular long-term support in the workplace have the best support and assistance possible to prepare for, achieve and maintain employment. In making this amendment, the existing Disability Services Act 1986, if you will, is future proofed and able to meet future challenges, as the incorporation of such a reference aligns the upper age limit in section 18(a) of the act to the pension age in the Social Security Act 1991. Without this measure, current estimates are that in this year there is a potential for approximately 200 vulnerable people being affected and being left without support, with those numbers increasing until July 2019, and further again beyond that time. It is therefore vital that the DES-DMS program can deliver rehabilitation services and employment support to people who are expected to continue seeking work, in addition to working people in need of such support. The bill therefore ensures that the DES program can adapt to changing circumstances and future challenges, and provides confidence, ensuring that over time the essential rehabilitation services and employment support which people rely on are able to be delivered. The government is obviously committed to supporting people with disabilities, as I believe is the common goal of all members of this House. I therefore commend the bill to the House.

Bill read a second time.