How being on the Disability Support Pension has allowed me to stabilise my mental health

Advocacy, Lived experiencePower to Persuade29 February 2024Disability, welfare conditionality

To whom it "should" concern: unsuccessfully applying for the Disability Support Pension in Australia

Policy and governance, AdvocacyPower to Persuade27 February 2024Disability, welfare reform

Gender has always been 'shut out' from NDIS policy development

The much-anticipated NDIS review released in late 2023 failed to explicitly consider gender equality or recommend a gender strategy. In today’s post, UNSW PhD candidate Molly Saunders gives a history of gender and the NDIS, and discusses her doctoral research on whether the NDIS supports women with disability to live a life of their own choosing.

Womens Policy Action TankPower to Persuade19 February 2024Disability, NDIS, Gender Inequity

Are proprietors of supported residential services (SRS) the right people to support residents into better housing?

Advocacy, Policy and governancePower to Persuade29 November 2023Disability

Violence against disabled women: Findings from the Royal Commission

In today’s blog, Phoebe Nagorcka-Smith (@PNagorckaSmith) explores what the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability had to say about family and domestic violence.

Rethinking Income Limits for Disability Pension Recipients

Today’s post by Brandon Maki was commissioned by the Antipoverty Centre. Brandon is on the Disability Support Pension (DSP) and has written about the income free area and the focus of pushing people into work.

Antipoverty Centre, Advocacy, Policy and governancePower to Persuade20 July 2023Disability

The Prevention model of Community Visitors [excerpts from 2020-21 Victorian Community Visitor Annual Report]

AdvocacyPower to Persuade4 May 2023Disability, NDIS

A safe home for people with disability: the contrasting and complementary roles of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and Community Visitor schemes

In today’s post, moderator Dr Rae West @raelene_west discusses the balance between the roles of the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Commission and Community Visitor schemes in deterring and preventing harm to people with disability utilising funded support services in accommodation settings and homes.

Advocacy, Policy and governance, Service DeliveryPower to Persuade1 May 2023Disability, NDIS

"It feels like I'm being held hostage by what is supposed to be a support net"

In today’s post, CR Byrne draws on her experience to explore how Australia’s welfare system creates barriers to support for people with chronic illness and disability. CR Byrne is an activist and photographer.

Why we need to shame-proof social security

Policy and governancePower to Persuade15 December 2022Disability, welfare reform, welfare conditionality

How Centrelink makes life for someone with a chronic condition impossible

Lived experiencePower to Persuade16 November 2022welfare-to-work, welfare conditionality, Disability

Stretching ourselves beyond reason to deliver government savings: a response to the Albanese’s first budget – part 3

In the wake of the budget, the Antipoverty Centre asked people on Centrelink payments – the real social policy experts – for their reactions. A contributor shared how he and other carers performing unpaid labour save the government money, and another describes the devastating impact of the failure to raise the JobSeeker rate on welfare recipients.

Break the Poverty Machine: the voices of Australia’s poor (part 2)

Aeryn Brown is a JobSeeker recipient from Tasmania. They authored the below open letter to social security minister Amanda Rishworth as part of the Break the Poverty Machine week of action, which will be held to mark the International Day to Eradicate Poverty on 17 October – one week ahead of the federal budget. People on low incomes and supporters can get more information and register to participate in the #BTPM protest (either online or in person in Adelaide) here: btpm2022.eventbrite.com.au

Break the Poverty Machine: the voices of Australia’s poor (part 1)

Marina is one of nearly 900 000 Australians who are either unemployed or underemployed and who receive either Jobseeker Payment or Youth Allowance. This open letter is to Amanda Rishworth, Minister for Social Services in preparation for an upcoming “raise the rate” protest hosted by the Anti-Poverty Centre and the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union on International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

The disability educator and the healthcare worker: case studies in older women and the toxic workplace

Today’s blog post from Myfan Jordan (@myfan_jordan) of Grassroots Research Studio follows last week’s article describing workplace experiences for women over 40 during the pandemic: Pandemic or endemic: older women and the toxic workplace. Today, we hear the experiences of a disability educator and a healthcare worker during the pandemic. In their own words, they tell us of the psychological health and safety risks they experienced working at the frontline.

Lived experience, Policy and governancePower to Persuade8 September 2022gender, Disability, education, healthcare, COVID-19

Looking for workers in the lead up to the Jobs and Skills Summit? Here’s half a million.

Policy and governancePower to Persuade31 August 2022COVID-19, welfare-to-work, unemployment, Disability

Finding support outside the NDIS

Since Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme was created nearly ten years ago, its roll out has been closely scrutinised by governments, policymakers, researchers, and advocates. Dr Sue Olney, Dr Amber Mills and Liam Fallon discuss their research into how working-age people with disability without NDIS funding are faring. Their findings reveal a huge gap between talk and action on disability inclusion.

Paving the way for innovation in adult social care in the UK

Innovation is at the heart of plans to reform adult social care across the four UK nations. In this blog, Nuffield Foundation POST Fellow, Katherine Davis explains that conversations with people who have experience of adult social care are vital to effective innovation.

What we learned from the pandemic: Simple steps to make inclusive education more accessible

The recent federal election result has delivered a loud and clear message across the country that we want our political leaders to commit to policies that enable equality, fairness, and compassion. That needs to extend to our children and young people, including appropriate support in educational settings. Shorna Moore of Melbourne City Mission (MCM) and Sally Lasslett of MCM and Hester Hornbrook Academy (@MelbCityMission) explain how the incoming federal government can enact simple policy changes to support all students back to the classroom after concerning data shows that a growing number of vulnerable young people have disengaged from their education following the pandemic.

Remote learningPower to Persuade7 June 2022education, Flexible Work, young people, Disability, mental health

Life or Death Choices When Walking the Poverty Line

Today’s post is the first of a series of articles curated by the Australian Unemployed Workers Union shining a spotlight on people’s experiences of the welfare system. In the wake of yet another Federal Budget that punishes and starves welfare recipients, a woman living on the Disability Support Pension details the “tightrope of poverty” that she fears will result in her death. This brave and important piece is by Emma Morris, a passionate advocate for disability, LGBTQIA+, and neurodiverse rights as a proud member of each of these communities.

Advocacy, Lived experiencePower to Persuade5 April 2022Disability, unemployment, welfare reform

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