This chapter provides an outline of the Social Security payments that are intended to assist people who have an illness, injury or disability. A brief overview is followed by a description of the qualification requirements and other important information relating to each payment.
Further information about Sickness Allowance, Newstart Allowance (incapacitated) and Youth Allowance (incapacitated) is located in Chapter 24, and further information about Disability Support Pension (DSP) is in Chapter 25.
Information about payments for people assessed as having a “partial capacity to work”, ie those whose capacity to work is less than 30 hours per week, can be found in Chapter 17 (Newstart Allowance and Youth Allowance (unemployed)), Chapter 18 (Parenting Payment) and Chapter 19 (Special Benefit).
Important information about the effect that the payment of compensation can have on Social Security payments is to be found in Chapter 42.
Payments for people who are carers are described in Chapter 26.
Table 23.1 describes the basic purpose of each of the main Social Security payments designed for people who have an illness, injury or disability.
Table 23.1 Purpose of the payments | |
Payment |
Purpose |
Sickness Allowance |
Income support where a person is temporarily unable to work eight hours per week, or continue full-time study, due to illness, injury or a flare-up of symptoms associated with a disability. The person must have a job or full-time study to return to when they have recovered. |
Newstart Allowance and Youth Allowance - incapacitated |
Income support where a person is temporarily unable to work at least eight hours per week, due to illness, injury or a flare-up of symptoms associated with a disability. Paid where the person does not have a job or full-time study to return to. |
Newstart Allowance, Youth Allowance and Parenting Payment - partial capacity to work |
Income support where a person has a physical, intellectual or psychiatric disability, or a chronic medical condition, and is considered to be capable of working, but no more than 30 hours per week. |
Disability Support Pension (DSP) |
Income support where a person has a physical, intellectual or psychiatric disability or a chronic illness that significantly affects their capacity to work. |
Mobility Allowance |
Assistance with the cost of transport to and from work, training or voluntary work, for people who need substantial assistance to use public transport because of a disability. |
A person is always advised to lodge their claim for payment as early as possible to maximise the amount of backpay they can receive if their claim is granted. In addition to the general rules for backdating payments (see Chapter 4) special rules for backdating apply where a person has become “incapacitated for work” due to a medical condition.
Where a person claims a pension or allowance within five weeks of the date on which their incapacity began (usually the date of an injury or the date an illness began), payments may be backdated to that date (ie, up to five weeks).
Where a person’s claim for a pension or allowance was made more than five weeks after their incapacity began, payment can be backdated by up to four weeks if Centrelink is satisfied that:
The Commonwealth funds a range of employment, rehabilitation and training services for job seekers whose capacity to seek or undertake work is affected by disability, injury or illness. These programmes range from mainstream employment services that can provide assistance to people with disabilities who do not need rehabilitation or ongoing support to seek or retain employment, to specialist disability services such as through the Disability Employment Network and Vocational Rehabilitation services. Referrals to these programmes may be made by Centrelink or Job Network Providers. Depending on the payment claimed or received by the person, participation may be voluntary (such as for Disability Support Pension recipients), or mandatory (such as for Newstart Allowance recipients with a “partial capacity to work”).
The determining factor for referring income support applicants and recipients to these programmes is generally their Job Capacity Assessment (see 1.5).
The Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service (CRS) provides rehabilitation programmes for people of working age. It aims to help people to substantially improve their capacity to obtain employment and their personal independence in the community. . It operates in regional units throughout Australia and is also the major provider of the Vocational Rehabilitation Service.
Disability Employment Network (DEN) agencies provide specialist assistance to people with disabilities who require ongoing support after they have obtained work. It can assist with employment preparation, job search, promoting skills to employers, and on-the-job or off-site employment support. DEN agencies can also provide wage subsides and funds for work-place modification. DEN agencies were formerly known as Disability Open Employment Services (DOES).
Job Placement, Employment and Training (JPET) services provide assistance to young people from 15 to 21 who are considered to have substantial vocational and/or non-vocational barriers to finding work, such as homelessness.
Where a person is assessed as having multiple non-vocational barriers to finding or keeping employment to the extent that they would not benefit from Intensive Support services (see Chapter 20), Centrelink may conduct a "special needs assessment". Where there are places available, the person may then be offered a placement under the Personal Support Program (PSP). To be eligible the person must be receiving an eligible income support payment, or if not, be 15 to 20 years and registered with Centrelink as a job-seeker. There is generally a two-year limit on participation in the programme. Under the PSP, referrals can be made to a network of community-based and private organisations for:
For more information on the Personal Support Program, see Chapter 21.
A Job Capacity Assessment (JCA) is a comprehensive assessment of a person’s barriers to employment (eg physical or psychiatric disability, alcoholism, drug dependency or homelessness) and any interventions that may be required to help overcome those barriers. For people with medical conditions or disabilities, the assessment also identifies the person’s current and future work capacity in hour bandwidths.
For DSP claimants, JCAs also involve the rating of permanent medical conditions against the eligibility criteria for Disability Support Pension.
JCAs also allow assessors to refer people directly to Government funded short-term programmes of assistance and to recommend further referrals to a wide range of services that the Job Capacity Assessor has determined may help the person to improve their ability to work.
Most JCAs are undertaken by three Government providers (Centrelink, the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service and Health Services Australia). Some are conducted by non-government providers contracted by the Department of Human Services.
Assessments are conducted in person where possible, and take up to an hour and a half. The person being assessed may take a friend, relative or advocate with them to their assessment. Interpreters, including AUSLAN interpreters, can be provided for the assessment. Assessments do not involve physical examination of the person.
The assessor examines evidence such as the person’s Treating Doctor's Report, medical certificates and other medical reports that have been provided by the person. In some cases a specialist report may be requested. The assessor may consult with other Job Capacity Assessors with particular expertise, such as a psychologist or social worker
In limited circumstances, a person can request a different Job Capacity Assessor, eg, where the assessor they have been assigned is known to them. A person may also request that they be seen by a Job Capacity Assessor of a particular sex for religious, cultural or personal reasons. Where a person has made such a request the JCA provider needs to make every effort to accommodate the request.
Job Capacity Assessment referrals can be made by Centrelink, Job Network agencies and Disability Employment Network agencies. Assessments are generally made for the following two year period.
Job Capacity Assessment Assessors
Job Capacity Assessors are usually employed by either Centrelink, Health Services Australia or the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service. Some Job Capacity Assessors are employed by private agencies contracted by the Department of Human Services.
Job Capacity Assessors come from a wide range of professions. They include:
Centrelink referrals for JCAs
Centrelink referrals for Job Capacity Assessments include:
Centrelink books appointments for JCA's electronically, and the provider may be sent material such as information from the person's Job Seeker Classification Instrument assessment (see Chapter 20, 3.2), their treating doctor's report or their medical certificate - depending on the requirements associated with the payment they have claimed or that they receive.
Provisional Newstart Allowance is generally available to a person pending a Job Capacity Assessment where they have no ongoing eligibility for another payment. Where the person has appealed against a decision to cancel DSP, Sickness Allowance or NSA (incapacitated), Centrelink may approve payment pending review of the decision (see Chapter 48).
Where required, the Job Capacity Assessor sends the report to Centrelink, electronically, and relevant parts are sent to the person's Job Network Provider. Centrelink will then base its decision regarding ongoing income support on the JCA.
Privacy and consenting to disclose information
Where a person's disability affects their capacity to work, it is generally to their advantage to disclose that they have a disability. However, a person may choose not to disclose a disability or a medical condition. The person may be reluctant to disclose because they consider that the disability does not affect their work capacity and is irrelevant to their job-seeking, or where they perceive that they may be discriminated against by agencies and employers if their disability was known. This may be, for example, where a person has HIV/AIDS or a psychiatric disability.
Where a disability is disclosed, a person does not have to give consent to the distribution of their JCA information to Job Network and other service providers. If a person does not want sensitive information (eg, the fact that they are HIV positive or that they have a psychiatric disability) conveyed back to providers, they should inform the Job Capacity Assessor of this and they should not sign the consent form unless they understand completely what they are consenting to. However, without this information, the provider may not be in a position to take such information into account when considering job search and other activities suitable for the person. It may also mean that barriers to employment and health issues relating to such disabilities will not be taken into account by Centrelink for determining eligibility for DSP or whether the person may be eligible for an incapacity exemption for Newstart Allowance or Youth Allowance, or “partial capacity to work” activity requirements for Newstart Allowance, Youth Allowance (unemployed), Parenting Payment or Special Benefit.
Job Capacity Accounts
The assessor can also refer people directly to an employment or support service, including the Job Network, CRS (for vocational support), a Disability Employment Network agency, the Personal Support Program or to a Job Placement, Employment and Training (JPET) service. Assessors are able to access a Job Capacity Account to fund short-term services or support programmes designed to prepare people for engagement with the Job Network. These are designed to be quick interventions to address such things as pain or behaviour management issues, and counseling needs. The Job Capacity Account can fund services up to approximately $1,000 worth of services per person. Participation is not compulsory but where a person declines to undertake a program offered, they will immediately be subject to the ordinary range of activity requirements assisted with their payment.
Reviewing the suitability of a JCA referral
Only a service provider can seek a review of the suitability of a JCA referral of a client to a service. This may occur, for example, where a person with severe depression is referred to a Job Network Provider, and the provider considers that assistance cannot be offered due to the person's condition. The service provider must appeal to the JCA provider against the referral within 28 days of the referral. The Job Capacity Assessor may then decide to refer the person to another service provider. However, where the Job Capacity Assessor does not agree with the service provider, the Job Capacity Assessor’s decision is final and the original service provider must accept the referral.
Where the provider decides that the referral was inappropriate after 28 days has elapsed, the provider may refer the person for a new Job Capacity Assessment. However, the guidelines about when a JCA reassessment will take place state that a new JCA will only be done where a serious or long-term medical condition or combination of other barriers to employment would affect the appropriateness of the person’s payment or the appropriateness of the referral to an Employment Service Provider.
Appealing against a JCA
Where a person wants to dispute a JCA that has resulted in an adverse decision regarding their Social Security entitlements, they should seek a review by an Authorised Review Officer (see Chapter 48), noting any concerns they may have about the JCA process.
The Department of Human Services monitors Job Capacity Assessments for quality, consistency and timeliness. Complaints or disputes regarding assessments should be made to the Job Capacity Assessment provider in the first instance, and then to the Department of Human Services and/or the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
It is not anticipated that clients will generally have access to the JCA report. Clients can seek copies of the JCA provider’s records under the Freedom of Information Act (see Chapter 5).
Many people who suffer illness or injury receive worker’s compensation, accident compensation, damages or some other form of compensation. These compensation payments have serious effects on people’s qualification for, or payability of, Social Security payments including Sickness Allowance and Disability Support Pension (DSP). For further information and advice about these effects, see Chapter 42.
