Get back to work....or....just get a job!

So word on the streets, and around, and about.....well, everywhere really is that our esteemed government is bringing in hefty changes to our welfare system so that they can reduce the national deficit.

That's the way I understand it anyway. I'm not going to pretend I'm au fait with all things political but I do know that the Australian Welfare System is under heavy scrutiny and the fallout is not going to be pretty. From where I stand it looks as though the rich are pretty much going to stay rich and the poor, the battlers and the disabled are going to have to be the people who suck it in and bear the brunt of these cuts.

It's most certainly not going to be in your favour if you're young, unemployed, seeking work, disabled or elderly that's for sure.

The two areas that raises concern for my loved ones are the reviews of the Disability Support Pension and Newstart Allowance. Every time I hear these mentioned in the news these days my ears prick up and my heart drops. None of the news I hear is positive and the demonising language that is being used in the media to describe recipients of DSP in particular is extremely hurtful.

The President of People With Disabilities, Mr Craig Wallace stated:

“Headlines like this one talking about people with disabilities as rorters, bludgers, slackers, slouchers, that kind of language that we have seen over the past couple of months, reduces and trashes and destroys the brand of people with disabilities to employers. I say right here, we are not rorters, we are not slackers,” (Source)

I couldn't agree with him more.

In short though, from what I understand from the review into welfare, the government simply wants people with a disability to get out there and get a job. If you have some capacity to work, then you should be working. Plain and simple, right?

Wrong! It's all well and good to talk about getting people on DSP out into the workplace...but is there going to be an accompanying change in attitude from businesses in regards to actually employing people with disabilities? There are people with disabilities out there who want to work and try long and hard to find suitable employment to no avail. They actively comply with their Participation Agreement with Centrelink with no rewards.

This issue is particularly close to me because recently, someone I love finally got word via their Job Support Agency that a large, national company had agreed to employ them for fifteen hours a week according to the stipulations Centrelink had set. This person was so eager and happy to finally gain employment. They worked hard and stated that they enjoyed the work they were given. Most of all, they were thrilled to be out there in the community, earning a living, interacting with fellow employees and the general public. They came home fulfilled and satisfied.

Then the Budget happened.....and along with it came the cuts to support funding for companies who employed people with disabilities. Two days later, the young person was told that the large, national company could no longer employ them due to the cessation of the employment support funding. To say that the young person was devastated would be an understatement. They said to me that they would even work for FREE if the company would let them - just to be DOING something, contributing to something bigger than themselves, being amongst people, was enough.

Don't tell me that people on DSP are rorters, bludgers, slackers and slouchers. How many politicians in Canberra would say that they'd be happy to work for free just so that they could feel as though they were contributing something to the community?

I have never known an Australian government so out of touch with reality, so uncaring of it's people.

So we sit and wait to see what is to become of us...and while we wait the chasm between the rich and the poor stretches wider and wider. I worry about the future of our country and it's people. I really do.