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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-03-09 Daily Xml
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DISABILITY PENSION

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:55): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Disability a question regarding welfare available to people with disabilities who marry.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: I have been asked to assist a couple who are staying at the Sunnydale residential facility in Semaphore with a particular situation. The residents, who are middle aged, have special needs. As I understand it, the couple are quite happy at Sunnydale, or have been in the past. The couple married in a simple ceremony on 18 September 2010 and, after a short local honeymoon, they moved back to Sunnydale as husband and wife, residing in the same room where they had previously lived. The family and staff are, of course, very happy for them.

However, in mid-February, the family was contacted by a Disability SA case worker. The case worker told the family that the couple were in threat of being evicted from Sunnydale, as their pension had been reduced by nearly $300 each per fortnight. Due to calculations made by Centrelink, the couple no longer receive enough pension to cover their rent, and their rent relief has also been reduced. They pay something in the order of $627 each per fortnight to share the room.

As a result of the reduction in their benefit, they have no remaining funds for their pharmaceutical needs and personal care needs, and virtually have no spending money at all. In short, they literally cannot survive on the funds they now receive and are relying on family for assistance. The couple is understandably very upset about their circumstances. The only way for them to restore the situation long term is for them to legally separate so soon after being married, and to do so for purely financial reasons, not legitimate reasons A comment made by the female resident concerned is as follows:

I don't understand why the government is punishing us for getting married! I thought we did the right thing. I don't understand why what we did is wrong—did we do wrong?

She is obviously confused and saddened and, I believe, quite understandably so. My questions are:

1. Will the minister take up this matter with the federal minister to provide a more caring approach to couples with disabilities who marry in these circumstances and who are less able to take advantage of the cost savings other married couples enjoy?

2. Will the minister examine the particular policy at these residences and, in particular, at this residence, for dealing with couples with a disability and determine whether greater discounts can be applied in these circumstances, which would certainly help this couple, not to mention many others?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises) (14:58): I will refer the honourable member's questions to the Minister for Disability in another place and bring back a response. Unfortunately, I believe that it is not only those couples with disabilities who are affected by these federal arrangements, which I understand have been in place for a number of decades, where the single pension is at a rate that is greater than a couples' pension combined.

From my limited knowledge of these matters, it is my understanding that it is not just people with disabilities who are captured by this. Whether or not there are any other special provisions to assist those people with special needs, such as people with disabilities, or whether this particular couple have exhausted the investigation into the availability of those provisions, I am not sure. However, I am sure the Minister for Disability will be only too pleased to take up that matter, and, as I have said, I will bring back a response.

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