The labour force participation and income support duration of people with disability with partial capacity to work

Description and objectives of the research

Despite a consistently strong labour market over the last decade, employment rates for people with disability in Australia have remained low, and the number of people with disability in receipt of Income Support (IS), particularly those in receipt of the Disability Support Pension (DSP), have remained high. The dual problem of high IS recipiency rates and low employment rates for people with disability is critical for social and economic policy in Australia, and there is a clear need to restrain the growth in the number of people with disability reliant on IS and, if possible, encourage existing recipients with some work capacity into (or back into) the labour market. Policies to achieve this outcome are described by the OECD as “win-win”: helping to boost inclusion and incomes for people with disability whilst helping to reduce government expenditures and boost GDP (OECD, 2007).

Research that examines the characteristics, labour force participation and IS durations of individuals with a disability with partial capacity to work (PCW) can help policy makers improve their understanding of this crucial 'client group'.

 

Contact: the Melbourne Institute contacts for this project are Associate Professor Duncan McVicar and Dr Barbara Hanel

Progress

This project commenced in July 2012 with a final report to be submitted to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations in March 2013.