Senator EGGLESTON (3:11 PM) —Quite a lot of comment was made today about the changes in disability support pensions. I think there is a great deal of misunderstanding concerning what the government is trying to achieve in this area. For the Senate's benefit, I will refer to the McClure report. The final report of the reference group on welfare reform of July 2000 recommended that there should be a review of the capacity for work criteria, the 30-hour threshold, for people with disabilities ensuring that any such criteria is in line with contemporary patterns of labour market participation.

There has been an enormous change in work patterns over the years and there has been a strong growth in part-time jobs. In fact, since 1981 there has been a 22 per cent increase in full-time employment, a 43 per cent increase in total employment, a 112 per cent increase in the number of people working between one and 15 hours per week and a 117 per cent increase in the number of people working between 16 and 29 hours per week. In other words, part-time employment has grown five times faster—I will repeat that, five times faster—than full-time work.

Let us consider what the government is doing in changing disability support pension criteria in terms of those changing work patterns. The government is trying to achieve a focus on people's abilities, rather than their disabilities, to give people the opportunity to use the capabilities that they have to rejoin the work force rather than be on a disability support pension. The government is seeking to implement the recommendations of the McClure report on welfare reform and encourage greater participation and self-reliance for people receiving income support payments. In other words, we are trying to give people back their self-esteem and their sense of being a member of the community who is pulling their weight and paying their own way rather than somebody who is put on the scrap heap of life on a pension.

People respond positively to the opportunity, usually, to engage in some kind of work. They see the policy that the government is seeking to establish as very positive. The inference being made by the opposition about what the government is seeking to do is that disability funding will be reduced. In reality, disability funding has been increased not reduced. Not only will all savings from the disability support reforms be spent on people with disabilities with high support needs, but additional money will be put into these programs. The government is rebalancing disability spending to ensure that those with the greatest need receive the best care and support.

Furthermore, the Howard government is providing more services for people with disabilities who have high support needs. It is very hard to argue with the concept that the money should go to those most in need rather than to those who could work part time and need a much lower level of support. We are trying to achieve greater equality for people with disabilities. Many people on disability support pensions want to work and would be able to do so with the right kind of help. We are going to provide extra assistance to help people find jobs and participate in the community. The Job Network and Centrelink services will be revised to deliver greater individual services.

In conclusion, I would like to make the point that disability support pension reforms will only affect people who can work for 15 hours a week at full award wages—so people with disabilities employed in most business services will not be affected by those changes—and there will be extra places in employment services to help look after those people. Australia has a very fine record, by international comparisons, of looking after people with disabilities, and these programs will simply and surely maintain our record in this area. (Time expired)