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Friday, 23 November 1979

Senator Evans asked the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 24 October 1 979:

(   1 ) How many sheltered workshops are there in Australia at present (24 October, 1979).

(2)   Are any more workshops being, or about to be, constructed.

(3   ) How many disabled people have they employed.

(4)   What has been: (a) the average income of the handicapped employees, and (b) the total value of the production of the workshops.

(5)   Is it the case that in the year 1973-74 the workshops produced nearly$15m in goods, while the employees were paid less than $3.5m; if so, what has been done with the remaining income.

(6)   What consideration has the Minister given to allowing the handicapped to earn additional income without forfeiting their pension entitlements, noting that in the United States, pensioners may earn up to $3,000 per annum without effect on their pension.

Senator Guilfoyle - The answer to the honourable senator's question is as follows:

(1)   169 sheltered workshops are subsidised under the Handicapped Persons Assistance Act 1974. There may be other sheltered workshops operating about which my department does not hold information.

(2)   Yes.

(3)   and (4) The following table has been prepared for comparative purposes. The information has been obtained from periodic surveys of handicapped persons ' facilities. The latest information available from this source relates to the year ended 30 June, 1976. In addition to wages received from employment, eligible persons can also receive sheltered employment allowance under Part VILA of the Social Services Act 1947.

 

(5)   The statement concerning value of workshop output compared with wages paid to employees in 1973-74, while factually correct, needs qualification and further explanation.

Organisations are expected to relate the wages paid to handicapped people to their actual productivity. A sheltered workshop is an industrially-oriented, rehabilitative project which is undertaken with the object of providing vocational training and learning opportunities for persons who are unable to enter the wider field of employment because of physical, intellectual or social reasons. Workshops are required to operate as efficient business enterprises producing quality work at normal commercial ratesin minimum time, under disciplined conditions. As a result, sheltered workshops are also subject to costs encountered by, and associated with, any commercial undertaking.

These costs cover such aspects as:

Administrative Expenses; Amenities; Audit and Accountancy; Depreciation; Electricity; Insurance; Materials; Provision for Doubtful Debts; Rent and Rates; Repairs, Replacement, Maintenance; Special Events; Telephones; Transport; Wages and Salaries.

It is impossible to quantify these costs in any general way, because of the diversity of sheltered workshop operations, the different accounting procedures followed by organisations and other variables relating to location, scale of operation and management procedures.

It is important to note also that in addition to industrially oriented activities, sheltered workshops are also expected to provide personal skills and social development training for their employees.

(6)   Following the announcement in the 1979-80 Budget that the income limits for pensioner fringe benefits were to be substantially increased, the Government also announced that the income test limits below which recipients of sheltered employment allowance are eligible for fringe benefits would also be increased. For a single person receiving sheltered employment allowance the fringe benefit limit has been raised from $56.00 to $68.00 per week and for a married couple with no dependants, the limit has been increased from $6 1.50 to $73.00, i.e. some $3,800 per annum.

The income test for a single handicapped person allows the first $20 per week income to be exempt. Income in excess of $20 per week reduces the maximum rate of pension or sheltered employment allowance by $ 1 per week, for each $2 per week received as income. However as from 8 November 1979, entitlement to these benefits is retained until a single person's income exceeds $135.80 per week. Married pensioners with no children retain pension entitlement up to a combined income level of $227.50 per week.

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