Australia does not adequately protect the right to an adequate standard of living and social protection. People with disability are consistently overrepresented in indicators of financial hardship and poverty. Almost one in two people with a disability in Australia live in or near poverty (45 percent). This is more than 2.5 times the rate of poverty experienced by people without disability and more than double the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 22 percent. Australia is by far the worst performer on this indicator, ranking 27th out of 27 OECD countries.584
A Senate Inquiry into Poverty and Financial Hardship (2004) found widespread poverty among people with disability and recommended that a new welfare allowance be introduced to address the extra costs associated with disability, such as the need for professional carers, special education and employment support.585 People with a disability have lower household incomes than those without a disability, with 45 percent having an equivalised gross household income in the lowest quintile in 2008 compared with 35 percent of those without a disability.
Eligibility criteria to access disability income support are too rigid and are fundamentally based on a system of categorising disabilities rather than assessing needs of individuals. As a result, one in seven recipients of lower allowances such as NewStart Allowance - $128 a week less than the DSP - has a partial work capacity because of disability.586 Many people with disability applying for DSP are automatically placed on NewStart while they prove they are unable to get work, despite significant community concern that this measure is both unfair and will be ineffective in helping people to find work.587
