Disability Support Pension for the
Blind (DSP Blind): Questions and Answers (Q&A)
Last Updated: January 2007 - Section Updated: Question 6
Note: This Q&A is only a
guide. BCA recommends that you contact Centrelink on the numbers contained in
this Q&A document to ensure that the information has not changed.
Contents
1. What
does the DSP (Blind) entitle a person who is blind or vision impaired to?
2.
What are the eligibility criteria?
5.
I receive Rent Assistance from Centrelink. How does this affect my DSP (Blind)?
6.
If I am on the DSP (Blind), can I also apply and receive the Parenting Payment?
8.
What happens to my pension if I travel overseas for 1 to 3 months?
9.
Can I have my Centrelink customer communications sent to me in accessible
formats?
10.
Download Large Print Word Version - DSP (Blind) Q&A
Assets and Means test-free pension. I.e. A person’s income
or assets will not affect the pension amount.
Pension amounts:
Maximum
Rate of Disability Support Pension (under 21, no children)
|
Status |
Pension Rate Per Fortnight |
|
Single, under 18, at home
|
$277.90 |
|
Single, under 18,
independent |
$429.40 |
|
Single, 18-20 years, at
home |
$315.00 |
|
Single, 18-20 years, not
at home |
$429.40 |
|
Member of a Couple, under
18 years |
$427.70 |
|
Member of a Couple, 18-20
years |
$427.70 |
Maximum
Rate of Disability Support Pension (over 21, or under 21 with children)
|
Status |
Pension Rate Per Fortnight |
|
Single |
$512.10* |
|
Couple |
$427.70* (each) |
*Since July 2000 this payment has included a pension
supplement. This payment amount is currently: single $18.20, couples $15.20 each,
couples separated due to ill health $18.20 each.
Note: Youth Disability Supplement of up to $94.70 per
fortnight is payable to Disability Support Pension customers who are under 21
and is included in the rates above. The rate payable to Disability Support
Pensioners aged under 21 years cannot exceed the rate payable to Disability
Support Pensioners over 21 years of age.
Source: Centrelink
For the latest rates visit: http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/pay_how_dsp.htm
You must be an Australian citizen, or have permanent resident
status and been residing in Australia continuously for ten years. If your
permanent blindness occurs in Australia, there is no period of required
residency.
Definition of ‘Permanent Blindness’: Federal Department of
Family and Community Affairs - Guide to Social Security Law
“1.P.210 Permanent blindness (DSP, Age)
Definition
When determining permanent blindness for the purposes of
DSP or Age, the following guidelines are applied:
visual acuity (1.1.V.50) on the Snellen
Scale after correction by suitable lenses must be less than 6/60 in both eyes,
or constriction to within 10 degrees of fixation in the better eye irrespective
of corrected visual acuity, or a combination of visual defects resulting in the
same degree of visual impairment as that occurring in the above points.”
A Snellen chart is an eye chart used by eye
care professionals and others to measure visual acuity. Snellen
charts are named after the Dutch ophthalmologist Hermann Snellen
who developed the chart in 1862.
(6/60
means what a person with normal sight can see at 60 meters the person with the
visual impairment can see the same object only at 6 meters)
Link: http://www.facsia.gov.au/guides_acts/ssg/ssguide-1/ssguide-1.1/ssguide-1.1.p/ssguide-1.1.p.210.html
Brief description of answer: NO. The DSP Blind, unlike
other Disability pensions, was not affected by the Welfare to Work changes
which have attached mandatory work participation tests to non-blind standard
DSP.
The 2005-2006 federal budget [Delivered 11 May 2005]
introduced considerable change to the welfare system. These welfare to work
changes included imposing participation criteria and new eligibility rules for
current and future recipients of the Disability Support Pension (DSP). These
rules include persons able to work part time (15 hours or more) will no longer
be able to get the Disability Support Pension but instead will be moved onto Newstart Allowance.
Fortunately, these rules of eligibility and criteria were
not applicable to the DSP (Blind) for both current recipients and new
applicants to the DSP (Blind) after 1 July 2006. The status of DSP (Blind)
including its means and asset test free status did not change under the budget
reforms.
Further welfare to work changes were made by the Federal
Government under the Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment
(Welfare to Work and other Measures) Act 2005, which was passed in early December
last year. Because the work criteria measures that were placed on the DSP in
the first instance under the budget welfare to work reforms were not applicable
to the DSP (Blind), these modifications introduced under Amendment (Welfare to
Work and other Measures) Act 2005 will not affect current or future recipients
of the DSP (Blind).
Persons in receipt of the DSP (Blind) or the standard DSP
may be entitled to the increased rate of mobility allowance if they meet the
following criteria:
• Work for more than 15
hours per week at or above the relevant minimum wage or
• Look for such work with
the assistance of an employment service provider under an activity agreement.
Mobility Allowance is not income or assets tested.
BCA recommends that you consult Centrelink when applying
for the mobility allowance.
Centrelink Customer Service Number: Disability, Sickness
and Carers: 13 2717
If you receive Rent Assistance, your DSP (Blind)
will not be affected.
Rent Assistance is a separate payment to your
DSP(Blind) with its own qualifying criteria which includes an income and assets
test.
For further information, contact Centrelink Disability,
Sickness and Carers line: 13 2717
No. A customer can only apply and receive one type of income support payment. Both
the DSP (Blind) and the Parenting Payment are considered as income support
payments. This means that you can either
receive the DSP (Blind) or the Parenting Payment, but not both. The Parenting
Payment is granted under the Social Security Act 1991 and is subject to both
income and assets tests.
People in receipt of the Disability Support Pension
(Blind) once they reach Age Pension age do not have to change to the Age Pension
(Blind).
We recommend for those approaching retirement age on the DSP (blind) to notify
Centrelink if they wish to stay on the DSP (blind). If the change has
automatically happened a customer can appeal the cancellation of the DSP
(blind). A customer has 13 weeks from the day they were advised of the
cancellation to lodge the appeal if the customer has been financially
disadvantaged and wants arrears to be paid.
Centrelink Customer Service Number: Disability, Sickness
and Carers: 13 2717
Commonalities of both pensions:
The means and assets test free status of the DSP (Blind)
for people over Age Pension age and the Age Pension (Blind) remains.
It is important to remember that both the Disability
Support Pension (Blind) for people over Age Pension age and the Age
Pension (Blind) will be treated as taxable income. Consequently, people who
elect to remain on the DSP (blind) will need to include their pension as part
of their taxable income.
Advantages/Disadvantages
DSP (Blind) post retirement age: Can retain the Education
Entry Payment Pensioner Education Supplement (PES).
PES: This is $62.40 per fortnight for
people who have a study load of 25-50% equivalent full-time study that is
Centrelink approved.
Education Entry Payment: $208 first up
However, while these education allowance and payments are
not available to people on the Aged pension (Blind), the Aged pension (Blind)
has greater overseas portability.
Please contact Centrelink for current rates on 13
2717.
The DSP (Blind) pension is suspended after the recipient has
been overseas longer than 13 weeks. Further extension of this 13 week period
may result in cancellation. The Age Pension can usually be paid to a person
overseas indefinitely.
DSP (Blind) recipients can only receive their customer
letters in the following formats:
1. Large Print
2. Rich Text Format on Computer Disk
3. Read over the phone by contacting Centrelink
Disability, Sickness and Carers number:
13 2717
4. Braille
To register for your customer letters to be sent in your
preferred accessible format, please call Centrelink 132717.
With regards to non-customer specific information, such as
general information on the DSP, including DSP policy updates, this is available
in:
1. Large Print
2. Rich Text Format on Computer Disk
3. Cassette
4. Braille
To find out more call Centrelink Customer Service Number:
Disability, Sickness and Carers: 13 2717
Download Large Print Word
Version