While the Opposition�s alteration to the federal government�s current undignified welfare policy is a step in the right direction, Rudd and his leadership team must make it clear to Australians with disabilities that financial support will also be available to them without strings attached.
Queensland Greens Social Justice Spokesperson Elissa Jenkins said she agreed it was a great idea to offer funded training places to those on a disability pension who request them.
�The empowerment of people with disabilities to take control of their own lives is a basic human right and, as such, it�s essential that optional training opportunities be adequately funded.
�Compulsory Work For The Dole projects and Welfare to Work programs are a band-aid solution and, because they often fall into the category of political, popularist game-play, they must be met with caution.
�Similarly, any promises of training should not be met with a threat to withhold payments.
�While The Greens support increased funding for workforce programs and job creation, coercive requirements to work should be completely removed from welfare policy.
�To win government in 2007 Labor must separate itself from Howard Government�s tough criteria for welfare recipients,� she said.
Ms Jenkins also said it wasn�t enough to simply say that training would be available to disabled people and sole parents.
�As any student will attest, the hidden costs of study are often not met by Youth Allowance and Austudy payments.
�With more and more students being forced to fund their full-time studies by taking on paid work, it�d be foolish to think that promises of funded training for disabled people and single parents are as simple as waving around “work-first” rhetoric.
�In the long-term, all levels of government must unite to ensure that children with disabilities have access to adequate support services to enable them to participate fully in schools and society.
�Until this is the case, inequities in opportunities of disabled people to find fulfilling work will continue,� she said.
For more information or interview opportunities call Queensland Greens Social Justice spokesperson Elissa Jenkins 0418 786 986 or e-mail elissa@elissa.info.