I'm writing these in the hope that I can mostly manualise my advocacy and focus on all the other stuff.

Get it right the first time. If you can't afford the reports, you definitely can't afford to do it another 3 times on JobSeeker.

There is an excellent website by Social Security Rights Victoria (SSRV) on this topic here which you should read front-to-back. They are run by a legal team and give legal advice.

Disclaimer

The body of Australian social security law is elaborate, tightly targeted, mature, and prescriptive.

But law it is.

Almost every issue to do with Centrelink and the NDIS is a legal issue. I am not a doctor, or a lawyer. I don't have any formal qualification in any of this.

I have a decent bit of experience doing access advocacy. Access is one of the lowest risk forms of advocacy to do, because if their access request is denied, the person hasn't lost anything (other than time and money). It is also one of the most life-changing forms of advocacy, given how hard it is to get in the door in the first place.

My approach to this, so far, has an outstanding success rate. I am going to share with you how it works. I suspect the staff in these organisations will broadly be happy about it, because higher-quality access requests will reduce the burden of untangling complex psychosocial situations. If you make it easy for them to say "tick, done" everyone wins. They must follow the law.

Access to these programs is very difficult. We have one of the most narrowly targeted systems in the world. You are really going to have to thread the needle to pull this off.

Update (July 2025)

Shorten's efforts to modernise Centrelink have resulted in rapid and drastic improvements in quality of service over the last 12 months. By using dedicated public servants to create a less punitive culture, the organisation is making better decisions much more efficiently.

I have been notified that the DSP backlog has been cut in half, and is now in the order of 3-6 months long.

I have heard remarkable stories of people applying for JobSeeker straight out of secure extended psychiatric care, and being told "nope, you're getting DSP."

The Coalition realistically had two basic objectives: to disincentivise accessing support as much as possible, and to more directly maximise the amount of public funding being shunted into the private sector.

The current set of incentives are very different. We are returning to a more human and decent Department of Social Services, which is about helping rather than punishment and kleptocracy.

This is materially significant for people who are trying to access support.

Quick Aside

If you are considering making a DSP application, you should probably also check your superannuation for its TPD (Total and Permanent Disability) insurance.

Despite the name, it doesn't necessarily imply that you are totally disabled and will never work again in any capacity. You'll have to check the terms of your insurance to find out.

The days when TPD policies included a lifetime income replacement annuity are mostly behind us, but a cool six figure lump sum is unlikely to leave you worse off.

TPD access is not something I know much about, and there are nuances which vary between policies. It's definitely worth checking though.

I am aware that the success rate for TPD requests is on average higher than for DSP.

Introduction

Read Common Disability Access before this. It contains the basic principles of disability service access in Australia.

The following is some specialised comments about the Disability Support Pension specifically.

Many people are ideologically driven to believe things about this payment that simply aren't true.

I have heard preposterous claims that they will give it to anyone who is homeless, who is a refugee, or who can spin a sob story. These claims are usually overlaid with racism.

I once had a right-aligned journalist I knew approach me and ask what the Special Secret Sauce was to never having to work again. There isn't one, that's not what the DSP is about anyway, and he was asking from the perspective of somebody who has never had to live with this type of problem.

The sheer ignorance of the general population about this program is the second largest barrier you have to overcome.

I have met many people with disabilities who thought giving up and admitting they can't work would be the hardest part of this, and that access would be a quick and easy doctor's note.

The Reality

The truth is: accessing the DSP is not easy, and the vast majority of people who have disabilities will never qualify. You cannot receive it without elaborate documentation from multiple specialists. Simply sweet talking a GP into writing a specific note will not work.

Your evidence is highly technical and specific documentation which must be exactly correct. The application process will likely take in the order of 6 to 12 now 3 to 6 months after this evidence has been collected, so be prepared to settle in on JobSeeker in the meantime. You can get an exemption from jobseeking while the DSP application is in the works.

The vast majority of applications are not successful. What you are reading is not so much an effort to help people succeed, as an effort to help people make higher-quality access requests which Centrelink workers can make better decisions with.

You do not get into social services to not help people. They want to help. But everything they do must be legal. Giving them the right evidence at the right time will help them make the right decision.

Despite the fact that living on DSP is a very modest existence (particularly if you're renting), it is in fact one of the most generous programs of its kind in the world. The vast majority of the world either has no such payment, or pays so little that it is nothing more than a supplement to other forms of income.

What You Need To Prove

The DSP application does not have a neat form for you to fill out like the NDIS does. Clinicians will have to write a letter of support from scratch which fulfils the appropriate criteria.

The letter of support should not include any more information than necessary to prove the following points.

The contents of this letter must address the following.

The person has a disability which:

• Prevents them from working or studying for 15 hours per week (ideally for 8 hours);
• Is fully diagnosed;
• Is fully stabilised;
• Has received all "reasonable" treatments;
• Which is not affected by ephemeral factors like substance use; and
• Is unlikely to significantly improve in the next 2 years.

All clinical and functional evidence should be consistent with these requirements, as well as with each other.

Impairment Tables

The legal instruments used to determine DSP eligibility are called the Impairment Tables. These are a series of verbal descriptions of different levels of disability, categorised by type, assigning a number of points to each.

To qualify for the Disability Support Pension, you must reach the bar of 20 Impairment Points. You can reach this bar by combining points across multiple tables, but your life is going to be significantly easier if you can score 20 points on at least one table alone.

Scores of greater than 20 points have no immediate additional effect, but internal social workers will likely take note. They are generally assigned when an impairment is so severe that additional help will be needed navigating social services.

You can find a copy of the Tables here.

Your clinical documentation should reflect each point of the required Impairment Table and use language as similar as possible to it.

There is a different, internal document which details exactly how assessments are made and are mapped to those tables, and is publicly available. I will not help you find it.

Choice of Clinician

Regarding choice of clinician writing reports, I can only speak for psychosocial disability because that's what I know.

The words of a psychiatrist are treated with great weight here.

The words of a clinical psychologist are the gold standard for anything below that, though any other registered psychologist can do it too.

A social worker can provide good evidence, but it's going to be the most valuable if they are doing it from a hospital.

A counsellor would be considered supplementary evidence.

Some clinicians will refuse to contribute to a DSP application because of their political beliefs.

Clinicians who are known to endorse dubious DSP applications can find that their reputation at the Department of Social Services suffers, and their reports may be taken with less weight.

Not Giving Up

To make a successful DSP access request, your clinicians have to be on board with the idea.

A patient who successfully accesses the DSP then simply stops trying to engage and progress in society will usually have very poor outcomes. Clinicians know this. They will usually not support an access request for such a person unless it is a matter of survival.

The most helpful reassurance you can give them is that this isn't giving up: you can still work and study and volunteer on the DSP, even start a business. The DSP can be a stable platform for you to find an unconventional way to contribute to society. Using it in this way is win-win.

If you plot a credible plan that lets you take advantage of the stable base to show your unique strengths, clinicians are much more likely to play ball.

Contextual Evidence (for DSP)

The DSP access process involves arguing that the person is not able to work or study full time.

Even though studying full time is often much less intensive than working full time, they are considered equivalent.

If they have been doing either of these things in the recent past, you are going to have your work cut out for you explaining why they can't do it anymore. If a event happened which worsened their health, you are going to have to provide matching clinical evidence.

One nuance to this which is not always obvious: the word missing from the "able to work/study" sentence is "sustainably." If you can provide context as to why the person was not coping and that performance couldn't be sustained long-term, that's useful too. There is no qualification required for this - a half page written by a coworker on what they saw is plenty.

If your situation is complex and you need extra help with the process, it is possible to ask for a social worker at assessments.

Work Capacity Hours

The Job Capacity Assessment process will assign you an estimated number of hours that you are able to work.

This will be based on the medical evidence provided, but it will also be based on your work history.

There are three groupings which matter here.

15+ hours = not eligible for DSP

8-15 hours = eligible for DSP but may have participation requirements if under 35

0-7 hours = eligible for DSP and will have no participation requirements

These groups are not directly derived from the person's number of Impairment Points. A social worker or allied health practitioner makes a holistic assessment of the person's psychosocial circumstances when coming up with the number.

Working on DSP

There are four rules for working on DSP, and one for studying.

Studying is straightforward. You can (in most cases) do a 50% load. You can access Pensioner Education Supplement while doing so. This is a great way to stay engaged while rebuilding your life and I highly recommend it. This generally satisfies participation requirements, so even if you're in the group which needs to fulfil them, this is an excellent way to do so.

With work, the two things which matter are hours and pay.

For pay, you (roughly) lose 50c of every dollar you earn from work.

The first rule is: if you earn enough money that your payment reaches $0, it will eventually be terminated, no matter how few hours you do.

The second rule is: if you go over 30 hours per week of work, without suspending, your DSP will be instantly terminated.

The third rule is: if you consistently work between 15-30 hours per week, you may be reviewed and considered to have a 15+ hour per week capacity.

The fourth rule is: if you attempt to pick up a full time job, you can suspend your DSP for up to 2 years. Doing this too often is risky.

It's quite a complex set of rules, but you are not barred from work. The DSP is not giving up. It guarantees survival while offering many opportunities to stretch your capabilities.

Lying about your work hours or earnings is a bad plan. Centrelink get this information in realtime from the ATO. Penalties are steep and usually include jailtime. The ATO has a world-leading analytics capability and can infer almost anything from your spending habits.

There are ways to contribute to society which many people with disabilities find a better fit than traditional employment. The website you are looking at is one example of this. People who feel like they have spent their whole lives sidelined by society are usually itching to start making change in the world.

Assessment Interviews

Generally sound guidance for any assessments done at Centrelink's request:

• You are describing yourself on your worst day
• Everything you say must be consistent with the reports you submit
• Any suggestion that your treatment could be further improved will result in a denied claim
• The assessors will be looking for inconsistencies - they are working on the assumption that this is the final hurdle to permanently taking someone out of the workforce
• Evidence gained during the assessment is exactly that - evidence. If you grossly misrepresent objectively verifiable metrics it is fraud. Keep in mind that nobody can tell you how you feel or what your experience is.

This document is an exception to the site license: it is licensed under Creative Commons Zero - No Rights Reserved

This document has not been reviewed or approved by any of our partners, and does not necessarily reflect their views. We have no relationship with Centrelink except as customers.

Tony Abbott gave me agoraphobia. For real. By repeatedly announcing that he was slashing and burning the DSP to the ground, he drove me to push and push and push through my panic attacks until I was completely housebound. He is directly responsible for my disability.