Disability Support Pension (DSP) 008-03000000

DSP is an income support payment for people of working age who:

• have a physical, intellectual or psychiatric impairment that prevents them from working, or undertaking training, for 15 hours or more per week for at least 2 years, or
• are permanently blind

Both medical and non-medical eligibility criteria (age, residency for example) must be met before DSP can be granted.

See Eligibility for DSP.

The focus is on:

• assessing what people are able to do, rather than what they are not able to do
• identifying early interventions

This builds capacity and encourages active participation in economic and community life.

Some people have minimal or no capacity to work, such as people with significant disabilities. DSP provides a safety net to support these customers.

When a person with an illness, injury or disability contacts to claim DSP:

• Offer an online claim first. Explain the benefits of claiming online
• If they do not want to claim online, offer to run Assisted Customer Claim (ACC) with them
• If an online claim or ACC are not suitable options, and the customer indicates:
• they have a terminal illness with a life expectancy of less than 2 years, issue the Claim for Disability Support Pension for a Terminal Illness (SA494) via the Mail Forms guided procedure in Customer First
• otherwise, issue a DSP claim via the First Contact Service Offer (FCSO) workflow

Claims are assessed from the date the customer submits a completed claim and all required documents. There are exceptions for vulnerable customers.

See Claiming DSP and Prioritising Disability Support Pension (DSP) claims for terminally ill customers.

Once a customer submits a claim, it is allocated to a Service Officer for streaming.

The intent of the streaming process is to make early decisions about whether the claim can be manifestly granted, rejected or referred for a Job Capacity Assessment (JCA).

Claims for customers who have a terminal illness are prioritised.

A claim that cannot be manifestly granted or rejected as recommended by the Medical Assessment Team (MAT) must have a JCA to further assess medical eligibility for DSP.

The JCA is a comprehensive evaluation of a person's level of functional impairment and work capacity. Assessors have access to relevant information about the person, including current and past medical details, and their participation and employment history.

This assessment includes whether the:

• customer's conditions are diagnosed, reasonably treated and stabilised (DTS)
• impairment rating for any DTS conditions
• Program of Support requirements have been met (if applicable), and
• customer has a Continuing Inability to Work (CITW)

Customers who have been assessed as potentially eligible for DSP via a JCA will be referred to a Government-contracted Doctor (GCD) for a DMA.

The purpose of a DMA is to verify the customer's medical eligibility for DSP.

Referrals to a DMA will occur after the Job Capacity Assessment (JCA) is completed, unless the customer meets manifest eligibility criteria for DSP.

From 1 April 2023, a new version of Impairment Tables was introduced. The new Tables are used to assess a customer's medical eligibility for all DSP claims lodged on or after this date. See The Impairment Tables.