What is the Personal Support Programme?
In the 2001-2002 Budget
the Commonwealth Government announced the Personal Support Programme (PSP)
as part of Australians Working Together. The programme begins on 1 July
2002.
Australians Working Together is designed to encourage people on income
support to stay connected to the econimic and social life of the Community.
Some people are more vulnarable to social isolation and find it difficult
to become part of the workforce and the community. The PSP assists these
people.
The Programme is a bridge between short-term crisis assistance and employment-related assistance.
The PSP is delivered through the Commonwealth of Family and Community Services (FaCS), working to Senator the Hon Amanda Vanstone.
Who will PSP help?
Peopl accessing the PSP deserve individual attention
because they face difficult circumstances. Noe easy "one size fits
all" approach is possible for the PSP. Clients may be facing the
following:
Homelessness
Drug/alcohol
problems
Severe
psychological conditions or mental illness
Personality
disorders - including anger mangement issues
Mood
disorders - including agoraphobia and panic attacks
Torture/trauma
or other stress disorders
Gambling
problems
Domestic
violence
Financial
management problems
Physical
or intellectual disability
Organic
mental disorders or acquired brain injury
Social
isolation/alienation
Poor
communication skill/language skills
Long-term
unemployment
Isolation
The Programme is open to:
Most
people of workforce age who recieve Commonwealth income support payments
including Newstart Allowance, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment, Disability
Support Pension, Mature Age Allowance, Wife's Pension; Widow B Pension;
Widow Allowance, and special Benefit (in some cases); and Those
aged 15-20 who do not recieve any payment but are registered as job seekers
with Centrelink. What are the benefits?
The programme:
allows
people on activity tested payments payments to meet their activity requirements
through participant in the PSP;
delivers
assistance that matches the abilities, capacity and circumstances of participants;
streamlines
movement from the PSP to other employment or econimically-focused programms,
particularly Intensive Assistance and Disability Employment Assistance;
and
allows
participants access to the Programme for up to two years provided they
meet their requirements.
Many participants will be eligble to transfer to Intensive Assitance to
get help to find work. For others facing more severe obstacles, the PSP
will help them to address their personal barriers and increase their involvement
in the community. Desirably, some will be able to participate in education,
training or work preparation.
There are many pathways into the PSP. Centrelink identifies potential PSP participants, assess their eligibility for the Programme and refers them to personal providers.
FaCS wants to increase community awareness of the PSP and the people who need it. This will increase referrals of PSP participants from the community to Centrelink. It will also increase self-identification and self-referral to the PSP.
Contact us by email if you would like more information or a brochure sent out to you.
