Latest News
Sphinx debug:SELECT IF ((publish_up_stamp < 1 OR publish_up_stamp <= 1726727019),1,0) AS is_published_up, IF ((publish_down_stamp < 1 OR publish_down_stamp >= 1726727019),1,0) AS is_published_down, IF ((content_state = 1 OR content_state < 1),1,0) AS is_not_archived, *, WEIGHT() AS weight, IF ((featured_start < 1 OR featured_start <= 1726763019) AND (featured_end < 1 OR featured_end >= 1726763019) AND item_extra_rank > 0,1,0) AS is_featured FROM `com_sphinxsearch_nds_main_index_prod_index` WHERE MATCH('(@type \"_news_\")') AND `is_published_up` = 1 AND `is_published_down` = 1 AND `is_not_archived` = 1 ORDER BY `is_featured` DESC , publish_up_days_from_now ASC , `title_ordering` ASC , `extra_rank` DESC LIMIT 0, 2Sphinx debug: SELECT IF ((publish_up_stamp < 1 OR publish_up_stamp <= 1726727019),1,0) AS is_published_up, IF ((publish_down_stamp < 1 OR publish_down_stamp >= 1726727019),1,0) AS is_published_down, IF ((content_state = 1 OR content_state < 1),1,0) AS is_not_archived, *, WEIGHT() AS weight, IF ((featured_start < 1 OR featured_start <= 1726763019) AND (featured_end < 1 OR featured_end >= 1726763019) AND item_extra_rank > 0,1,0) AS is_featured FROM `com_sphinxsearch_nds_main_index_prod_index` WHERE MATCH('(@type \"_news_\") (@type \"_news_\")') AND `is_published_up` = 1 AND `is_published_down` = 1 AND `is_not_archived` = 1 AND `is_published_up` = 1 AND `is_published_down` = 1 AND `is_not_archived` = 1 ORDER BY `is_featured` DESC , publish_up_days_from_now ASC , `title_ordering` ASC , `extra_rank` DESC LIMIT 0, 2Canberra Times: Pension changes a missed opportunity
8/09/2022
Following a jobs and skills summit, the federal government announced people on the aged and veterans pensions would receive a one-off income credit to earn an extra $4000 this financial year without being penalised.
While the credit also applies to people on the disability support pension, it is only for those aged over 65 years.
"This is a missed opportunity by the government," said NDS CEO Laurie Leigh.
"We were very excited about the announcement but when we checked the details and discovered who it applied to, we feel that is insufficient,” said NDS CEO Laurie Leigh.
“There are more than 760,000 Australians on the disability support pension, 85 per cent of whom are working age.”
With labour shortages across Australia, Ms Leigh called on the government to extend the credit to people under 65 years old to remove a barrier to employment.