What is the Disability Support Pension?
The Disability Support Pension (DSP) is a payment from Centrelink for people who have a permanent disability or medical condition that prevents them from working more than 15 hours a week.
Many people apply for the DSP on their own, or with help from a family member, friend, or support worker.
Applying for the DSP can be overwhelming, but there are lots of resources and we are here to help you with the process.
If you think you qualify for the DSP we recommend you consider the following tips:
• Visit DSP Help. DSP Help is a great resource, it takes you step by step through the process of applying for the DSP. We recommend that you go through all the steps before you apply to make sure you have everything you need.
• Getting the right medical evidence is very important.
• People are often rejected for the DSP because their disability has been assessed as not meeting the requirements for a successful application. This may be because the right medical evidence has not been provided. The Medical Evidence Bot at DSP Help can help you and your treating medical team prepare the evidence for a DSP application.
• Social Security Rights Victoria (SSRV) has pre-written medical reports in their (DSP) Toolkit which can help your doctor prepare a report for your DSP application.
• Unfortunately, many DSP applications are rejected. It is common to apply more than once before being approved. If you don’t get the DSP the first time you apply, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try again.
Getting Help
We understand that applying for DSP can be tricky and we are here to help you.
◊ Feel free to call or email us with any questions about the process that you may have.
◊ If you would like assistance preparing and lodging your application please complete the form below and we will be in touch
Please note: We can only provide advocacy assistance to people living in Victoria and people who can participate in making decisions.
We cannot offer advocacy to people with disabilities under the age of 18, and we are unable to help with AAT appeals.
