Disabled pay rates.

A case is proceeding through the Federal court system to investigate the rates of pay offered to disabled people. Instances have been submitted claiming that some disabled people have been working for rates ranging from $ 3.82 to $ 1.85 an hour. This needs to be examined with great caution. It would be just so easy for a group of benevolent people to bring in rates of pay that would effectively remove disabled people from the work force entirely. The court must not forget that word - " disabled " that applies to most of the 20,000 people attached to that category in Australia. For many businesses employing a disabled person is an act of charity. The degree of disablement reduces the function that they can perform so severely that they can only make a marginal contribution to the work needed. To demand that they be paid at the minimum wage would see most disabled work disappear. Unfortunately, courts tend to take an academic approach to such matters and there could be little attention paid to the fact that holding down a job - even if the work performed was marginal - delivers a huge boost to the disabled persons state of mind. The rate of pay is simply in addition to the disabled pension benefit. Hopefully, the court will not set rates that destroy the opportunity for many to feel good - and for employers to be able to make that happen !