Labor drops plan to reduce access to disability pension for drug and alcohol-related conditions

There has been a mixed reaction to the government’s proposed new “impairment tables” that govern eligibility for the pension. Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian

The Albanese government has backed down from a controversial proposal that would have made it harder for people with drug and alcohol-related conditions to get access to the disability support pension.

But it is still facing calls to do more to address longstanding problems with the design of the disability pension, amid record levels of people on jobseeker living with a disability.