Senate inquiry calls for review of rule that excludes cancer patients from disability support pension

A disability support pension rule means many people who are too sick to work are forced onto jobseeker. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

A key rule that bars people with temporary or fluctuating conditions from getting the disability support pension should be reviewed, a Senate inquiry has found.

The Labor-Greens-dominated committee’s report, published on Friday, said the evidence pointed to “serious flaws with the [disability support pension], its underlying policy framework, the way that it is administered, and how applicants are able to access it”.