“This is a fantastic tool. I’ve been so overwhelmed in trying to apply for DSP and this tool has helped so much. It makes me feel supported. Thank you.” DSP applicant, Melbourne
It’s been five years since our website, DSP Help, launched, and over that time, DSP Help has proved to be an invaluable resource, changing the lives of people applying for the Disability Support Pension.
DSP Help was created with three key objectives:
1. Providing information that applicants and those supporting them can use to better understand the DSP and make better applications and appeals;
2. Providing a chatbot users can use to create a medical evidence kit to assist in gathering medical evidence to support their application or appeal; and
3. Providing a way for users who were not able to self-advocate with the assistance of online tools to link into SSRV’s other more intensive services.
The free online resource is aimed at an audience of DSP applicants and those who support them to do this, including friends, family and community workers such as financial counsellors, social workers, advocates, doctors and health workers. Within these cohorts, the resource was particularly aimed at the “missing middle”: the users with mid-level support needs who are able to self-advocate with the right tools.
DSP Help has now become a widely used and well-regarded resource. Between the launch of DSP Help on 13 July 2020 and 1 July 2021, approximately 18,000 people visited the DSP Help website. Between 1 January 2024 – 31 December 2024 approximately 37,000 people visited the website. That’s more than double the users in five years!
DSP Help Project has been able to integrate with and contribute to SSRV’s broader offering of services. For example, the project contributes one day a week to the Worker Help Line service, one day a week to a clinic legal advice service, by offering representation and ongoing assistance file work, community legal education delivered to community workers and to advocacy work.
“Your advice and preparatory work prior to the AAT [Administrative Appeals Tribunal] hearing has contributed extensively to this positive outcome,” one user told us. “As I have said many times – thank you – to you, your colleagues and the SSRV for your guidance. Your extensive knowledge of the legislation around disability and implementation procedures, your passion for the needs of people with disabilities and your attention to detail is outstanding.”
SSRV would like to thank the Victorian Legal Services Board Grants Program for the funding provided to SSRV to design, implement and evaluate the DSP Help Project.
