It appears the government's Welfare to Work scheme is being exploited, with more than 700 thousand people receiving disability support.
Never before have so many Australians taken advantage of disability payments, with another 12 thousand signing up last year alone.
Nearly one third of the recipients receive the payment for a medical category described as muscular skeletal and connective tissue, mostly a bad back.
A further 190 thousand have psychological problems, according to documents obtained by the Telegraph under Freedom of Information.
Many of the 723 thousand people on disability payments are exempt from reforms requiring a medical assessment of their illness, meaning much of the $12 billion spent on welfare each year could be going to waste.