People with disabilities left behind in Covid-19 response
At the latest disability royal commission hearings, witnesses testified to how little regard has been given to people with disabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Authorities swoop over alleged insurance fraud
Materials were seized from the sites in Western Sydney to assist the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Fraud Taskforce in its “Operation Pavo” investigation. In a joint release by the AFP, NDIA, and Services Australia on August 27, the authorities said the case’s current fraud value is estimated to be over $120,000.
Disability advocates welcome NDIS reforms to increase number of scheme participants
Advocates are welcoming substantial changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) which they believe will make the system quicker and easier to navigate.
Disability support worker sued by NDIS provider after clients follow her
Leanne Griffin is denying all allegations from Give a Care, a provider under the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which claims she breached her contract by taking clients when she changed jobs in May.
For people with disability, the pandemic has brought hardship and neglect, Commission hears
Despite the refrain throughout the COVID-19 pandemic that ‘we are all in this together’, the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability last week revealed the many hardships encountered by people with a disability over the past six months.
NDIS user accuses provider of claiming funds after support was gone
A Melbourne woman who has been on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for three years says it is too easy for money to be incorrectly taken from participants.
Landmark reforms to deliver on the promise of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) will today release a new Participant Service Charter and Participant Service Improvement Plan, which set out how the NDIA will deliver on the Participant Service Guarantee. These reforms set new service standards and clear timeframes for decision making by the NDIA, making it is easier for participants and their families to navigate the NDIS.
Update on NDIS and COVID-19
The reporting will ensure accurate and timely information is being provided to the community. The data is collated through reporting mechanisms of the NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commission and compiled by the Commonwealth’s NDIS Critical Response Group.
How Do Disabled People Feel About Discussing Their Disabilities?
Sometimes, when people ask their perennial questions, or just look at us in a certain way, we can almost hear them say it: “Go on! Do that thing you do, where you remind me how my own little problems aren’t so bad. Do that ‘inspiration’ thing that makes me feel better about myself for admiring you.”
New Paralympic wheelchair basketball eligibility rules have ruined dreams, and raised significant questions
Annabelle Lindsay is one of two Australian Gliders who recently had their hopes of competing dashed by a change in the classification rules for wheelchair athletes set to compete at the Games, being told they were now ineligible just weeks before the proposed start of the Games, had they taken place this year.
Coronavirus exposes Indigenous disability gaps, royal commission hears
Damian Griffis, chief executive of the First Peoples Disability Network, said the virus has exacerbated existing inequalities in Australia. He said the group has received phone calls from across the country from people who don’t have access to crucial items such as incontinence pads.
Disability education lacking in Australia during coronavirus pandemic, royal commission hears
The single mother of a NSW student with Down syndrome felt her daughter was treated like an afterthought when her high school shut due to coronavirus, a royal commission has heard. “At the core of this there is some deeply-rooted ableism,” she told the commission on Wednesday.
Covid-19 terrifies Australians with disabilities, who feel they are ‘expendable’
Australians with disabilities have suffered higher rates of domestic and family violence, are experiencing suicidal thoughts, and felt “expendable” during the Covid-19 pandemic, a royal commission has heard.
Working together to protect Victorians with disabilities
The Australian and Victorian Governments will enhance the coronavirus response in disability residential care through a strengthened Disability Response Centre to coordinate and manage outbreaks and keep residents safe.
Disabled woman gets COVID-19 after NDIA refuses sister’s care
A disabled woman has caught COVID-19 from a support worker after the National Disability Insurance Agency refused to allow her sister to provide care instead during the pandemic. Sheree Driver told the disability royal commission on Wednesday that her sister’s mental state had rapidly declined after being without care for almost a month as a result of the decision.