However, these barriers could be avoided if government policies and services were changed to provide the supports and services that would allow people with disability to be equal members of an accessible society.
Since its establishment in 2019, the Disability Royal Commission has put the spotlight on the public trustee system, exposing countless cases of people losing control of their lives under the system. Investigative reporter Anne Connolly has been at the latest hearings and she joined RN Breakfast to discuss.
With only a quarter of public maternity hospitals reporting adequate services for women with disabilities, Ms Benzie says the time is now to implement disability identification – which would lead to a better understanding of the needs of women with disabilities.
Another State responsibility, the education systems, could also be letting children with developmental delay down, Minister Shorten believes, causing more parents to look for support from the NDIS and driving growth in participant numbers above expectations.
More patients with a disability who have been medically cleared but are stuck waiting in hospital for a NDIS plan will be able to go home earlier, with the Andrews Labor Government expanding a program to reduce bed block around the state. The $39 million Pathways to Home program helps patients with a disability transition home or into home-like accommodation once they are medically fit for discharge from hospital, and while they await their permanent accommodation plans through the NDIS.
Many have admitted the pandemic impacted their wellbeing and financial capabilities. Already present with disadvantages, people living with disability face even more restrictions during this period.
Working across the mental health and disability sectors, it is not uncommon to hear of people falling between the cracks of services. Someone may present to a disability-specific health service, and be turned away due to a co-occuring mental health difficulty. They might then present to a mental health service and be turned away due to having a disability.
There are 3,000 vacancies in disability housing and 1,430 NDIS participants stuck in hospital because the bureaucratic process of securing adequate NDIA funding for housing and support is complex and takes many months or years. Instead, the focus of the NDIA appears to be on reducing short-term up-front costs. This means slow and inaccurate decisionsthat affect NDIS participants.
These resources provide a simple, accessible way for consumers, carers and their families, as well as lived experience workers and staff, to quickly understand, educate and communicate Victorian mental health rights and principles under the Act. The resource includes a series of social media posts and images, as well as download versions that can be used as reference guides
“People have experienced a lot of fear, illness, isolation and neglect,” explained Dominic Golding, policy officer at National Ethnic Disability Alliance. “COVID has had a really big impact on where we feel secure and safe.”
For the ABC’s National Disability Affairs reporter Nas Campanella, who is blind and lives with a neurological condition, figuring out how to navigate motherhood has been a wild ride.
Dr Peterson was left a a quadriplegic by the accident in Orange, New South Wales, but assistive technology and modifications to his home and work environment have enabled him to continue practising.
CTARS – a cloud-based client management system provider for NDIS, disability services, out of home care and children’s services – revealed this week that an unauthorised third-party had gained access to its systems on 15 May.
Overall, government data showed there were 1,140 participants stuck in hospital waiting for housing funding or other support before they can be released.
“No one is talking about the [more than] 85 per cent of people with disabilities who aren’t on the NDIS and many of those people are struggling to get the services and supports they need to live ordinary lives,” Professor Kavanagh said.