Australia’s first national autism helpline has just been launched, offering help for anyone seeking information, support or guidance about autism. This free and confidential service has been developed by autism peak body Amaze and can be accessed via phone, email, and webchat service.
Trenbath says the disability employment provider seemed to only see her cerebral palsy, not her academic achievements and job skills. “They thought that because I was disabled that I was on welfare, and they didn’t need to find me a job, that they could just take their time,” Trenbath said. “I’ve never been on welfare and I don’t get any NDIS funding, so I have to work. I not only want to work, I need to work to be financially independent … I don’t want to rely on government funding.”
Mr Fairbairn said he was also usually asked if he had “one of those blade things. People’s perceptions seem to be that all lower-limb amputees must be sports people,” he said.
Minister Reynolds said the proposal for personalised budgets was being released to provide further detail regarding the proposed new budgeting approach. This is part of an ongoing commitment to share more information about proposed NDIS reforms, as consultation continues before any enabling legislation is finalised and introduced.
On Thursday, June 3, the NDIA released a technical paper on Personalised Budgets, the Agency’s new term for NDIS plans, which have a whole new planning process behind them. The term has been dropped into NDIA communications since late last year, but there has been a notable lack of information about what Personalised Budgets are and how they might inform a plan.
Senator Hughes, who established the Country Autism Network, told the Parliament she was a “huge believer” in the National Disability Insurance Scheme, but warned there was “a lot more work to be done to make it truly fit for purpose”. Two years later, Senator Hughes is fighting her own party’s controversial plan to introduce independent assessments to determine eligibility and funding for the scheme.
Ms Malowney said she was disappointed by the slowness of the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine and said people with disabilities were the “forgotten community”. She said Scope shouldn’t have to be responsible for running vaccination centres, “but if that’s the only way they can keep clients safe, then let’s do it”.
Disability charities are stepping up to play a part in Australia’s vaccine rollout, opening hubs across the country to help people with disability and their support staff get vaccinated.
The Morrison Government’s push to introduce controversial independent assessments to the NDIS faces fresh hurdles, with a Liberal Senator now adding her voice to the critics of the plan. Hollie Hughes is the mother of a 12-year-old boy with autism and she says there needs to be a focus on the successes of the people utilising the scheme, rather than the deficits.
In addition to the state-based vaccination hubs prioritising workers announced by the Victorian Government yesterday, a dedicated Commonwealth vaccination hub for people with disability opened in Thomastown last week. Each day more than 120 people with disability, their support workers and their primary carers are being vaccinated. In addition to the dedicated vaccination hub, the … Continued
Millions of older Australians with disability who are not eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme are struggling to access vital assistive technology such as wheelchairs and ramps, prompting advocates to call for a national program.
Australians know that spending money to support people with disability is not simply a cost, but an investment. An investment that we all benefit from. So next time you hear someone claiming the NDIS is unsustainable, ask yourself – is the alternative sustainable?
The NDIS is designed to cut through the barriers faced by many with disabilities when moving through daily life, but instead, it seems to have created an even bigger and more intractable one. And if there are those who describe the system as dehumanising, or exhausting, or disheartening, or disempowering, the government should be listening and responding.
A secret marketing strategy to convince Australians to support a controversial overhaul of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) says the federal government must be “seen” to have listened to concerns of disability groups, who will be targeted with an extensive campaign.
She said supported residential services were originally designed as private accommodation with limited support, for people who were frail and elderly but not yet ready for nursing home care. Instead Dr Pearce said they had become the default institutions for people with a disability and mental illness.