And now he is taking on the federal government over a feature of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) that means people with a disability who do not register with the scheme before the age of 65 are barred from funding under the scheme. Instead, they are at the mercy of the aged-care system.
Building Better Homes Campaign Director Alistair Webster called it “a once-in-a-generation opportunity”. “What this means is that the millions of Australians with mobility limitations who currently cannot get access to appropriate housing will have more opportunity to fully participate in community life,” he said.
I spoke not in my capacity as President of People with Disability Australia, nor as a board member on any of the other boards that I sit on. I spoke as a disabled woman and a carer who, like many of us, has spent a lifetime battling disability and mainstream services and systems.
Lead author Anne Kavanagh from the University of Melbourne said the survey found of those undecided, 68 per cent reported there was inadequate data about the safety of the vaccine and 59 per cent were worried about possible side effects.
Almost three months into the COVID-19 vaccination program the federal government is still working out the best way to immunise people with disabilities despite their inclusion in the first two phases of the vaccine rollout.
The latest documents, released under freedom of information laws, show that NDIA officials inserted an entire chapter into the latest review of the scheme legislation. That chapter recommended the introduction of independent assessments for everyone who is a part of the scheme, a change likely to take place by the end of the year.
There is no doubt about it: the NDIS quality and safeguarding system is a complicated beast. Many newly transitioned providers are scratching their heads about what all this means in practice. If you aren’t sure whether you are across the fundamentals, here’s some questions to help…
Addressing the National Press Club, Mr Shorten blamed “big consultancy cronyism and a stultifying staffing cap” for poor service delivery in the NDIS, accusing the Coalition of putting compliance measures ahead of improving the lives of Australians with a disability.
“If their intent was to oppose ableist views in academia, or have positive conversations around disability, they have instead perpetuated academic ableism by literally putting the worth of disabled lives up for public debate.
The Specialist Disability Accommodation within Australia’s disability scheme has been overhauled from relying on ‘off systems’ to being completely visible.
Closing date: April 22, 2021
“People with disability are sick of able-bodied people patronising them and telling us how we should feel and react to things, especially with an organisation that’s a government department meant to have our best interests.”
“With no transparency, robo-planning could be used to exclude participants, cut plans, or change the NDIS eligibility criteria. And the NDIA would not be able to be held to account for such actions. The fact that robo-planning has reached the current stage of implementation is a disgrace. It should have been stopped long before now.”
Any Australian over the age of 50 will be able to get a COVID vaccine from May 3, but many vulnerable Australians are frustrated that they are still yet to be vaccinated despite being in the priority group.
Debra Blackmore, a GP with the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service, made the comments in a submission to the bipartisan parliamentary committee looking into NDIS independent assessments, which have sparked sector-wide backlash.
Police allege the syndicate skimmed NDIS funding from disabled users of the scheme — providing inflated invoices to the NDIS for rebates.