Winnie and Gary Andrews jumped at the chance to have their son Ben join the NDIS during early trials in the Hunter region of New South Wales in 2014. It was a move that changed Ben’s life.
An eastern Victorian family has built an accessible home and hopes to be reimbursed by the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
But replacing her worn-out cushion was far from a simple process. “I was accepted onto the scheme for my cerebral palsy. The NDIA knows I have cerebral palsy. They know I use an electric wheelchair,” Ms Lamb said. It started with a two-hour assessment by an occupational therapist who then had to complete an 18 page report which took her 6 hours and cost Lamb over $1,000 before her replacement cushion was approved.
The term “evidence-based practice” comes from the medical field, mostly from research trials with a clear cause-and-effect relationship. But this narrow idea of what evidence is can be problematic when applied to a complicated scheme like the NDIS.
Those in the disability field have been expressing a sense of whiplash since Friday. Many had felt buoyed by reassurances from Bill Shorten, minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), at the National Press Club the previous weekthat a reboot would ensure the scheme was “here to stay”. Yet a week later, the word from the National Cabinet meeting of state and territory leaders, was that NDIS growth would need to be constrained in order for the scheme to be sustainable.
Disability advocates have reacted furiously to the government’s move to rein in spending on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), after it unveiled a plan that could save the budget $50 billion over the next decade.
Figuring out how you see and present yourself and your disability can be as important as knowing how to adapt to it, get around barriers, and deal with prejudice and discrimination. It may not always seem like it, but asking yourself some thoughtful, probing questions once in awhile about what kind of disabled person you are can be as useful as any form of specific therapy or training.
Victorian organisation Women’s Health in the South East said forced sterilisation was often performed to prevent pregnancy, that it breached “every international human rights treaty to which Australia is a party” and “constitutes torture”.
The government is set to allocate $48.3 million in next month’s federal budget for anti-fraud measures around the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), including new IT systems.
“With access to inclusive education still very limited, discrimination in hiring practices, and disability employment services that often fail to meet individual needs, young people are disadvantaged on many fronts when it comes to finding work, and some genuinely can’t work at all.
Government Services minister Bill Shorten has called for the greater use of data and automation in National Disability Insurance Scheme assessments as long as an “ethical framework” is in place. He said that the problem with the former government was that it took the “human elemen out.”
While much of the attention on the scheme is around Tier 3 supports, a major driver of costs is a lack of investment in Tier 2 services. If we do not see adequate investment in mainstream and community services, such as in health and education, people with disability are more likely to require Tier 3 services.
Shorten said there was no inherent issue with using automation technology and data analysis in NDIS operations, as long as it was used ethically and transparently. “Automation and using data is excellent, but it’s the purpose it’s used for and it’s the manner in which it’s the ethical framework around it” he said.
Mr Shorten said there was still “more good than bad” in the scheme, but he outlined a six-pronged plan to overhaul the NDIA, including a lift in staffing, longer-term care plans, addressing fraud and rorting, supporting more people with disability to live at home, purging ineffective providers and linking other community services up to the NDIA better.