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NDIS participants say their funding — and taxpayer money — is being tied up in unnecessary bureaucracy

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.

NDIS cost scrutiny is intensifying again – the past shows this can harm health and wellbeing for people with disability

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.

Is Disability Part Of Your Identity? Ask Yourself These Questions

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.

Gov to boost IT systems for detecting NDIS fraud

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.

Urgent calls to simplify access and raise youth rate of DSP

“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.

Shorten backs ‘ethical’ automation for NDIS assessments

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.”

The NDIS is set for a reboot but we also need to reform disability services outside the scheme

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.

Automated NDIS assessments to stay but with “human element”

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.

NDIS ‘reboot’ will include more staff, cost crackdown, longer-term plans and shonky services purge, Shorten says

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.