Despite the NDIA’s repeated reviews into support coordination and claims that they ‘monitor the market’, the NDIA has not developed a cost model for support coordination … and we have seen little evidence of such monitoring given the current quality variability and market condition.”
The head of the Criminal Intelligence Commission, Michael Phelan, told Nine newspapers that criminals were systemically “ripping off our most vulnerable people”.
It’s a sad reality of life that some truly awful people walk among us. However, the title of “most despicable” must surely go to members of the organised crime networks who have been targeting vulnerable Australians in order to rip off the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Mark Gray struggles to stomach the concept that drug traffickers and money launderers are exploiting the welfare program that has helped give his son a quality of life not possible without government support. For Mark, the rorting of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is not just about money. “You’re taking pieces of people’s lives,” … Continued
A young Aussie who has tirelessly campaigned to see a princess with a disability introduced to the wonderful world of Disney could be a step closer to achieving that dream.
Mr Steele-John is the only federal politician who uses a wheelchair, yet his bid to become the Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was voted down by the major parties during the fist sitting week of parliament.
The NDIS eMarket did not proceed. This is an appalling situation. Instead, what the Australian community has been left with is a cadaverous, inert and incomprehensible spreadsheet which is the NDIS services and price catalogue, that has defined more than A$100 billion in supports over this period. You see, it’s not the participants ripping off the NDIS. It’s the market preying on this lack of transparency created by the NDIA’s analogue and antiquated conceptualisation of the pricing catalogue. That it has no feedback function is inherently defective. That it is inaccessible is a breach of human rights.
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.
My research and that of others shows the challenges faced by this group were always characterised as a “specialised field”. This means governments were aware of the issues but still failed to properly engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability in remote regions.
People with disability and their caregivers experienced profound impact and systemic neglect during and after the 2017 Northern Rivers floods, with many still unable to access stable housing, and at relatively high risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) six months later, finds a University of Sydney study.
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.
When the National Disability Insurance Scheme was created, then prime minister Julia Gillard said it would provide security and dignity to millions of Australians. More than half a million Australians now rely on the scheme but an increasing number of people, more than 4,000, are locked in disputes with the agency over the amount of funding they receive.
The job description is neither a typical CEO appointment nor the head of a federal government department. Instead, it’s a strange combination of these senior positions that requires a very specific skill set. To determine the kind of person who should become the next CEO, we must understand the role and the skills required for a candidate to succeed.
The current Disability Employment Services program concludes on June 30 next year, and will be replaced by the new model, which the Social Services Department is currently designing, aided by the consultation report.