“These numbers are just the start in ensuring people with disability are able to get on with living their lives without having to go to court to argue over the level of support they receive,” Shorten said. “The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has implemented measures that have not only helped blitz the number of those legacy cases but also reduce the number of new cases heading to the AAT.”
The Government has announced it will establish a new system of administrative review that is user-focused, efficient, accessible, independent and fair. As part of these changes the Government will abolish the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and replace it with a new federal administrative review body.
All matters currently before the AAT will continue. If you are a participant with an NDIA case currently before the AAT there are no further steps you need to take. The process for review of your matter remains unchanged and will be completed within the expected timeframes.
The Federal Government has announced it will abolish the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and replace it with a new body. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the former Government “irreversibly damaged” the AAT’s public standing over the past nine years.
One of the most notoriously politicised bodies, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, will be abolished after the attorney-general declared its reputation had been irreversibly damaged.
Labor has promised an overhaul of the national disability insurance scheme’s appeals process as Bill Shorten launched a stinging attack on the leadership of the agency’s current boss, Martin Hoffman. Unveiling the opposition’s vision for the $30bn scheme on Tuesday, Shorten said if elected the party would hire another 380 agency staff and crack down on rorting providers and the NDIA’s use of consultants and private law firms.
‘In respect of AAT cases, of course they are not precedent setting; they are individual cases relevant specifically to the facts of the particular matter, unlike Federal Court cases…’
With independent assessments soon to become compulsory for National Disability Insurance Scheme participants, advocates are speaking out about major flaws in the process, which will prevent people from directly appealing a decision.
The family of a disabled Brisbane man says he was left without support funding for five weeks after the National Disability Insurance Scheme took months to review his case.
In considering any care plan for a participant careful attention should be given to the relevant categories of supports. In short those support categories include core supports, capacity building and capital supports. Having a good understanding of the funding structure and the way in which these support areas can be utilised is extremely important when preparing plans in order to minimise the risk that it might be reviewed.
The Tribunal has emphasised that if the NDIA thinks that the information provided to it by an Applicant about their disability is insufficient, then the NDIA is under an obligation to seek further information from them.
More than 75% of people with disabilities across Australia last year did not have legal representation at their NDIS appeals, according to data obtained under freedom of information from the AAT, which reviews government administrative decisions. While people with disabilities are attending their NDIS appeals without any legal representation, the NDIA uses up to three lawyers to represent it in one tribunal hearing.
Under the administrative review system that allows people to challenge government decisions, NDIS participants who have been denied supports and applicants who have been denied access to the scheme can appeal to the tribunal. While few people with disabilities are legally represented in these cases, new figures provided to the Senate show increasingly they face the prospect of negotiating with or facing off against lawyers from top private firms.
“Participants have reported they have spent thousands of dollars chasing assessments to show their functional capacity and some Australians cannot afford the same access to professionals as others.”
In a recent decision the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has commented on the NDIA’s use of an independent assessor, stating “this type of therapist is not appropriately qualified” and that the assessor’s understanding was mistaken.
A Melbourne woman who has been on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for three years says it is too easy for money to be incorrectly taken from participants.