Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth has signalled that she will continue to work across her diverse portfolio to get outcomes for those who need it, while also pointing to “wasteful spending by the previous government”.
For nine years, people with disability not only didn’t get an invitation to the party, too often, we were on the menu. Carved up in the name of “fiscal sustainability”.
This report draws on de-identified stories that starkly illustrate the impact of the system failures on adults who are at-risk. It identifies gaps and failures in the current framework and makes seven recommendations to improve Victoria’s safeguarding laws and practices for all at-risk adults. The recommendations aim to ensure that we do not lose sight … Continued
Disabled students in public schools are missing out on $600 million a year, because of onerous and unfair funding arrangements.
Factors drawn from the data that could contribute to a person with disability’s lower level of satisfaction in life include health, wellbeing, financial stress, social isolation and lack of employment opportunities. Long wait times, cost, inaccessible buildings, discrimination by health professionals and a lack of communication between treating health professionals were all seen as barriers to people with disability accessing health care.
Statements by the recently-installed Labor government’s minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Bill Shorten, make it plain that plans are being drawn up to reduce spending on the scheme.
Measuring inequality is essential for identifying the barriers faced by people with disability in exercising their human rights. Evidence of disability-related inequalities can inform action to remove barriers and reduce inequalities. This report presents the first national data using the Disability and Wellbeing Monitoring Framework and Indicators, which was developed by the CRE-DH in consultation with people with disability and disability advocates.
News Corp newspapers report that fraudsters are ripping off the scheme by as much as $1.45 billion a year, a program that is already seeing costs ballooning. “I think there is very few things more despicable in life than crooks taking money which is due to go to disabled people,” Mr Shorten, who is the NDIS minister, told ABC’s Insiders program.
If you work in the NDIS sector and happen not to live under a rock, chances are you’ve encountered some chatter about Scheme sustainability. With the change in government, the sustainability question might lose some prominence, but we’d be kidding ourselves if we think it’s going to disappear altogether.
The Morrison Government will invest $100 million over three years to ensure people with disability continue to have access to advocacy and legal support. From 1 July 2022, more than $73 million in grants will enable 59 organisations across Australia to deliver the National Disability Advocacy Program (NDAP). Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston said the program provided people with disability access to advocacy services to promote their interests and protect their welfare.
At their August 2021 meeting, Disability Ministers directed work be undertaken to understand cost drivers and underpinning assumptions in the Scheme Actuary’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Annual Financial Sustainability Report (AFSR), with a report back to Ministers on findings in December 2021. Independent actuarial firm, Taylor Fry, was commissioned to do this work.
The National Disability Insurance Agency’s (NDIA) spending on private law firms to battle participants appealing its decisions rose 30% last financial year, new figures show.
For a Scheme that was introduced to give effect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, there’s very little discussion in the sustainability space about the value attached to human rights. How much value do disabled people attach to accessing bathrooms, buildings and workplaces? Where’s the modelling on sustainability based on what disabled people value?
This report discusses, where data is available, some of the issues surrounding the new NDIA modelling. It then goes on to assess the broad economic activity generated by the NDIS, including employment and consumption, and the potential costs of limiting NDIS spending at sub-optimal levels.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme is estimated to leave the economy $52 billion better off, delivering $2.25 for every dollar spent. An analysis commissioned by National Disability Services lays out the costs of underfunding the scheme, showing about 10,200 jobs are lost for every $1 billion of underspending.