Funding delays keep NDIS participants in hospital months longer than necessary, report finds
Overall, government data showed there were 1,140 participants stuck in hospital waiting for housing funding or other support before they can be released.
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I’m one of thousands of Australians with chronic fatigue syndrome but I’m lucky: I’ve become a human experiment
Some disabilities are “over medicalised”. Disabilities are often seen as medical problems when many really arise from a lack of accessibility. As Dylan Alcott recently explained, when he is in an accessible space, he is not disabled. It is inaccessible spaces that disable him. This is the social model of disability.
Australians with disabilities don’t care about gotcha moments. We need a PM willing to fix the NDIS
So I don’t care if the next prime minister does not have the best memory or feels blessed to not have a child like me. What I do want is a prime minister who will listen to disabled people, and work with us to resolve the many challenges we face not only with the NDIS but also in the many other areas of life where we face death, discrimination and disadvantage.
Disabled Victorians to have access to 20 free rapid antigen tests a day
Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott has applauded the “amazing” decision by the Victorian government to give people with a disability access to free rapid antigen tests.
From Saturday people on the Disability Support Pension or National Disability Insurance Scheme will be able to go to any testing centre and get up to 20 rapid antigen tests per day.
NDIA under pressure to end delays and get participants out of hospitals and aged care homes
A coalition of housing, health and disability groups has launched a pre-election campaign calling on the National Disability Insurance Agency to dramatically speed up decisions about funding for supported accommodation.
Federal budget 2022: $54 million plan to get NDIS participants out of hospital pitched to Morrison government
The Summer Foundation has made the request as disability-supported homes sit vacant across Australia, including in Canberra, while hospital-bound participants are unable to move into them amid delays processing paperwork and approving funding.
Masks, RATs and clean air: how people with disability can protect themselves from COVID
People with disability bear a disproportionate burden of COVID infections, serious disease and death. Every time a support worker enters their home, people with disability risk COVID exposure. But while Australian states have evidence-based measures to reduce the spread of COVID in schools and hospitals – such as improving ventilation, mandating masks, and using rapid antigen tests to detect cases – few strategies exist to reduce transmission to people with disability in their homes.
Pandemics disable people – the history lesson that policymakers ignore
Influenza, polio and more have shown that infections can change lives even decades later. Why the complacency over possible long-term effects of COVID-19?
NDIS participants stuck in Canberra hospitals amid bureaucratic delays
The paper revealed that administrative delays were the main barrier to discharge of “long stay” disabled patients in states including Queensland and Victoria. But a range of other barriers were reported, including a lack of housing options or supports for patients after their release.
Disabled man unable to get Covid booster after Australian vaccine contractor prioritises aged care
“Last time around we were able to get a team to come out and do the vaccination at home where he’s obviously more comfortable,” Walker said. “I called [Aspen Medical] again this week, to ask them to do the booster. “They were really lovely, very nice, but they said they’re trying to do all the nursing homes right now. So they can’t do him for another month or two.”
International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2021
As governments and the international community continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, and chart a course forward, it is essential that disability inclusion is central to health system planning, development, and decision making. Strong, effective health systems support robust health emergencies management.
Shortcomings in the NDIS lead to extended hospitalisations
COVID hasn’t overwhelmed Australian hospitals as some people predicted but the fact remains that Australia’s public hospitals are always under intense pressure. States and territories say there are more than a thousand people currently in hospital who don’t need to be there, and they’re blaming deficiencies in the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Access to NDIS support in hospital
The most recent COVID outbreaks have raised familiar concerns about one of the most complex mainstream interfaces: health and NDIS. And more specifically, what NDIS supports can a person access when they are in hospital?
Vulnerable Australians forgotten in race to reopen
The first doses of vaccine arrived on Australia’s shores on February 15 and most of the highest priority people were to have received at least a first dose by April. The strategy was sound – but you need more than words on a page to make strategy become reality.
People with disabilities ‘not safe’ with NDIS jab rollout months behind
Just over a quarter of Australians in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) are fully vaccinated – behind the national average – with hundreds of thousands of people yet to have a jab despite being in the federal government’s highest priority groups.