The agency that runs the national disability insurance scheme is seeking to increase the number of people that “exit” the scheme and reduce overall spending on funding packages through a “targeted review of existing participant plans”, internal documents show.
The adequacy of the disability pension will be put under the microscope thanks to the Greens. A Senate committee will look at the purpose, intent and adequacy of the Disability Support Pension, with the expectation of reporting back by the end of November.
The agency in charge of the National Disability Insurance Scheme has been accused by more academics of misrepresenting expert evidence in its efforts to justify the introduction of mandatory independent assessments.
Most of the suite of independent assessment tools haven’t been rigorously tested or evaluated for their application with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. Assessment tools should be evaluated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to ensure they’re applicable for cultural and social norms before they are endorsed by governments.
Disability advocates say they are confused by the federal government’s messaging around independent assessments, after National Disability Insurance Scheme Minister Linda Reynolds confirmed the controversial reform will proceed in “some form” despite widespread opposition.
Taleporos, who is one of 3,000 people who have taken part in an assessments trial, told the Drum last month he had “just met this person and they asked me about awhether I need support to have sex”. Taleporos said the questions made him feel “quite ashamed” and “embarrassed”. The Labor MP Libby Coker raised the issue on Tuesday, saying the questions were “intrusive”.
He said the assessments were not independent and should be called “robo-planning” because, like robo-debt, they applied a mathematical formula in ways it should never be used. “Robo-planning could be used to exclude participants, cap plans or change the NDIS eligibility criteria,” said Professor Bonyhady, who was the inaugural chair of the National Disability Insurance Agency from 2013 to 2016.
The agency that runs the national disability insurance scheme has quietly established a new taskforce aimed at cutting growth in funding packages and participant numbers. Guardian Australia has obtained an internal document that shows the National Disability Insurance Agency has created a new unit to make “short term, immediate changes” to the scheme, citing a forecast “cost overrun in 2021-22”.
A spokesman for Senator Reynolds said this week she would soon be having comprehensive briefings with her state and territory counterparts, the disability sector and NDIS participants.
“I think it is a rotten idea,” Lambert, 46, says. “The NDIA should bugger off and leave people with disability with enough money to be able to live an ordinary life like everyone else in Australia.”
More than 20 organisations have jointly called on the new NDIS Minister to abandon the introduction of the contentious independent assessments.
The disability sector is demanding answers from the Federal Government over the independence of a report used to justify controversial reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Documents released to Labor appear to show the 2019 NDIS review was amended by public servants to include a section advocating for the rollout of permanent independent assessments – which disability advocates are opposed to.
Emails and draft copies of the 2019 report, written by former senior public servant David Tune, show National Disability Insurance Agency officials inserted an entire chapter into the review of the scheme’s legislation, and made substantial changes to almost every part of the document.
Disability Discrimination Commissioner Dr Ben Gauntlett told Senate estimates it was important to remember that the independent assessment policy change had not yet been put into legislation. While he said he welcomed increased consistency, equity and efficacy in the delivery of scheme, he had concerns the proposed process for independent assessments undermined its effectiveness and would not have the intended effect for individuals with complex support needs.
The Morrison government is considering radical reforms to the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme including denying funding to Australians with acquired brain injuries and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder as well as reducing avenue of appeal for participants as part of secret plans to save costs.