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.
Independent Assessments are putting complete control over my ability to live an ordinary life in the hands of seven groups of professionals that I’ve never had contact with – and providing me no recourse if they get it wrong. The possibility of them getting it wrong is extremely high. I’m the best judge of my function and capacity; no one knows what I need more than I do. But you don’t even have to trust me – instead listen to the specialists who’ve known me my entire life and who understand my disability.
In a submission to a parliamentary inquiry which is examining what some call the biggest change to the scheme since it began, the ombudsman, Michael Manthorpe, did not comment on the merits of the policy itself. But, in a warning about the speed of the change, Manthorpe noted: “The breadth of changes being introduced in a relatively short timeframe may present a challenge for the [agency], its partners and for participants, carers, advocates and service providers.
Twenty advocacy groups are concerned a desire to save money could see an end to the scheme’s ‘individualised approach’. Dougie Herd, who helped campaign for the NDIS, said the mandatory assessments would “put people living with disability back in boxes based on an automated process”.
The government says this new approach is aimed at making the NDIS fairer. But many people with disability think it is about cost-cutting. They also say an independent assessment is a “nightmare” process that doesn’t produce an accurate picture of people’s lives.
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 Government supports, or supports-in-principle, 26 of the recommendations made in the Committee’s report. Given the ongoing reforms to the planning process being progressed by the NDIA, the Government notes the Committee’s remaining 16 recommendations and provides information on the key initiatives underway and planned to address them.
Michael* hasn’t showered or changed his clothes in three weeks, but when the National Disability Insurance Scheme independent assessor asked him how much difficulty he had washing his body, getting dressed and eating, he replied: “None.“
Given our ageing population, the number of Australians with mobility issues is expected to almost double from 3 million to nearly 6 million within 40 years. In about a month’s time Australia’s building ministers will meet to consider the inclusion of minimum accessibility standards in the National Construction Code (NCC). This will be a critical decision for the millions of Australians with mobility impairments who cannot get access to housing that meets their needs.
The UN has twice called on Australia to dismantle its indefinite detention system for people with cognitive impairments and mental illness, which disproportionately affects Indigenous people. Indefinite detention is what happens to defendants in criminal cases when they are deemed unfit to stand trial.
Let’s be clear about one thing: in the conversation about NDIS legislative reform, sex work is a red herring. Redrawing the lines of reasonable and necessary would impact every single decision on what the NDIS will or will not fund. But if the Minister successfully makes this a conversation about sex work, he might manage to get a whole host of legislative changes passed in the Senate. It’s quite a clever—albeit transparent—strategy, and it could work.
I am concerned that the Access and Eligibility Policy with Independent Assessments paper will garner considerably less feedback than its planning counterpart, primarily because the people it is most likely to impact – future NDIS participants. The people who have previously applied to the NDIS and are in the best position to give feedback have other shit to worry about right now: the complete overhaul of planning as we know it.
There are some big changes coming this year for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. A legislative update is due later in the year, including a service guarantee aimed at providing better service to participants, and the arrival of what is called independent assessments. But not all the changes are being welcomed by those living with a disability.
We’ve all been worried for a while now about what changes were going to be made this year to the legislation that governs the NDIS. Well yesterday the Minister for the NDIS Stuart Robert gave an interview on talkback radio in Sydney – and let slip some of what he has planned. And in the process pretty much confirmed what we were all so worried about.
Late last year, the NDIA released their vision for a complete transformation of the NDIS planning process and asked us all for feedback.At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, if these proposals become policy, they could fundamentally alter the NDIS as we know it. *Cue climactic music*