The National Disability Insurance Agency must match the task and be built to last, says Craig Wallace. Recently, Senate Estimates heard that the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) was involved in not one, but at least three reviews looking into a range of issues work on the full scheme rollout, work on agency capability and … Continued
Ten years ago I was wondering if I was ever going to return to work, or whether my role was going to be the full-time care of my son who had multiple and complex disabilities. My goals just after his birth were to manage getting out of the house and to maybe make it to … Continued
With the launch of the new national insurance scheme, DisabilityCare, disability is for once high on the public agenda. Many Australians now agree that the previous system failed those in need and they thus support this long-overdue reform. What is more, there is finally real money on the table, money that can help address the … Continued
It began with a mother’s plea and had many champions. Australia’s groundbreaking disability insurance scheme starts today. One day in 2006, Bruce Bonyhady went to visit a kindergarten in the Melbourne suburb of Endeavour Hills. Bonyhady, then chairman of Yooralla, was confronted by a woman demanding to know why she couldn’t get the support she … Continued
On 20 June, DARU co-convened a forum with Disability Advocacy Victoria (DAV). The theme of the forum was What will Disability Care mean for the disability advocacy sector? In total 38 people registered for the forum. It was unfortunate that the Disability Care Australia representative was unable to attend on the day due to a … Continued
The national disability insurance scheme DisabilityCare Australia is at risk of ”grinding to a halt” unless enough workers can be trained to provide care by the time the program is running in 2018, according to community sector workforce analysis. Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council chief executive Rod Cooke said there was a critical … Continued
Legend has it that before the introduction of Medibank (now Medicare) in 1974, then-prime minister Gough Whitlam convinced the premiers at a Commonwealth-states meeting to introduce a national disability insurance scheme similar to New Zealand’s comprehensive insurance scheme, which was established in 1972. But during a meeting break, his treasurer Bill Hayden apparently persuaded Gough … Continued
Indigenous people with disability will benefit from a $900,000 funding package announced today to improve access to national disability support services. The First People’s Disability Network Australia will receive the funds over three years to assist Indigenous Australians to understand and access support from the newly-created DisabilityCare Australia. Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda said the … Continued
DisabilityCare Australia may be Julia Gillard’s enduring legacy. In a budget week of deficits and billion-dollar figures, of cuts and thrusts across the body politic, there was a moment of unifying commendation. Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Julia Gillard rose to give the second reading of the Medicare Levy Amendment (DisabilityCare Australia) Bill 2013. It was … Continued
Julia Gillard once spoke of having been a shy, reserved child who had grown a shell hardened by the rigours of politics and who had learnt the arts of ”holding a fair bit back, and hanging tough”. ”If that means people’s image of me today is one of steely determination, I understand that and I … Continued
The Prime Minister becomes emotional introducing the NDIS funding plan in parliament, and MPs across the party divide agree the issue is important and distressing for Australians.
Speaking at a press conference in Tasmania, Ms Gillard said she welcomed Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s ”change of mind” about supporting the levy. ”On the basis of that change of mind by the Leader of the Opposition I will be bringing to the parliament the legislation to increase the Medicare levy by half a per … Continued
The Government has secured the qualified support from the Coalition for a levy to in part fund the new National Disability Insurance Scheme. Yesterday we spoke with Canberra woman Sally Richards who has long campaigned for national disability care and Sally joins us again today to give us her reaction to the Coalition’s support for … Continued
Legislation setting up the National Disability Insurance Scheme has cleared its final parliamentary hurdle on Thursday, sparking a rare congratulations for the government from the opposition benches. Coalition MPs warmly praised the government and Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin after the House of Representatives on Thursday accepted amendments the Senate made on Wednesday. Ms Macklin … Continued
Disabled Victorians will not be guaranteed the protection they need under draft laws for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Victorian government has warned. Prime Minister Julia Gillard had said few actions in public life had given her greater pleasure than introducing the disability scheme on Thursday. ”The scheme is ambitious, and necessarily so,” she … Continued