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 an appointment at the Royal Children’s Hospital without too much anxiety.
Hopefully I would be able to take my young daughter to kindergarten and not feel too stressed. I was severely depressed. Those goals were exceeded significantly – due to astute professionals and brilliant family and friends who supported and guided me. We accessed childcare for my son, he went to an excellent early intervention program, I returned to work, got involved in disability groups and my family life returned to ”normal”.
Ten years later I am a director of my own business, I’ve been president of a disability advocacy organisation, and I am a member of two government boards. I have also completed two major projects for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Through the insight of a few people and the right support as needed, I am now back paying taxes, and putting back.
The NDIS is a once-in-a-generation economic and social reform that could mean many people have access to the same support I received. Parents I have spoken to over the years have said that the NDIS is a crucial step in ensuring that the person they are caring for in an unpaid capacity is supported appropriately – so that they then can obtain paid work. People with disabilities also have the capacity to seek employment if given the right support.
Achieving the goals of the NDIS will require clear focus on critical priorities; careful management of risks and excellent implementation. To achieve this goal the disability sector has to be prepared to change considerably. The new workforce created through this injection of funds will provide a huge increase in job opportunities, increasing employment for many and thus increasing the numbers of taxpayers, helping the economy to grow. All Australians, not just people with a disability, stand to benefit from the NDIS, whether through the direct provision of disability services or through the flow on benefits to our economy. If people with a disability are treated as consumers as opposed to passive welfare recipients then Australia will reap the rewards.
The challenge for the disability sector is to maintain its focus and establish itself as a proactive stakeholder in this business. Consequently, for the NDIS to be truly effective we need to measure outcomes over a longer term than months or even years. For true change to occur it will most likely take a decade. It is vital that the government and the sector are fully committed to this change, for the long term.
The Productivity Commission report into disability care and support delivered to the assistant treasurer on July 31, 2011, confirmed what the majority of people with a disability and their families and carers know from experience: that disability support in Australia is ”underfunded, unfair, fragmented and inefficient”.
Research and reports from PricewaterhouseCoopers, Gonski and the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission show some alarming statistics:
- People with a disability are only half as likely to be employed as those without a disability and that 45 per cent of people with a disability live in or near poverty.
- Students with disability are less likely to complete year 12. In 2009, about 30 per cent of people aged 15 to 64 years with a reported disability had completed year 12, and 15 per cent had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher. This compares to 55 per cent and 24 per cent for people without disabilities respectively.
- The median gross personal income per week for people aged 15 to 64 with reported disabilities was $306, compared to $614 for those with no reported disabilities. We need to ensure that the financial benefits of the NDIS are not being played down. The future benefits of the scheme to the economy will vastly outweigh the initial cost of setting it up.
Throughout the implementation of the NDIS an appropriate evaluation of the system should be established, based on outcomes, not on welfare models. Companies and organisations have a CEO and a board of directors who are answerable to their shareholders or members.
The shareholders expect a return on their investment. I use this analogy to describe the challenges for the NDIS. The CEO and board are answerable to the shareholders, the Australian people, who are investing 0.5 per cent of their income via an increase to the Medicare levy.
The Australian population has elected an advocate, the government of the day. This elected advocate needs to ensure that there is a return on its investment by contesting the established principles, the finances and the key performance indicators.
A good business measures its return on investment, and the NDIS must be evaluated in this frame of reference and not falsely be portrayed as a charity that provides no fiscal return. Ultimately we are all paying for it and we should be expecting a gain on our outlay.
Liz Kelly is a member of the Disability Services Board and Director of Children with Disabilities Australia.
Read the full story... (off-site)- Topics:
- NDIS
- Author:
- Liz Kelly
- Source:
- The Age
- Date published:
- Sun 16th Feb, 2014