Submission No 149
INQUIRY INTO IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE SCHEME AND THE PROVISION OF DISABILITY SERVICES IN NEW SOUTH WALES
Name: Name suppressed Date Received: 6 August 2018
Partially Confidential
I am the parent of a 13 year old boy who has a profound intellectual disability. We reside in NSW. Prior to the rollout of the NDIS, my son was able to access therapy services that were delivered under the umbrella of the Department Aging and Disability. These services were delivered both in home and in the school, environments that he is familiar with. He received physio, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Following the roll out of the NDIS and the privatisation of the disability sector, I have contacted numerous organisations to assist with service delivery. The providers are either at full capacity or unwilling to travel to rural and remote areas of NSW. Other providers do not return my phone calls nor respond to the numerous emails that I have sent requesting services. We all have lovely plans with a bucket load of funding, but we cannot use it due to the massive market failure of the NDIS. With 70 days remaining on our first plan, a whopping 81% of funding remains unused, because we cannot access services. There is a chronic shortage of therapists in rural NSW, and those that are available remain seated in larger communities and are not willing to support rural and isolated clients. Organisations are not outreaching to smaller communities. As more people have access to funding, the worse the situation in rural NSW will become, because they will make more money by not having to travel. Rural clients are not being given the opportunity fulfil their potential, because the service shortage is chronic. I have also heard of high needs clients being overlooked for services, as organisations can make more money through quick turnover clients, with lower staff ratio needs. With no state authority in NSW, rural clients with high needs are being left behind, yet they need the most support. I met with the Member for Cootamundra on 25 May 2018, to raise my concerns in relation to the service failure in rural NSW. These issues need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Regards