Submission No 228
INQUIRY INTO IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE SCHEME AND THE PROVISION OF DISABILITY SERVICES IN NEW SOUTH WALES
Name: Mr Peter Reeves Date Received: 9 August 2018
To whom it may concern,
My name is Peter Reeves I’m a 61year old man living in Eleebana, Lake Macquarie NSW. In December 2010 I suffered C4 spinal cord injury due to a fall at home, which has left me an incomplete quadraplegic.
I was a keen golfer before my injury and returning to play golf was a major goal of mine during my rehabilitation. After a lot of hard work I have managed to recover enough to be able to return to playing golf. Although not to the standard I was playing at pre-injury I still count it as a major achievement and it is my main source of recreation and interaction with the community. Unable to walk the golf course I had to hire a golf cart to get me around the course. Unable to work the hire of the golf cart is a financial strain on my budget. So I asked the NDIS for help. They agreed to fund a mobility scooter suitable for use on the golf course and in the community. After compiling the necessary paper work and submitting it to the NDIS at the last minute they decided not to fund the scooter. This decision had me ask for an Internal Review of a Reviewable Decision. This Review upheld the decision not to fund the scooter which forced me to go to the A.A.T.
I contacted the NSW Disability Advocacy Service to help me with both the Review of a Reviewable Decision and the A.A.T. review. They helped me greatly with knowledge of the processes and with filling out the necessary paperwork and as far as the A.A.T. is concerned with the retention of a solicitor through Legal Aid. Without their help I would have been lost. I certainly didn’t realise I would need a solicitor for the A.A.T. process and their help with gaining access to legal aid was invaluable. I think the Disability Advocacy Service should be fully funded even after the full roll out of the NDIS to help other people like myself who feel they have been given a wrong decision by the NDIS and wish to fight it as I did.
Yours sincerely, Peter Reeves.