Submission No 33
INQUIRY INTO IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE SCHEME AND THE PROVISION OF DISABILITY SERVICES IN NEW SOUTH WALES
Name: Name suppressed Date Received: 9 July 2018
Partially Confidential
To Whom it may concern,
RE: Feedback on our daughters NDIS plan.
Thankyou for this opportunity to give feedback on the NDIS plans and procedures. Firstly I want to say that the NDIS scheme is a fantastic opportunity for our daughter that we are ever so grateful for. We do not want to take it for granted. We have been able to do things with our daughter that would have been difficult otherwise. The NDIS funding has allowed for more therapy and resources to be available for her. It has also allowed us to have greater control over the funds that are given for us. We are truly grateful for this funding.
There are a few changes that would be helpful for us in working with our plan.
- The written plan that we receive back from the NDIA both in the mail and on the portal is not detailed enough to give a clear indication where we are allowed to spend the funds. For example, the hours for therapy listed under “Improved Daily Living” does not highlight how many hours are contributed to service providers travel costs. It would be helpful if there is a clear guide included as to what are allowed in each fund category. Similarily in “Core Supports” it gives an amount of funds and a broad title such as for continence aids but not enough detail as to how the amount of funding has been worked out. This would give us an idea of how to divide up the supports.
- We are self-funded which has been very good and easy to use. We are thankful the portal has been designed for easy use, however the information that is needed to be filled in when requesting payments is too brief. It would be a safeguard for both the NDIA and us if we were required to add more information as to what the payment was for. It is tempting to use funds for other reasons, and when its unclear what we can spend the money on its hard to be sure we are doing the right thing. It would be more reassuring if we at least had to include information such as the business/service provider used and the reason for the payment.
- Lastly our planner was connected to the Early Intervention service we had been using before the NDIS. I felt this was a conflict of interest and would have preferred to have a planner not attached to any service provider. However, it is important that the planners have had experience with working with people with a disability.
Thank you for allowing me to give feedback and to give suggestions. We are so glad to be on the scheme and are thankful for any help we receive through it.
Yours faithful
A grateful parent and participant.