Annual Report No.1 of the 48th Parliament
Submission 18
I’m a NDIS participant. The NdIS isn’t meeting my needs. As a result, I’ve been self-funding my needs.
A plan manager is a waste of money. Me, the participant, hasn’t been accessed or given training to be able to be self managed. A simple mistake of reimbursing under the wrong category has forced me to go from self managed to plan. There is no plan for me to transition from plan managed to self managed. I have greater choice when I’m self managed and able to get products in a more timely manner.
Local area coordinators (LAC) are not fulfilling their duties due to high staff turnover. LACs don’t announce to their participants that they are leaving. I find out if I call the NDIA or receive a new email from a new LAC. It’s like starting again in explaining my case and assistance.
guidelines keep changing and it’s difficult to know what to do. The wording used is difficult to understand. I was receiving products that I need for many years then out of the blue are told that I need evidence to back it up but am not allocated funding to obtain the evidence. My own point of view is not taken into account and used as valued evidence. Therefore, I end up buying the products out of my own funds to get in a timely manner.
The NDIA text message alerting to an upcoming call within the hour is not acceptable. I, l ike many other participants, am often at work and don’t have my mobile with me or am able to drop everything to be available at such short notice. Email responses that cases have been closed is also not acceptable as the NDIA has deemed it as completed but I have further enquiries.