NDIA Accountability Project

NDIS access barriers for criminalised women and girls

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Inquiry into the Capability and Culture of the NDIA

ABN 94 859 410 728 Sisters Inside Inc. is an independent community P.O. Box 3407 organisation which exists South Brisbane Qld 4101 to advocate for the human rights of women in the criminal justice system Ph: (07) 3844 5066
Fax: (07) 3844 2788

Email: admin@sistersinside.com.au Web: www.sistersinside.com.au

16 December 2022

Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme PO Box 6100 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600

By email: ndis.joint@aphn.gov.au

Dear Committee

Re: Inquiry into the Capability and Culture of the NDIS

Sisters Inside welcomes the opportunity to provide the following response in relation to the implementation, performance, governance and administration of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Sisters Inside is an independent community organisation based in Queensland, which exists to advocate for the collective human rights of women and girls in prison, and their families, and provides services to address their individual needs. Our submission is informed by our work advocating for the collective human rights of criminalised women and girls.

About this submission

Criminalised women, girls and their families are a highly disadvantaged cohort. In our experience, people with disabilities, particularly cognitive or psychosocial disabilities, are overrepresented in the criminal legal system in Australia. People with a disability comprise around 18% of Australia’s population yet represent almost 50% of people entering prison.1 In our experience, often a psychosocial, cognitive disability or undiagnosed mental health issue is one of the underlying reasons women find themselves in court and prison.

Sisters Inside has a Health Support Program which employs four full-time staff members who are currently funded to provide mental health support services to criminalised women. In our view, if the NDIS scheme is about improving the lives of people with a disability then specific funding should be allocated to support criminalised women and girls who have disabilities. Improvements should also be made to address gaps in service delivery, especially for those who are in prison.

1 Human Rights Watch, “I Needed Help, Instead I was Punished” Abuse and Neglect of Prisoners with Disabilities in Australia (February 2018, Report).

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Summary of Main Points and Recommendations

  • Many criminalised women and girls have undiagnosed mental health issues and un- treated psychosocial or cognitive disabilities
  • Many criminalised women find it difficult to gather evidence of their disability within a prison environment
  • Accessing the NDIS is disenfranchising due to the complicated processes and language used with people with a disability, especially those who are Culturally and Linguistically Diverse or First Nations
  • Organisations that are familiar with the needs of people in prison should have specific access to the prison to assist people with their NDIS applications and planning
  • Organisations should be able to refer NDIS participants to the Justice Liaison Officer
  • There should be improved screening practises to identify people who come into prison with disabilities
  • There should be a specific service provider to advocate and assist criminalised women to ensure a seamless transition for NDIS participants coming into prison and transitioning into the community

Access and Implications for people in prison

Sisters Inside staff has observed that if women have been in custody for longer than 13 weeks, their Disability Support Pension (DSP) payments are automatically cut off. Once re- released can take up to 16 weeks to reapply for and receive the DSP payments. This means that we often face barriers trying to arrange secure, appropriate and affordable accommodation when they are released, as they can no longer afford supported accommodation. This results in prolonged prison stays for women who would ordinarily receive support for their disabilities in the community Unlike the DSP, the NDIS does not get ‘cut off’ upon coming into custody. However, in circumstances like these, rather than facilitating access to support, the NDIS acts as a gatekeeper restricting access to much- needed support and funding. Below are some case studies based on the experiences women have had in accessing housing due to the processes of the NDIS:

Case study 1

Cindy lives with an intellectual disability and also has complex mental health issues, having been diagnosed with schizophrenia, PTSD, personality disorders, and anxiety.슠Cindy was released onto parole and came back into custody a month later due to areach of her parole order related to a decline of her mental health. Cindy is not on the NDIS and a primary barrier to release is obtaining accommodation and linking her in with support providers in the community. At present, Cindy has had no assistance with an NDIS application despite there being a high need for support with her disabilities.

Case study 2

Beth lives with an intellectual disability and complex mental health issues, including a diagnosed personality disorder. Beth applied for parole and was rejected due to limited support and supported accommodation plans being in place. Beth has spent the past two years in prison. Whilst in custody, she no longer has the support of the NDS funding and her DSP. Due to this, Beth is unable to afford supported accommodation in the community, which is an impediment to a successful application for parole.

As highlighted in the above case studies, Incarcerated women struggle to access the NDIS from the beginning of the process which can impact their ability to be released into the community. We have seen women experience difficulties starting and obtaining the Access Request Form. Once the process is commenced, women who wish to engage with the NDIS often have trouble obtaining evidence for their application, which is already difficult to procure in the community but made even more so, due to the difficulty in obtaining this evidence from Prison Mental Health Services as well as the difficulty in being able to see Prison Mental Health Services reported by women in general.

Sisters Inside has observed inadequate intake procedures to screen for disability and mental health when entering custody, which results in disabilities being undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. As many criminalised women also do not have a formally diagnosed mental illness or disabilities and this can also affect evidence gathering.

The process for accessing the NDIS is excessively bureaucratic, which further exacerbates the difficulties incarcerated women experience attempting access. Many of the women in prison are from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds, are First Nations Australians or suffer from intellectual disabilities and/or are illiterate. This makes this process even more cumbersome and inaccessible. Even if a woman is eligible, the language and processes used are complicated and not accessible to people with a disability, especially those who are Culturally and Linguistically Diverse or First Nations. As a result of this, the people most in need of assistance from the NDIS are those least able to navigate the application process.

There is a lack of post-transition support for the continuation and finalisation of the Access Request Application. When a woman commences her NDS application and is released from custody into the community there is no one to assist them in continuing the application process and often have to restart the process from the beginning. Once these women leave prison, they continue to face significant barriers to access NDIS services.

ABN 94 859 410 728

Sisters Inside Inc. is an independent community organisation which exists to advocate for the human rights of women in the criminal justice system

P.O. Box 3407 South Brisbane Qld 4101 Ph: (07) 3844 5066 Fax: (07) 3844 2788 Email: admin@sistersinside.com.au Web: www.sistersinside.com.au

released with no understanding of how to re-start or use their plans and the specialist support coordinators are not always widely available.

Further, many (particularly First Nations) women will not even apply for the NDS, due to their mistrust of welfare service providers. Most criminalised women have a history of statutory intervention in their lives and are understandably cautious about sharing the level of personal details required to establish their eligibility and are unwilling to make use of services that will share their information with other agencies. Further, in our experience some staff that have no relevant experience in the health sector are making decisions regarding approval of treatment. As many women in prison have developed their disabilities and mental illnesses during traumatic events throughout their lives, having untrained staff means that the women will have to repeatedly re-explain and thus become re-traumatised by the distressing events that led to their injuries and illnesses.

Even for the relatively small percentage of criminalised women with a diagnosed psychosocial disability, there is no guarantee that they will even be deemed eligible for NDIS services. The Hunter Partners in Recovery trial site has reported that “a higher percentage of people with a severe mental illness than expected are excluded from the NDIS … approximately 35%”.2

NDIS Planning

For women who are fortunate enough to go into prison with an NDIS plan, a major hurdle is when their plans come up for review. Unless prison services are proactive about supporting women to connect to the NDS, the review often does not happen and they lose their funding and may have to start the process from the beginning. Further, when a plan is reviewed for a person in prison their funding may be cut and as a result of this, the person may not have the correct funding and plan in place upon release to the community. In our experience, without dedicated and consistent advocacy from Sisters Inside workers, prison staff will not proactively support women to maintain and/or establish NDIS plans.

Further to this, the NDIS planning process is complex and based on a prescribed model which is not always appropriate to the circumstances and needs of most criminalised women. Sisters Inside have found that linear planning models like conventional case management do not have the capacity to accommodate the complex, interrelated needs of criminalised women, and their constantly changing circumstances, priorities and crises. Accordingly, within conventional planning models, service provision goals must be constantly adjusted often on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

2 Hunter Partners in Recovery (2015) Hunter PIR and the NDIS: Building a stronger partnership at https://hunterpir.com.au/pir-and-the-ndis-building-a-stronger-partnership/, page 6

Limitations of the NDIS

ABN 94 859 410 728 Sisters Inside Inc. is an independent community P.O. Box 3407 organisation which exists South Brisbane Qld 4101 to advocate for the human rights of women in the criminal justice system Ph: (07) 3844 5066
Fax: (07) 3844 2788

Email: admin@sistersinside.com.au Web: www.sistersinside.com.au

The NDIS requirement to submit amended plans each time a woman’s goals change is unduly onerous for both the woman and her coordinating agency. With most criminalised women having limited education (and some being functionally illiterate) many can be expected to need a support person present throughout this process.

Limitations of the NDIS

Many women who are current participants of the NDIS struggle to receive assistance while in prison due to the lack of transparency and access to the Justice Liaison Officers. Currently, only Queensland Correctional Services and Prison Mental Health Services can refer a woman to the Justice Liaison Officer, which restricts access. In order to make this officer more accessible to women who need to see them, allowing prison service providers, such as Sisters Inside, the ability to refer current NDIS participants to the Justice Liaison Officer will allow more participants to access the help they need and to reach their full health potential. In our view, having an organisation like Sisters Inside that is familiar with the needs of criminalised women to assist them with the application process and developing a plan while in prison will allow for more seamless access to the NDIS.

Other Relevant Matters

There is a lack of awareness of a person’s NDIS status when they go through the legal system. If a woman is on the NDIS it is likely that she would benefit from extra assistance and support NDIS can provide in a prison environment. A system which shows NDIS status may improve the needs of a woman who is coming into custody and may also assist court officials, police personnel and prison staff to understand a woman’s needs. Further, the knowledge about a person’s NDIS status and disability may assist in advocating for alternative sentencing.

Conclusion

Sisters Inside thanks the Joint Standing Committee for the National Disability Insurance Scheme for the opportunity to contribute to this inquiry. We consider that prisons are too often used as a default response for people with disabilities. This imposes a significant cost on society at a social and economic level. According to the Productivity Commission, in 2014-15 imprisonment in Australia cost almost $4 billion – and an average of approximately $300 per prisoner per day. 3

3 Productivity Commission (2016) Report on Government Services 2016 (Volume C, Chapter 8 – Corrective Services), Australian Government at http://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2016/justice/corrective-services, Tables 8A.6 and 8A.7.

independent community

P.O. Box 3407 / i), organisation which exists South Brisbane Qld 4101 FY, | ~ “Sto advocate for the human “rights of women in the

Ph: (07) 3844 5066 criminal justice system

Fax: (07) 3844 2788

Email: admin@sistersinside.com.au Web: www.sistersinside.com.au

It is particularly concerning that the people who are most in need of assistance from the NDIS are those who are least able to navigate the system. Ultimately, Sisters Inside is concerned that criminalised women and people in prison are not properly supported by the NDIS. We are willing to provide further information or clarification of any of the matters raised in this submission upon request, and we consent to the publication of our submission. If you would like to discuss anything or require further information, please contact me on (07) 3844 5066.

Yours faithfully

Debbie Kilroy

Chief Executive Officer Sisters Inside Inc