Dear Committee,
I am writing this submission after hearing news of the changes to the NDIS that mandatory independent assessment will become the new norm for participants entering the scheme and for existing participants.
I am a carer of two children with lifelong disabilities, to enter the scheme we were required to have a diagnosis (which is still the case for the changes) which cost us considerable money, took a substantial amount of time and required assessment by multiple specialists, with that diagnosis came recommendations for appropriate support for each of them. In a recent press release you discussed how you were trying to “cut red tape” and improve access and decrease waiting times for support, this move to add in another stressful and complicated step will do the opposite, increasing the barriers to entry and increasing time to access the scheme.
The second part that was alarming was the concept of “reassessing your access”, when the NDIS was rolled out it was promised that you would not be continuously put through the stress and anxiety of regularly needing to “prove” you were still disabled, to access the NDIS you needed to prove you had a life long disability and required substantial support, that does not change as by definition it is life long. The independent assessment process has the possibility to cause significant stress and sometimes trauma to people with a disability and the anxiety that at any time a stranger may deem you “not disabled enough” and remove the supports that are giving you quality of life is terrifying.
I read that these assessors will be trained medical professionals, one of my children has a complex disability with several comorbidities, she has a team of specialists who assessed her and support her and understand her complex needs. Her disability is life threatening without appropriate support. We have spent significant time and money finding the correct specialists who have specialist training in her conditions to treat her and those specialists have written assessments and reports to the NDIS. Can the NDIS guarantee that the independent assessor they assign to my daughter will have sufficient training and understanding in her complex needs? Because if they can’t then there is a reasonable chance my daughter will not be appropriately supported and that would risk not only her future to participate in society but her life.
Along with that we have spent considerable time building up my daughters self confidence and focusing on what she can do, subjecting her to an independent assessment of her weaknesses and support needs will be incredibly damaging and may undo a significant amount of therapy that has been done (and paid for by the NDIS). The NDIS runs on a deficit model, they need to know what she can’t do because that is what she needs support with, my daughter does not need to be subject to all the things she struggles with laid out in front of her whilst a stranger judges her level of support need. She has a full team of specialists who have already determined her support need by working with her weekly for several months, do you think someone who has met her once for a few hours will have more insight into her needs than these professionals who know her closely?
NDIS is meant to be about choice and control, mandatory independent assessment goes against both of these principles on a fundamental level and is in direct contradiction to NDIS statements of lifelong support with choice and control for people with a disability. Independent assessments should be optional, not mandatory, and they
Shouldn’t be forced on existing participants to continue to prove their disability at numerous stages throughout their lives.
Thank you for reading this submission, I hope you consider how harmful this change is for people with a disability.