Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme PO Box 6100 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 ndis.sen@aph.gov.au
Dear Sir/Madam,
You may be aware that the NDIA recently held a consultation on the topic of changes to Supported Independent Living services. We are doubtful that the NDIA will share the results with your committee because there was no statement from the NDIA about what would happen with the submissions.
Separately, I noted with surprise that the NDIA had already made a submission to this JSC on the SIL topic (July 2020, Section 1.2.2). The NDIA is progressing their policy development “concurrently” with their consultation, which is hardly “transparent”. We are concerned that the NDIA is pushing ahead with policy changes that it alleges are improvements, but without evidence, or timely input from service users.
Therefore, I would like you to accept as a formal submission a copy of our SIL document (attached), so that you are able to form a more balanced view of the Supported Independent Living needs of vulnerable Australians. I realise that the attached submission is slightly after the deadline for the 2020 report. But I urge you to make an exception and consider this submission now, so that it can be assessed against the claims already submitted by the NDIA. The NDIA is moving to make substantial changes to the SIL arrangements soon, well before your JSC report in June 2021.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
James O’Brien Chair Prader-Willi Syndrome Australia