PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY AUSTRALIA
All of the data - all of your views
Voices and views of people with disability about the Government’s plan of independent assessments in the NDIS.
December 2020
About this report
The Australian Government signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
CRPD for short.
The CRPD is an international law.
It states the rights of people with a disability.
By signing the CRPD the Australian Government agreed to
- support the rights of people with disability
- include people with disability in decisions that have to do with them
1
Independent assessments
In August the NDIS Minister Stuart Robert told everyone that the Government will do independent assessments for the NDIS.
Assessment means the Government wants to find out how your disability affects you.
Independent means that someone not from the NDIS will do the assessments.
Everyone must do the independent assessment if they are asked.
You are not allowed to say no to it.
Many people with disability got worried when they heard about the independent assessments.
2
What PWDA is worried about
PWDA is worried because the independent assessments
- Will be for everyone
That means people who are already on the NDIS and people who try to get on the NDIS
- Will take between 1 and 4 hours
This is a very short time to understand everything about a person and what they need
- Will be done by someone independent who does not know the person
3
People with disability are the experts when it comes to the NDIS.
Their ideas should be part of any changes to the NDIS.
PWDA are worried because people with disability were not part of planning the independent assessments.
4
What PWDA did
PWDA teamed up with other disability organisations.
Together we wrote a letter to the minister.
We asked the Government to
- Stop their plan for independent assessments
- Come up with a better plan for the independent assessments
- Make the independent assessments a choice for people already on the NDIS
5
Survey with our members
We sent a survey to our members.
We wanted to know what they think about the independent assessments.
PWDA members are people with all kinds of disabilities.
146 people filled in the survey.
6
Who filled in the survey
Most people were women.
More people were from Queensland and Victoria than from other states.
Most people were already on the NDIS.
Half of the people had experience with independent assessments.
7
What we found out
A lot of people said
- They feel anxious about independent assessments
- The independent assessments are a bad idea
- They are unhappy with the government plans
8
What our members want
Our members were clear about what they want.
Our members want the Government to let people choose
- how information is collected about who can get on to the NDIS
- what supports will be funded in their NDIS plan
- Not have the independent assessments or make them a choice
- Make the plans for independent assessments better
9
What the Government is doing
The Government moved the start of the independent assessments to the middle of 2021.
They want to do more consultations before they start.
A parliamentary inquiry looks into a big problem.
Members of parliament look into what went wrong and how to fix it.
That means the Government is listening to our worries.
That is good news.
10
What PWDA will do now
PWDA will keep pushing the government.
We want them to stop the independent assessments.
If we cannot stop the independent assessments we want the government to
- Work together with people with disability
- Make better independent assessments
PWDA will always fight for a fair NDIS that helps change the lives of people with disability.
11
Thank you
Thank you to our members for speaking up and sharing your views.
Some of you felt very upset and anxious about the idea of independent assessments.
If you need more support you can call
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- Suicide Callback Services on 1300 659 467
- Mensline on 1300 789 978
12