Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Inquiry into Independent Assessments under the NDIS

I am a 44-year-old woman who has been on the NDIS since early September 2018, i.e., over two-and-a-half years. I have multiple disabilities, including psychosocial disabilities, physical disabilities, and autism. I am a survivor of family violence and have been homeless during my time on the NDIS. I have a history of self-harm and attempting suicide. My disabilities are severe, and I have many allied health and medical specialists involved in my care, supporting me to manage my symptoms and trying to keep me alive.

I would like to address several points of the Committee’s Inquiry.

A) The development, modelling, reasons and justifications for the introduction of independent assessments into the NDIS.

  I understand that one of the reasons that has been given for the introduction of Independent Assessments has been inequity between participants in access to private specialists’ assessments and reports. The answer is not to remove the ability of participants to access their current private specialists’ assessments and reports by changing the system to this flawed proposed Independent Assessor model. The answer is to change the system to one in which participants are funded to equitably access specialists’ assessments and reports.

D) The independence, qualifications, training, expertise and quality assurance of assessors.

  I have a large number of disabilities that are treated by allied health and medical specialists in many different disciplines. Each of my specialists has devoted many years of study to their discipline, followed by even more years of experience working with patients/clients, including assessing their functioning and their need for supports. For example, I have a psychologist who specialises in complex PTSD and ASD, a psychiatrist, a mental health qualified GP, an occupational therapist, a super-specialist pain physician, a migraine neurologist, a gastroenterologist, a podiatrist, and a physiotherapist. It is literally impossible for an Independent Assessor qualified in only one discipline to have adequate knowledge or experience to assess my functioning in a way that leads to appropriate planning of supports. It is claimed by the NDIA that it is adequate for the Independent

Assessor wielding assessment questionnaires to be qualified in a health or allied health field. But if

the field is one that is totally unrelated to all or all-but-one of your multiple disabilities then the

Independent Assessor may as well not have any health or allied health qualifications at all, and

simply be a random person trained to ask questionnaire questions. Which calls into question the

t entire premise of Independent Assessments as being a sensible process at all.

E) The appropriateness of the assessment tools selected for use in independent

assessments to determine plan funding.

All of my specialists have established relationships with me, and therefore have a great deal of

background knowledge even before they begin to specifically gather information to include in a

report to the NDIS for the purposes of a planning meeting. They are also able to spend time

working with me on that task of gathering the specific information the NDIS in interested in for

the purposes of assessing functioning and planning supports. This means that the large number

of extensive reports and letters forwarded to the NDIS with their assessments are based on the

full information available. It is literally impossible for an Independent Assessment using a

thandful of standard questionnaires, carried out in a visit or online session, to capture this

amount of information. Any plan of supports based on such a tiny window into my functioning

and needs will certainly be woefully inadequate.

K) The appropriateness of Independent Assessments for people with particular

disability types, including psychosocial disability.

I would not be able to participate in an Independent Assessment with an Independent Assessor. My

complex PTSD, my autism, and my Social Anxiety Disorder mean that engaging with a) a total

stranger, for the purposes of b) being assessed, in order to c) have decisions made about my

supports, would be totally overwhelming and lead to trauma triggering, meltdowns, angry lashing

out, and either walking out of a physical meeting or disengaging from an online meeting. This is

what happened in August 2020 during my Microsoft Teams NDIS planning meeting with a brand

new NDIS planner. I repeatedly was triggered. I repeatedly exploded in anger at the planner and

began yelling. I repeatedly walked away from the computer and completely abandoned the

meeting while I lay on the floor in another room of my crisis accommodation crying. My support

coordinator and the planner basically carried on the meeting without me using the reports from my

allied health and medical specialists that included recommendations of the supports that I needed.