National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No.1) Bill 2024 [Provisions]
Submission 111 - Supplementary Submission
SUPPLEMENTARY SUBMISSION
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS
Back on Track No.1) Bill 2024
Introduction
This supplementary submission expands on issues raised in my 18 April 2024 submission. Specifically:
- Mandatory Assessments
- Appeal Rights
Mandatory Assessments
In my submission I stated “the notion of NDIA assessors with questionable independence and experience making access decisions which may be difficult to appeal is of deep concern.”
Allied Health Professionals are bound by the requirements of AHPRA and the various Codes of Code requiring consent. The question arises does the agency propose to bypass this by employing non allied health professionals to do needs assessments? If so these assessors will essentially be bureaucrats who are not qualified to assess participants with often complex diagnosis’s and needs.
The NDIA assessors will not know the participant as do treating medical professionals. The tool to be used has not yet been defined and will be determined by the minister raising the issue of “Godlike Powers.” It will likely be an algorithm which cannot be seen as holistic or geared towards the individual. The sum of this will mean defective and poor needs assessment decisions.
As mentioned in my submission many participants will find being assessed by a stranger employed by the NDIA traumatic.
Appeal Rights
The lack of review rights is disturbing and open to challenge. It appears that the needs assessment decision cannot be appealed nor the yet to be defined tool. The same applies for the budget decision. It appears that only the CEO’s ultimate decision can be appealed. This is a serious removal of the common law right of review and adds yet another Human Rights issue with this bill. That it is incompatible with Human Rights is a major flaw. Other than a platform to assess what is reasonable and necessary the bill lacks any redeeming features and should be withdrawn.