National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024

Submission 218

I am placing a submission to the The National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024 I wish to make a submission on the new NDIS bill now before the parliament. Giving a view point I hope that may assist the Committee.

I am giving a comment and submitting on the terms of reference (g ii)

I believe that the NDIS Scheme has made the living lives of a Disabled person bearable for all for the first time and has helped them live a normal life that the majority of us without a disability can enjoy.

The healing and the ability for the disabled community that the NDIS legislation and the services that have come from this have been profound. Allowing those persons to live their life, to set their life goals no what their wealth and grow in stature within our community. To be accepted for what they can do, can add, and like others enjoy is so starkly different and allows disabled people to be part and parcel of community in whatever capacity they can fit in. To enjoy that community, socially, learning, sport, work or whatever, needs to be applauded and continued to be supported to allow the NDIS to continue to function as it does. Delivering self-determination, support and the ability to live and set their life goals, not having their life goals set for them.

(g ii) The current meaning of reasonable and necessary needs to stay the same as it is today. Reasonable and necessary to support the life that the person with a disability has set for themselves for a full life. The NDIS should not be a scheme to limit a person with a disability to have to stay only within their accommodation or stay at home. It is not and should not be a scheme that only supports a person with a disability to only gain supports for home care, to attend education or to attend work. It must remain a scheme that allows a person with a disability to acquire support that allows them to live a full life and for an adult that is the normal activities, be it personal supports for work, social, family, education, sport, hobbies, or allow them to shop, whatever the support needed to live a normal life as much as possible.

In regards to the registration of all providers, I believe that any system must remain easy and online for a sole trader with an ABN to quickly apply online and gain a registration. This will allow trusted people to give in home support as now to disabled persons. While being able to be monitored by the NDIS. Remember that persons giving in home support are being trusted within a person’s private home and only people they can trust and personally feel comfortable with should be within their homes.

Having only large organizations (providers) supply home support extremely limits the market and in regional areas this can be very problematic. In Regional areas there is often few large providers, especially if you only want casual, respite at home, or occasional home support.

For the supply of low cost consumables the ability to purchase from non-registered NDIS suppliers should remain especially where these are cheaper or they have items or have assistive tools not available for support or assistance through a registered NDIS supplier.