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

Submission 245

To whom it may concern,

I am an elderly widow sole, carer of my 38 year old son who has Down Syndrome with a severe intellectual impairment. His condition has been exacerbated by the unexpected death of his father and the resultant grief and trauma, resulting in a loss of capacity to lead a life without 24/7 care.

We live in a rented house and he lives in a caravan on the property. Despite the fact that he has received SIL funding we has not been able to find any accomodation to live independently.

His capacities have been diminished due to extreme anxiety and resultant disruptive behavioural issues, which make it impossible to cohabit with anyone.

The conditions of the SIL funding, that he share a house with two other people with a disability supported by one support worker, will seriously impact on his right to receive sufficient care for his safety and quality of life.

It appears that his funding includes the payment of his share of the SDA rent, but currently there is no house available through the SIL program.

The problem could be solved by allowing the funds allocated to a SIL SDA house to be directed towards rent of a house/unit which we would be happy to source.

This small change could solve the problem of undersupply of housing to SIL recipients

Thank you for considering this proposal

Kind regards

Margi Bruce