National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024
Submission 252
Dear Senator’s and Minister Bill Shorten, I am writing this email to express my concerns over the proposed changed Amendments to the NDIS. I agree there must be changes but as a participant, I think it is the prices that are being charged by Businesses who provide Services who overcharge, not misuse by the Participants,not the many i know anyway. I am worried these changes will take away the Autonomy we have and further reduce our own choice on what we need to secure a more Independent and fulfilling lifestyle. I do not believe the Co - Design should be abandoned, it is already hard enough to get say Mobility equipment or a food requirement or choice approved with the Co - Design as it always depends on the Individual who is looking at that, it seems to depend on the personality of that person, whether they look outside the box and consider all aspects of the individuals disability ? Often that is the mistake we are all dumped into the same basket and have no leeway with certain equipment and other needs, especially if the Participant, l like myself has complex issues, and it is not a cut and dried one rule fits all scenario. People who have no empathy or understanding of how disability affects People as a whole, s hould not be working in the NDIA, strict one rule for all should not apply if we are treated as Individuals. This brings me to my next concern, that the Amendments will not take the Whole of Person approach, this cannot be passed , it will take away our autonomy as you will limit the ways we can access what we truly need for Quality of Life, Quality of Mind, and being listened to and understood for all of the issues we have not just this one or that, these complex physical and Mental issues exacerbate each other, and need help individually and as a whole , to help complex participants live their life. We need to be treated with respect as a Whole Person, not just a piece of a Person, this makes you feel useless, unheard, and just a number, not an individual with individual needs, These above 2 issues , scare me immensely. Please do not take them away from us or not treat us as a whole person if there is complex issues. I am very grateful to the NDIS for giving me back my life and helping me to look forward to living, but I have had many heartaches and been terrified , frustrated and upset along the way. There has many tears but over all. I am so Grateful. I do find the Punitive measure worrying as again, who decides this, will it be up to someone who has no empathy or understanding , is there an appeals for this? Limits on support or spending is also a worry as I stated before, it is already an issue getting equipment you really need to enhance your life and give you more autonomy, it all depends on the OT who charges astronomical amounts for their time and effort to write a report, and then to no avail, it depends on how they word their report, not on the facts of why an item is needed, they might not be good at it, they all charge the same whether they have life or job experience or not? Most of my OT’s have been straight out of Uni, arrogant, not very worldly, don’t seem to care and frankly dont get the job done, I find Occupational Therapists probably the biggest waste of money after the overcharging Services. We need more control with things like where we can purchase meals, where we get our support workers from and if we can use our Doctors or Physios to write reports for equipment that is needed over Occupational therapists as they see actual deterioration or if an item is really needed or not, an Occupational Therapist does not, they are hard to come by, expensive, often inexperienced, with attitudes as many are young , straight out of Uni
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDI Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024
Submission 252
and can be Arrogant, and not Individual thinkers, they talk and run off rote like a machine with answers and ideas. NDIS would also save a lot of mioney if they made this reporting system more user friendly, not so Autocratic and just straight forward, so Doctors and Therepists would agree to do this . Your would save millions, maybe a set fee to Practioners that provide this service so it is worth their time filling out a form or report. Occupational Therapist get paid as much per hour sometimes more than a practicing Doctor anyway , which is outrageous. Support workers from Companies always charge the Highest fees and their workers are no better than if you get them privately or through Mabel, where you can negotiate fees depending on what the service is for or the Support Workers abilities. A lot of money is being wasted here as well. People that are Plan managers should not be supplying the support workers as well, or Plan Co Ordinaters should not be supplying the Support workrs through the same company , this is a conflict of interest. many Participants I know have had this happen and its eaten up their funds, especially with Immigrant workers and Plan coordinators from the same companie usuall they have no experience either? So do not know how this happens? I myself have been told by some Indian workers that nearly killed my neightbour with a bad infection , that they were Nurses and knew it was not infection. I knew they were lying because I am an ex Nurse, I called an ambulance he ended up on IV Antibiotics in Hospital for 5 days. They were not contrite, they used his plan as they wished as he is not very verbal as a stroke victim, he was being taken advantage of, this is happening everywhere, Plan Managers and Plan Co Ordinators should be registered and support workers should not come from the same Companies as either of the above, more policing has to be done here and you will save Participants and millions. I have many other Instances I could relay, but I hope and pray you take the Participants and their Autonomy into consideration, before you make changes to the NDIS Bill. Yours sincerely and with great Gratitude and Thanks, Alyssa Lewellyn Sent from Outlook for Android