Spam: Submission to the Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012

From: To: Community Affairs, Committee (SEN); Subject: Spam: Submission to the Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012 Date: Thursday, 17 January 2013 6:22:16 PM

Please consider this email a formal submission by me to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012.

The current disability system has many problems that need to be addressed.

The biggest difficulties that I have experienced are: e]It is too difficult to find out what sort of support is available, (as a person with disabilities I find the best source of information is from my peers) e] The system currently requires that I wait until I am unable to do something before I can seek assistance, ( I recently found that when I felt I ought to change from conventional driving to “hands-only”, it was not good enough for me to show that my driving ability was changing and I would have to make the change-over in the forseeable future. No! I had to get my doctor to certify that I was already incapable of driving conventionally before I could get assessed for “hands-only” e] There is not one current system but a great many different ones which vary from State to State and even from year to year e] The current system(s) have too many inequities; the degree of support available depnds on how you acquired your disability and which State and Region you live in.

The main features of the NDIS that will make a difference to the community are:

Ensure support and equipment is available when needed, The ability to receive services when needed and in the way that suits the person, Access to reliable information about support options

The most important services for the NDIS to provide are:

Equipment and home/vehicle modifications, Support for families and carers, Case management, planning and coordination

I support the introduction of the NDIS.

I support the NDIS because e] It has the potential to remove many of the inequities of the current systems, and e] To provide people with disabilities greater potential to have a say in what support the get and when they get it

Nigel Caswell President, People with Multiple Sclerosis Victoria

I agree for my submission to be made public

Regards,

Mr Nigel Caswell