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

From: To: Community Affairs, Committee (SEN); Subject: Submission to the Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012 Date: Tuesday, 22 January 2013 5:02:33 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.

There is no choice as to where my daughter will eventually live, who she will live with and who will supply the care she requires.

I have spent most of the last 25 years trying to make sure that my daughter is part of her community, that she has developed friendships with her peers and others who will be able to advocate on her behalf if I cannot, and that the local service providers know how to care for her and what her special likes and dislikes are.

If something happens to me tomorrow my daughter will probably be placed in a group home with other residents she may or may not like, in a town which is chosen by government bureaucrats who have never even met her (but that is where they deem she will fit), and she will have support workers who may not be suitable to her. She will lose not only me but her whole life; her home, her friends, her day program, her community.

The current system is inflexible and does not allow choice for people with disabilities. We are supposed to be grateful for a system which is abhorrent to many.

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

• People with a disability can choose the types of support to use,
• People with a disability can plan their lives and pursue their goals and dreams,
• The ability to receive services when needed and in the way that suits the person

The most important services for the NDIS to provide are:

• Equipment and home/vehicle modifications,
• Accommodation options,
• In-home care and domestic assistance

I support the introduction of the NDIS.

I support the NDIS as a system which makes the person with disabilities the focus. Every person must be treated as an individual and each person’s individual needs must be the centre of all support and service provision.

The above choices are all good reasons to introduce the NDIS as soon as possible….to ask for three selections is difficult. Each one of the items listed is important; people with disabilities are not all the same so each of these items will be very important to someone.

The NDIS as recommended by the Productivity Commission will offer all these choices and services so that each person can receive the assistance they need, when they need it and become the best that they can be.

I agree for my submission to be made public

Regards,

Mrs Narelle Hughes