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, 24 January 2013 4:00:23 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.

I would just like to add these comments to my first submission, made last night.

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

ePeople with a disability can choose the types of support to use, More opportunities to participate in the community, People with disability/family will influence the types of support and services offered

The most important services for the NDIS to provide are:

Recreation and community access, Support for families and carers, Case management, planning and coordination

I support the introduction of the NDIS.

I have made a submission already but have thought of other important issues and would like to submit an additional submission.

Currently, when people on Centrelink Disability Support Pension begin to earn an income, they lose the pension at a rate of 50c in the dollar. (after approx $75 week) If that person has a limited capacity to work very many hours in a week or works at an unskilled job (as many do) their capacity to save money and rise from a cycle of chronic poverty is always compromised. As they increase their access to money on one source it is taken away from another, thus ensuring a low socio economic future and the the stigma that accompanies it, for no other reason than that of having a disability.

If they have a fulltime carer, who is also on a Centrelink pension, the familial situation is also compromised and ensures a socially and financially disadvantaged existence and future. I know this from firsthand experience. I was part of a family situation and had a professional career. My marriage broke down and I was left with 2 teenage children in a new city as a fulltime Carer and no money apart from that Centrelink pittance which only allowed us to eke out a day to day existence.

I believe that the NDIS should:

1. Allow people on a disability Pension to keep ALL of their pension until their total income is equal to that of the average wage, before reducing it proportionately. This will ensure a more secure future and will actually cost society less as many of the issues that accompany poverty will be avoided. The costs of having a disability are endless, not just the enormous medical and pharmaceutical costs but the constant inconveniences experienced in the everyday society - e.g. transport, education, accessing shops, car parking etc. The pension could go towards those costs and any employment income would allow the person to have a lifestyle more commensurate with the non-disabled

• members of society. That is a right, not a luxury.

• The same conditions should also apply to Carers. Fulltime Carers should be better supported by an increase in pension. The job we do saves the government millions of dollars and enormous funds would be needed to replace us with public services if we all returned to paid employment. It’s simple economics.

• Families of over 18’s should be embraced, not turned away and shut out as they often are now. That is when young adults with a disability need family support and inclusion more than ever. Services dramatically diminish at that age and are often not in the best interest of the young adult, but more in the best interests of the agency or individual who offers them.

• Tertiary study at TAFE or university should be 20%, or less (preferably free), of the full fees for any student on a Disability Support Pension. That should be Australia wide. It is monumental for a child with a disability to get to tertiary level and it should be encouraged, applauded and rewarded. Education can also break the poverty cycle. The current tertiary education fees are prohibitive and create another insurmountable hurdle. Again, higher educational qualifications will help the person with a disability to gain better paid employment and save government funds.

Thankyou for this opportunity.

I agree for my submission to be made public

Regards,

Ms Maree Kinniburgh Kinniburgh