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: Friday, 25 January 2013 10:58:12 AM

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.

Our daughter attends a day service run specifically for people with special needs.

• The group settings places together people with disabilities and does not offer a reflection of the community at large
• The group settings do not encourage acceptance of people with disabilities by the broader community
• The group settings provides a limited range of services and programs organised in a haphazard manner
• The group settings do not allow for the choice of workers appropriate for our daughter’s needs. For example sometimes our 20 year old daughter may be taken on an outing by two middle aged men
• The group setting does not allow for one on one support which is what our daughter needs to access the community effectively *The group setting by its very nature promotes institutionalisation of its clients (and of some staff) and works to re-inforce the self-importance of the organisations that run the group settings. The agencies consume too much of the resource pool for their own self-interest
• The group setting does not promote the concept of Valued Social Roles, and thus diminishes our daughters perceived position within the community at large
• The funding our daughter receives is notionally labelled “flexible”. It is anything but flexible in reality
• The current systems allow for little scope for families to enter into long term planning processes for their children with special needs as the systems created by the DHS are overly complex and completely un-transparent
• The process to apply to the Disability Support Register for an Individual Support Package is complex and tedious. An application can sit on the register for years without being taken up leaving the family in a constant state of uncertainty. There is little assistance from DHS staff as to the progress of an application
• With the limited pool of funding available through the DHS for ISPs the system pits families against other families in an effort to fight for the funding required for their children.

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

More opportunities to participate in the community, 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:

Therapy and allied health services, Life-skills, Recreation and community access

I support the introduction of the NDIS.

We do not have a clear vision of exactly what the NDIS may be able to provide and exactly how it will work. However, ideally:

• We hope that it will mean that each person with a disability will be able to apply for and receive a package that is appropriate for their needs

• Our family has a very clear written vision of the future we might create for our daughter given the required funding and supports. We are trusting that the NDIS will be more flexible in its approaches to meeting the needs of individuals

• We hope that the NDIS will provide a clear voice for people with disabilities and promote their acceptance within the community. This is a process that is not going to happen quickly, but it must be addressed

I agree for my submission to be made public

Regards,

Mr James Macdougall