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: Friday, 25 January 2013 3:18:39 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.

Our family has an individual support package and uses a direct payment option. We still experience difficulties including:

• Finding appropriately skilled workers.
• Non-flexible work hours because workers are employed by multiple agencies and juggling several rosters. The ‘system’ is still in gatekeeping, crisis response mode. DHS do not provide pro-active assistance or information. Lack of financial acumen, delays in auditing, a slow and cumbersome process for gaining approval to vary the way moneys may be spent, failure to inform families of changed procedures and requirements, failure to carry out their own processes and obligations, no ongoing relationships with DHS officers, unwillingness to create and support effective networks of families, lack of continuity due to periodic department ‘shake-ups’ based on political imperatives and an adversarial ‘us and them’ culture are some of the issues we face, and which lead the better DHS officers to despair. The triangular arrangement of clients, agencies and bureaucracy causes delays, duplication of effort, confusion and total lack of accountability. The entire workforce of bureaucrats, managers and support workers is inadequately educated and prepared, and there is no recognition of how difficult this work is. The value of employment to an individual and their society is leading to a push to get everyone into work. This is ignoring the fact that for many people with disabilities employment is not a good or realistic option. It is constraining the quality and type of education available as the focus is on work readiness and not on a broad-based increase in knowledge. The disability system is not really facilitating inclusion in the broader community. Agencies bound by laws, regulations and insurance risk concerns limit the type of support they will provide to safe options with minimal interaction with the general public.

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

• 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,
• 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,
• Accommodation options,
• Positive behaviour support and psychological services

I support the introduction of the NDIS.

I support the NDIS because people with disabilities are people and they deserve to be treated humanely, with respect and accepted as citizens: part of the

Community Support

Community. A community is a group of people who interact and support one another. People with disabilities need extra help to find a place in their community.

Extra funding is needed to provide a decent standard of living and a wide range of practical support for people with disabilities. The NDIS model will allow individuals and families a chance to prioritize and to buy the most appropriate supports.

It is also imperative the community stops seeing the disability first, instead of the person, and that they are seen as citizens, not “welfare” cases. An insurance model with an entitlement, not a handout, together with the increased ability of people to fulfill valued roles will aid true inclusion and create a better society.

I agree for my submission to be made public

Regards,

Mrs Jacqueline Noyes