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: Saturday, 22 December 2012 6:46:54 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.

1. At present we do not have a choice of accommodation - we have to settle for whatever ADHC offers us. Our daughter does not get the chance to choose her own dwelling or housemates.
2. Whenever our daughter needs equipment (such as a new wheelchair) there is a massive wait to be approved for funding, then another massive wait for the funding to be made available. By the time she is finally ‘fitted’ for the chair, her posture problems and pressure areas have worsened. My daughter has been disabled’ for 20 years and is now onto her 7th wheelchair. We will probably need another seating assessment in the next 12 months which means going through the whole ‘begging’ cycle again.
3. Our daughter needs to travel in her wheelchair. We have had to raise our own funds to purchase and modify a vehicle for her transport needs. This is an astronomical cost and one which ‘normal’ families will never have to deal with.

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, People with disability/family will influence the types of support and services offered

The most important services for the NDIS to provide are:

Equipment and home/vehicle modifications, Accommodation options, Flexible in- home/outside home respite

I support the introduction of the NDIS.

It will give people with a disability greater choice about where they live and who looks after them. It will allow them to choose the services they require to suit their individual needs. It will enable them to purchase and modify essential transport vehicles. It will allow them to purchase vital equipment without having to endure an endless ‘waiting list’ or to have to ‘beg’ for assistance. It will help pay for all those extras like incontinence products, tube-feeding equipment, hoists, ramps and shower chairs, without having to go onto another waiting list for funding approval.

I agree for my submission to be made public

Regards,

Mrs. Gabrielle Mortimer