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: Sunday, 23 December 2012 1:01:00 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 familiy is not personally affected as yet, BUT the work as nurses, that both my wife and I do, in the hospital and community systems, enables us to witness and feel the struggles (physically, mentally and financially) that adults and children with physical and mental disabilities have, and their families experience daily (some of them 24 hours a day). These parents marriages are put under enormous stress. Siblings, have by necessity, have to be often placed second because of the needs of the person with the disability. Finances often contribute to the stress for all the family. There is nowhere near enough professional respite available to these families to allow them to live mentally and physically healthy lives themselves. An interesting research study would be to examine the effects on the life span of a couples marriage AND their lives as they “spend” themselves out of love for their disabled child.

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

• Ensure support and equipment is available when needed,
• Increased ability to coordinate services to suit the “whole” person/family,
• Older parents and families will not worry what happens when they can no longer provide support

The most important services for the NDIS to provide are:

• Support for families and carers,
• Accommodation options,
• Flexible in-home/outside home respite

I support the introduction of the NDIS.

Too many families (especially parents and siblings of a child with a disability) are under enormous stress to hold their relationships, family and jobs together to cope with the burdon that having a child with a disability brings. They forego and lose a lot as they grieve and then struggle, in a lovingly heroic way, to love and care for their entire family to the best of their ability and resourses. Governments, in their desire to make every citizen responsible for their own destiny and to pay for their own way, (the philosophy of individualism), have been able to devulge themselves of their responsibilty to speak a truth to our whole society and remind us that we are ALL neighbours in this Australian society and through our tax system we must accept that we have a duty to support these people with disabilities and their families. NGO’s (largely church based organizations), in many cases have been left to try to pick up the vacuum that was left when governments rightly closed many of the institution care facilities, BUT now we find some people living in the community who are incapable of looking after themselves or their flats in a humane level. Also I wonder what will happen to these NGO organizations as Church and club membership decreases even further. What will our society do then? It is time to prepare for that by setting up the NDIS to help current family members not have their own mental break-downs or bankruptcies.

I agree for my submission to be made public

Regards,

Mr Gerard Nolan