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, 4 January 2013 1:18:29 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.

I am profoundly Deaf and NOTHING by the goverment has been done to improve services for us including interpreting! In fact, the government has been stupid enough to cut interpreting services AND Auslan signing courses for people who want to become interpreters. PLUS there has been no law, nothing to protect us from being discriminated for a job at an interview, even though interviewers/employers won’t say outright that they don’t want us working for them because we are Deaf, we know that they don’t. Plus, jobs are very limited for us, many jobs need the phone and WE Deaf people most of us CAN’T use a phone as we can’t hear in it or speak clearly for the person on the other end of the phone line to understand us, and most jobs need us to speak to customers, another very difficult thing for us to be able to do as we deaf people can’t speak clearly, speech impaired by our Deafness. Plus we are limited in our rights to when we can have an interpreter, we need an interpreter for s hort courses and often this is NOT provided, which is very very unfair on us, we have missed out on many opportunities to study because of no interpreter and we NEED them so we can understand in class, as just lipreading is not good enough, lipreading in class is impossible and writing notes at the same time is too hard!

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

• People with a disability can choose the types of support to use, Less red tape, with planning done locally by people who know their community, People with disability/family will influence the types of support and services offered

The most important services for the NDIS to provide are:

• Education support (technology/services/equipment), Support for families and carers, Interpreters and other communication support

I support the introduction of the NDIS.

I support this as this is the opportunity for us to have equal rights in the community as well as be socially included instead of always being isolated AND discriminated against. As well, this gives the opportunity to train service providers, even those who work in every public service to understand our needs, understand how to communicate better with us and give more respect than discharging us needlessly when we need help anywhere such as at a bus terminal, or a cab service, or in the shops, or at a service based organisation. Plus, this NDIS will help us be able to fund for interpreters in the Deaf community, and for those with other disabilities it offers the equal rights to choose what support suits them and better care options instead of abandoning those who need care as I hear so many times of disabled people being forgotten and abandoned for weeks so they go without a shower, is that fair?? No! Like the rest of us who are able to move around, these disabled in wheelcha irs SHOULD have the same right to feel clean and fresh from a shower than be uncomfortable as well as their personal hygiene being compromised by care support workers who don’t bother turning up

• or who get all huffy and personal and walk out on the poor disabled person who
• may have issues that is not the disabled person’s fault! So I will support that
• need for them to have the same rights to be looked after properly! As well as us
• Deaf people, we need the same rights to service access and support too!

I agree for my submission to be made public

Regards,

Ms Chelle Destefano