From the President
24 January 2013
Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Via Email: community.affairs.sen@aph.gov.au
Dear Sir/Madam
Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012 (the Bill).
The RACP believes the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has the potential to greatly improve the lives of people with disability, their families and their carers. We strongly support legislation that will establish a framework for the operation of the NDIS, and the objects and principles outlined in the Bill that underpin it.
Participant Plans
To enable the NDIS to operate in an optimal way, that is, to provide effective, holistic and quality care for people with disability, the legislation must translate into practical terms the key objects and principles that are vital to the Scheme’s effective operation. Of primary concern to the RACP is the need to ensure holistic and coordinated care for people with disability by linking the NDIS with other services used by people with disability that are not covered by the NDIS, such as medical services. This is outlined as a general principle in Chapter 1, Part 2, Section 4 (13) of the legislation:
People with disability should be supported to receive supports outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and be assisted to coordinate these supports with the supports provided under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
There is overwhelming evidence that people with disability have poorer health compared to others in the community; they have more risk factors for disease, increased morbidity and increased mortality. Optimal healthcare is essential to their social, emotional and physical wellbeing.
145 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia Tel: +61 2 9256 5444 Fax: +61 2 9252 3310 Email: racp@racp.edu.au Web: www.racp.edu.au
ACN 000 039 047 ABN 90 270 343 237
2
Specialist physicians in rehabilitation medicine, paediatrics and child health, and occupational and environmental medicine work together with allied health professionals and disability service providers to research and deliver specialist support to people with disability.
For example, rehabilitation physicians work closely with allied health professionals to prescribe appropriate aids and appliances to improve function, enabling people to live at home and in the community in order to enhance independence and quality of life. This includes offering advice on mobility aides and assistive equipment, and environmental modification to improve access and communication systems. Rehabilitation physicians are major prescribers of orthoses and artificial limbs, through the current government funding schemes.
Paediatricians also work closely with the disability, education and community welfare sectors to enable the right intervention to be delivered for the child and family, and contribute to the planning for effective transition from child to adult services. Parents have consistently looked to their child’s paediatrician for advice on therapies, education, future outcomes, implications for other members of the family, as well as specific health treatments.
The medical services and support provided by specialist physicians and other medical practitioners must be linked with the supports provided through the NDIS to enable people with disability to receive the care they need in an efficient and effective way.
The RACP believes that in developing a participants’ plan, as per Chapter 3, Part 2, Division 1 of the legislation, medical services and support must be classified as a matter that must be included in a participant’s plan (Section 33). We do not consider that medical services and support are adequately covered by item (ii), informal community supports and other community supports, and therefore they should be itemised separately. By taking the medical services and support accessed by the participant into account in their plan it will better facilitate coordinated care, improved health outcomes, reduce overlap and ensure more efficient use of NDIS resources.
Independent Advisory Council
The RACP welcomes the establishment of an Independent Advisory Council to the NDIS Launch Transition Agency. Recognising the valuable perspective and expertise the medical community brings to disability support services and in the interest of supporting coordinated care we believe that a medical practitioner with specialist experience in working with people with disability should be a member of this group. We suggest that this be made more explicit as part of Chapter 6, Part 3, Division 2, Section 147, 5 (b) (iv) of the legislation.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important piece of legislation. Please
contact Audrey Maag, Senior Executive Officer – Policy
should you require further information.
Yours faithfully