From: To: Community Affairs, Committee (SEN); Subject: Submission to the Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012 Date: Thursday, 17 January 2013 10:46:00 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 have a 17 year old daughter with an Autism Spectrum disorder. I also have a 19 year old daughter who has no disability. The disability system does not work for my family for (in my opinion) a couple of reasons.
Reason number 1: There is a lack of respite services for disabled people and their families. My 17 year old daughter, who turns 18 in April 2013, will stop going to respite when she turns 18. There are no viable ( and by viable, I mean safe and secure) respite options for me to send my daughter to. There are no age appropriate respite centres, there are only respite centres where there is a mixture of ages ranging from teenagers to people in their mid forties.
The childhood respite unit that she has been accessing up to this point in time has been a wonderful environment. It is a safe and secure place with the necessary level of supervision and activities for the children. But all This stops at 18.
Reason number 2: There are also no specialist counselling services available for the siblings of disabled children and their families. Speaking to a psychologist is all well and good, but to a teenager they want to know that they can talk to someone with the same or similar experience.
The main features of the NDIS that will make a difference to the community are:
Ensure support and equipment is available when needed, Minimising the number of times people have to tell their story in order to get support, 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, In-home care and domestic assistance
I support the introduction of the NDIS.
I support the National Disability Insurance Scheme because it has the potential to dramatically improve the lives of not only the disabled people, but also their families and loved ones.
I agree for my submission to be made public