From: To: Community Affairs, Committee (SEN); Subject: sub863Submission to the Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012 Date: Thursday, 17 January 2013 12:15:06 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.
Because too many people who are not genuinely disabled receive Federal Govt funded Disability Pensions. Because too much of the State Government funding is spent on Bureaucrats & Administration and there are too many people employed as ‘Administrators’.
Govt funding is wasted on refurbishment of offices/buildings; sending out brochures, questionaires & documents; meetings, committees and forums with guest speakers etc that have NO practical application to a disabled person.
Applications for assistance for support or equipment have to get approval from several different ‘managers’ and can take up to 3months for approval and is not available when it is urgently needed.
Physically Disabled people are treated as if they have an intellectual disability and as if they are incapable of managing the funding that is allocated. I could get twice as much support for Physio and Speech if I could use qualified therapists of my choice, instead of going through a Govt approved Company that takes a percentage off the top. e.g. Therapists will work for $70.00 a session, a Company charges $98.00 (or more) a session.
A person with a permanent physical disability should be funded for Life and not have to undergo a repetition of the same form filling and meetings every 6months to get the same amount of Govt funding. It may justify employment of the Administrator but it is a time-waster for the disabled person and achieves nothing different .
Less RED TAPE & More autonomy for a Physically Disabled who has the capacity to plan for their short-term and long- term needs.
The main features of the NDIS that will make a difference to the community are:
The ability to receive services when needed and in the way that suits the person, 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:
Therapy and allied health services, Support for families and carers, Flexible in home/outside home respite
I support the introduction of the NDIS.
Because I am assuming; 1. an Insurance is for LIFE (not renewed on a 6 monthly basis)
- Only GENUINELY Disabled Persons will receive funding 3.Funding will go to Disabled recipients and not to Bureaucrats,
Administrators, Committees, Forums, etc.etc
- The Disabled (if capable) will have autonomy in planning and spending allocated funds on services and equipment.
I do NOT support the NDIS if the system will remain the same but go under a different name.
I agree for my submission to be made public