From: To: Community Affairs, Committee (SEN); Subject: sub917Submission to the Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012 Date: Thursday, 17 January 2013 1:28:53 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.
Inadequate individual income on disability pension. No one can live on that amount and pay rent andfood in any Australian city. Family financial support was the only way my brother could afford to live in Canossa retirement village as a 60+ year old person with severe epilepsy and cerebral palsy.
Inadequate systems for integration of individuals into communities, no dedicated facilities for living and no integrated facilities for working, learning, socialising. Not seeking a return to monopolies of old times but inadequate and piecemeal system of integration around disability needs into mainstream society
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, Better access to mainstream support and services, Increased ability to coordinate services to suit the “whole” person/family
The most important services for the NDIS to provide are:
Education support (technology/services/equipment), Support for families and carers, In-home care and domestic assistance
I support the introduction of the NDIS.
It is a vital system because:
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it is a systematic approach to disability in all its forms
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it will address gaps in the system and take a staged approach to addressing these
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it’s only fair to ‘invest’ in everyone, not just mainstream population
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that investment so far has been piecemeal, inadequate and incremental rather than targeted at level of need across a wide spectrum of disability.
I agree for my submission to be made public