Submission 1489
“all appropriate treatment” This already exists within applying for the scheme, and has already been used to reject people from accessing the scheme by calling it “medical” despite all disability being related to a medical condition. At the moment people with a primary diagnosis of POTS, EDS, ME/CFS are highly unlikely to be accepted on the scheme, despite their disability qualifying them for DSP, as they have an assessed work capacity of 15h or less. Their disability and inpatient has been proven to be permanent and unlikely to improve, they provide all the evidence and yet, they are unlikely to get access to the scheme.
The unintended consequences of the introduction of this wording means that disabled people may lose bodily autonomy just to access the scheme. Whats to stop the NDIA saying that a deaf person must undergo cochlear implant surgery prior to being able to access the scheme?
Whats to stop the NDIA dictating that Autistic children must go through ABA therapy (something proven to cause trauma) in order to access the scheme.
What’s stopping them requiring people with psychosocial disability to undergo ECT which has huge side effects and can make people worse instead of better. I have witnessed this while in an inpatient setting, the people I connected with forgetting entire parts of our lives people would take for granted, like passwords and phone numbers.
“Direct relation to impatient” This is only going to kill disabled people because what the NDIA class as direct relation is not what the courts have upheld. This will be used as an excuse to not find critical supports and assistive technologies critical to the survival of people with a disability. There are people on the NDIS who cannot support their non-NDIS funded disability without assistance due to their listed disability. For example, a person with Autism which impacts their executive functioning, working memory and ability to regulate their nervous system in unfamiliar settings, may require the use of assistive technology to manage something like diabetes with the use of a CGM and if on Insulin, a pump with a closed loop Artificial Pancreas System (APS). Without it they could have deadly hypoglycemic events and misinterpret the signals as being tired or overstimulated. The CGM acts as a warning system while the APS works to ensure blood glucose levels don’t go too high if the Autistic person forgets to bolus. A pump can also help with the sensory discomfort of multi-day injections etc.
Ehlers Danlos Syndrome is also highly prevalent amongst the Autistic community, but is not often funded under NDIS however, they need additional supports from a physio therapist and exercise physiologist to manage their condition. Unlike non-autistic people, Autistic people struggle with interoception, this alongside the difficulty planning and organising means they are less likely to do the exercises independently, and if they do, they’re more likely to cause joint damage due to proprioceptive difficulties. This will lead to more of a burden on the healthcare system as subluxations turn to dislocations, osteoarthritis forms in the joints due to a lack of care.
The wording misses the point that when more than 1 disability is present, they all interact with each other are require a wholistic approach, as per the original goals of the NDIS.
Submission 1489
The legislation fails to acknowledge the contribution to GDP and economic growth investment in the NDIS has provided to Australias, disabled or not. There are entire sectors that exist due to the NDIS and urther cuts to the NDIS will just reduce the amount of tax revenue and increase the number of people eliant on other government systems. By changing the legislation and cutting the budget, the cost is just being shifted to another service instead of fixing the core problem pertaining to funding in the first place.
Ministerial discretion
If the mister were to gain the power to limit funding in different sections, we would all be under an obligations to report the mister to AHPRA for practicing medicine without a licence. As it currently stands, NDIS delegates have been practising medicine without a licence, denying supports where there is often ample evidence for from more than 1 expert on the participant’s team. Access to NDIS supports are currently assessed by professionals in AHPRA regulated fields. Rejection of supports and limiting funding to these supports is practising without the appropriate qualifications and oversight from the appropriate regulator.
The minister has also implied that they aren’t phased by the fact that people are already dying due to the state of the NDIS and unregulated, unchecked power of not only the current minister, but future ministers will not help disabled people in the long run. The democratic system means we could wind up with a eugenisist in the role at some point, and there’s no safe guards to protect disabled people from someone who’s ideals don’t align with disabled people’s right to live.
There are always unintended consequences for legislation changes like this, which we are witnessing to the day after the changes back in 2024.
define ‘functional capacity’ Once again, this has the potential to make access more difficult and create further confusion. Functional Capacity is in terms of living like someone without a disability. Just because someone appears to be
Submission 1489
helped students graduate year 12, allowed them to have confidence in being able to work. In my personal life I have used these skills to also help friends become more active in their community, where they volunteer or now work helping others.
Without the NDIS we will lose talented, compassionate people who serve their community due to a lack of income as their job no longer exists.
Without NDIS Australia’s already struggling economy might actually reach a breaking point. The point of NDIS is access irrespective of income, without it, the financial status of one’s family determines if you get to live or die.