National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 1802 - Supplementary Submission
I had an art conference call yesterday to find out that regardless of what level of transport funding we are put on (level 1 is $68 per fortnight & we are fighting for level 2 that is $170 per fortnight) for 2 of our 3 boys (the 3rd is not allowed to even apply for it because his plan paid for a $30,000 + vehicle modification in the families 12 seater bus just over a year ago)
Participants are not allowed to use the reoccurring transport payment for diesel, fuel or gas which is completely discriminatory to ALL rural/regional Australians with disabilities & their families that don’t have any public transport or ride share where they live like in Berri there is NO bus, train or planes doing the rounds there is also no ride share services or even any food delivery services. We have one taxi service who I called yesterday & they quoted that a one way trip from berri sa to Adelaide city eg Rundle mall is $770 with no waiting time for the driver or transport back to our home
I have also been refused refunds for receipts on admin costs & told that its an everyday expense
we have had to spend thousands of dollars over the last 7 years on just equipment & admin costs eg to print out the digital forms that must be completed in order for our family to receive ANY services, we are spending $1000 each year on 2 sets of toner cartridges alone, just to print out the paperwork & forms to be completed for the NDIA & providers, we have to print & complete 3 sets (one set for each of our 3 boys), scan them all back onto the computer & email them back to the NDIA &/or providers usually over several emails because the size of the attached forms are too big for one email, that’s not even putting a price on covering the cost of paper, electricity, internet, computer equipment or the programs I have to purchase, subscribe to & constantly update in order to see the fricken forms in the first place it may be cheaper to the government & for the Australian taxpayer but like everything else it’s just getting pushed onto our (informal carers) plates with no financial support to actually help manage the costs
I want to really ram home that there is no other options for our family but to leave paid employment & our careers. We have sacrificed any & all of our own health, life goals, hopes & dreams to provide the daily care that our boys need & deserve to have as a basic human right.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 1802 - Supplementary Submission
We are forced to live off income support payments alone now that the boys have completed their education. We had to fight for the better part of a decade to get approval back in 2019 for carers payment/allowances & although we are grateful it works out to be a whopping $3.40 for each carer per hour or $1.10 each per person we are caring for while we are both providing 24/7 or 168 hours of on call support covering multiple staff at the same time over several different professions & industries every single week for the last 18-25 years now in order to keep our 3 adult sons with multiple disabilities alive & safe which again is a basic human right we all should get to enjoy
So when you think about it it’s pretty insulting that the Australian government are doing this & I wonder if they would ask a paid employee to do this !!!
The recent national minimum wage increase for 3 million Australians to $26.44 per hour says not. That also doesn’t even take into consideration the financial costs of losing all annual & sick leave, paid public holidays off, superannuation or even the possibility of turning our phone off or to silent even if we could live in a fantasy dream world & obtain any resemblance of a break that staff get to enjoy every day
Finally I want to say a big Thank you for taking the time to read what we have to say twice now & my family is extremely excited to be a tiny part of this senate committee hearing process hopefully with some changes on the horizon