Submission 2326
I am writing to inform you that the NDIS reform Bill needs to be withdrawn immediately. Not just changed but withdrawn completely.. Any changes to the NDIS should not come at the cost of the wellbeing and safety of disabled people and our families, carers and should not create further barriers to equality or autonomy. We are already living with so many barriers. I am currently an NDIS participant and have been so for the past year and it has changed my life. I am slowly able to do more things and am much happier and healthier. I have Autism Level 3 (which is the highest level) and ADHD and other health problems.Keep me on the current NDIS so that I can have a chance at a life worth living. The NDIS has changed my life for the better..Withdraw the Bill and the proposed changes.
The whole NDIS Bill and its changes to the NDIS needs to be withdrawn. NDIS eligibility , functional capacity and supports should not be made by computer systems. They should not be made a Minister who has too much power to do whatever they want . There has been no consultation with the disability and carers community or current NDIS participants and their supports or carers who have real life experience and knowledge . There has been zero consultation and input by medical experts in specialist fields and no meaningful input by social and community workers and therapists and support workers,who work within the disability community. Most of all disabled people should be considered as humans and not just financial numbers on a government budget.
My experience of the NDIS as it stands today is that there are already many constraints and barriers to getting on the NDIS. Please do not introduce more.The first being the many medical reports, assessments, diagnosis etc that we have to have to get onto the NDIS. People are on the NDIS because they are disabled not because they are fraudulent. People who are on the NDIS are people who need many different flexible supports and are vulnerable members of the Australian population who make up members of the community and who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect . We should be supported to live as autonomous members of the Australian population with the continued ongoing support of the NDIS as it stands today. We should not be penalised and reduced to a financial cost by having our funding, supports and plans cut by the minister. . The process of being accepted onto the current NDIS requires professional assessments and diagnosis by skilled medical experts and takes time, effort and money. As does functional capacity assessments. A lot of people on the NDIS have other complex needs and co-existing conditions which are also present on top of the diagnosed condition that they were accepted onto the NDIS with. People will not become less disabled because of the proposed changes in the NDIS Bill. They will still need supports and so will their families and carers. Other public health , mental health
Submission 2326
and community systems will become overburdened with people that are kicked off the NDIS or have their plans and funding supports reduced in the manner of the planned NDIS BILL. These other services are already overburdened and at capacity.
The proposed NDIS Bill and its changes to the NDIS has been set up in a way that will cause harm to existing participants of the NDIS and potential future NDIS recipients. It will be even more difficult to get onto the NDIS.The language in the BILL is confusing, The timeframe to respond is too short. Many people do not even know that the NDIS BILL is being put to parliament because there has not been enough media coverage or information released to the public and specifically the disability community and NDIS participnt community. The very short timeframe to respond to the announcements does not give disabled people and overworked carers enough time to find out what is happening, assess the proposed changes in the bill and then express their opinions , fear and concern. The portal is not working properly and is taking a long time to work and not letting submissions through.
The Minister should not have powers that allow him to make sweeping decisions. The Minister needs to be educated on health and disability needs, requirements, supports and many complex and nuanced disability conditions. He needs to consult and actually take advise from disabled people and workers in the disability sector. He should not have the power to cut funding and life to whole sectors of the disability community by withdrawing or cutting supports. He should have the power to, cut whole sections of diagnosed people from the NDIS scheme , to cut people’s plans, to cut people’s funding, to cut our community and participation supports , to cut independent living and choice and control funding and to cut our autonomy , the right to make decisions on what supports we are allowed to use. The idea of block funding and block cuts to one on one services and one on one in home individual supports is frightening ,unfair and reasonable. Medically trained experts, social workers, community workers, support workers, occupational therapists, autism experts, psychologists etc etc have the skills and knowledge to assess, diagnose , perform functional assessments and recommend supports and therapies specific to an individual’s needs and have come up with plans that reflect the individual needs of participants in the NDIS plans and systems as it is today. We need to keep this human input and expertise by people who are qualified to make these decisions. The Minister is not qualified. A computer system is not qualified. A new government trained NDIS taskforce are not qualified. An NDIS system designed with KPIs and targets and fiscal restraints is not appropriate or fit for purpose. A computer system with no human oversight is not appropriate. A computer system that does not allow humans to change the decision or outcome reached by algorithms is not fit for purpose. An NDIS system with no way to appeal the decision or outcomes
Submission 2326
reached by a computer or an untrained Minister is terrifying and un compassionate and un Australian and quite unfair. The shift to parental responsibility is also unfair and unreasonable. The penalty of being kicked off the NDS if the participant does not get back to the NDLS within a week if they call is also unfair and unreasonable. We are people who are living with a disability which makes day to day functioning difficult and this timeframe is unfair and not fit for purpose. The proposal that we need to continually prove that our disability is permanent and needs to be proved every year is unfair , unrealistic , unaffordable and unreasonable The idea that a person should have tried all reasonable treatments before they are eligible as decided by the minister regardless of the affordability of the treatment, the inaccessibility of the treatment due to location and the capacity / ability of the individual to get there due to their condition is also unfair, unkind, unreasonable and unrealistic.
The use of I -CAN or any computer generated system/ process with minimal human input CANNOT successfully perform the functions of assessing a persons individual diagnosis, capacity or support needs. Trained medical practitioners need to perform these as all disabilities are individual and so are a persons individual symptoms or presentations of their condition. Also the treatment of their symptoms and conditions is experienced and presented differently in each individual and can fluctuate on a daily basis. Some days I can cook a meal and other days I cannot even think, regulate my emotions or recognise if I am hungry. Most days I cannot function , I cannot cook or clean or do basic daily living tasks that other non disabled members of the community can do. I cannot leave my house to attend group activities or supports and it is very important that I continue to have one on one home supports to help me function. Since being on the NDIS for about a year my life has improved significantly. It has also improved for the people who do unpaid caring work to help me function on a daily basis. I have been looking forward to my life further improving with my current NDS plan, funding and flexible supports. This will not be the case if this NDLS bill goes through parliament. .It cannot be assumed that one individual will benefit from the same treatments or supports as another with the same condition or diagnosis. This is where the current NDIS choice and control are so important so that a person can choose a support worker, support therapies, supports for community and supports for home that will be of most benefit to themselves. Not just supports that are arbitrarily forced upon them by someone who has no skills in the field and no personal knowledge of the individual and their complex and nuanced support needs. Or worse yet by a computer programme such as I CAN. There needs to be an appeal system left in place and there needs to be meaningful human oversight where nuanced and complex needs can be examined included in the NDIS plan for each individual. This includes reading and taking advice
Submission 2326
from experts and medical practitioners and social workers and health professionals, individuals themselves and their carers and families who live with this disability.
The current structure of the NDIS funding and in particular flexible funding options enables the participant to use the funding as they need to and results in the NDIS participant functioning at their best so that the NDIS participants can have a chance at living a life. Many participants have fluctuating capacity and their needs and abilities change. It is their carers who are working tirelessly, invisibly and unpaid in the background. The proposed changes will have devastating effects on the participants and their carers,and the whole disability community. I am the NDIS and it has changed my life for the better. Before we received the NDIS we were at breaking point. It has helped me in so many ways and after being on it for 1 year i am seeing real changes and making lots of little steps to get me to where i can be functioning better and living more autonomously and happier and healthier. Changes are often small but have a huge impact . I will be devastated if the Bill goes through. As will so many disabled people and their families and carers. Keep me on the current NDIS .WIthdraw the Bill and the proposed changes. The people on the NDIS are not the problem. Tax gas companies, tax the rich , do whatever you need to do to balance your budgets but do not take away life changing supports for people like me on the NDIS.