Submission 2338
My name is and my nickname is . I am writing to express my opinion to you that the NDIS reform Bill needs to be withdrawn at once and the NdIS needs to be kept as it is for participants. Get rid of fraudulent providers and keep the disabled NDIS participants 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. My grandson is currently on the NDIS and it has changed his life for the better. He has Level 3 ASD and ADHD and anxiety and etc etc. Before he received the NDIS we were all at breaking point. It has helped him and all of us in so many ways and after being on it for 1 year we are seeing real changes. Changes are often small but have a huge impact on our lives. We will be devastated if the Bill goes through. WIthdraw the Bill and the proposed change
The whole NDIS Bill and the changes it wants to make tto the NDIS needs to be withdrawn. Aged care and NDIS eligibility and supports should not be determined by computer systems. Or by a Minister who wants to have powers to do whatever they want with no meaningful input by participants and their carers who have lived experience,with no input by medical experts in specialist fields and no meaningful input by social and community workers and therapists who work within the field. The NDIS is already very difficult to get accepted onto.People who are on the NDIS are people who need supports and are vulnerable members of the public who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect They are not fraudulent and should not be penalised.They should be supported to live as best they can with their conditions and symptoms with the ongoing support of the NDIS as with their current plans, supports and funding.They should not be reduced to a financial cost. 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. 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.
The proposed NDIS Bill and its changes to the NDIS will cause harm to existing participants of the NDIS and potential future NDIS recipients. The minister should not have powers that allow him to make cuts to whole sectors of NDIS recipients, their funding and supports. He is not qualified or compassionate to have these powers. The power to cut whole sections of diagnosed people from the NDIS , to cut people’s plans, to cut people’s funding to things such as community and participation supports and make decisions on what supports people are allowed to use. And block funding and evidence based therapies chosen by the minister will not work.. Medically trained experts have the skills and knowledge to assess, diagnose , perform
Submission 2338
functional assessments and recommend supports and therapies specific to an individual’s needs. This needs to be done on a case by case basis.
Blaming parents and asking them to take on more parental responsibility is also unfair and unreasonable. Being kicked off the NDIS if the participant does not get back to the NDIS within a week is also unfair and unreasonable. People who are living with a disability need support to function and perform such tasks. That is why the NDIS exists in the first place. Saying that a condition or disability a disability is not 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 cost or suitability of the treatment or location and the capacity of the individual to get there due to their condition needs to be withdrawn along with everything else.
The proposed use of I -CAN or any computer generated system/ process with minimal human input CANNOT successfully perform the functions of assessing a person’s individual diagnosis, capacity or support needs. Trained medical practitioners need to perform these as all disabilities are individual and so are a person’s 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 .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 from experts and medical practitioners and social workers and health professionals, the disabled 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 from day to day. They need to be autonomous to make decisions on who will be
Submission 2338
supporting them, what supports they will use and where those supports will be used, My grandson cannot leave the house and the supports need to come to him or be over the internet. He cannot function without his current NDIS plan and its current level of funding. The proposed changes will have devastating effects on the participants and their carers and families. My grandson is currently on the NDIS and it has changed his life for the better. Before he received the NDIS we were all at breaking point. It has helped him and al of us in so many ways and after being on it for 1 year we are seeing real changes. Changes are often small but have a huge impact on our lives. We will be devastated if the Bill goes through. WIthdraw the Bill and the proposed changes.