Submission

Dear Committee Members,

I am a thirty-something young woman living in Victoria. I am severely physically disabled, blind, and use augmentative communication. I live with 24/7 support in a small town about an hour from Melbourne.

I am making this submission because the proposed NDIS changes could take away the life I have built.

With individualised support, I live safely in my community. I work, communicate, take part in recreational activities, run my microbusiness, and live with my own routines, interests and relationships. This is what the NDIS was meant to make possible.

I understand the Government has said self-directed employers are not SIL providers and will not have to register as SIL providers. That is welcome, but it does not solve the real problem. If my funding is cut so that self-directed 24/7 support is no longer

• possible, then I may still be pushed into SIL or
• group living. Also self-directed supports cannot
• be used in group setting so it takes away from
• ability to self-direct my supports.

That is not real choice.

The proposed 50% cut to Social, Civic and Community Participation supports is frightening. For someone who needs 24/7 support, community participation is not a luxury. It is part of the support that allows me to be safe, active, visible, working and included.

If I am assessed as needing 24/7 support, that support must cover my whole life, not just basic survival inside my home. Cutting major parts of my support budget could leave me without the staff support I need to stay safe. For me, that could endanger my life.

My family self-manages my funding and directly employs my workers. They know my communication, health needs, body, routines and risks. This kind of support has taken years to build

and cannot simply be replaced by a vacancy in a group home.

A group home would not be safe for me. With high physical and complex medical needs, blindness and communication disability, I need people who know me well and can notice small changes. In a group setting, with changing staff and competing demands, my needs could easily be missed.

The Disability Royal Commission showed the serious risks of abuse, neglect and loss of control in group homes and congregate settings. The NDIS should not send people like me back toward that old system.

I am also concerned about powers to reduce approved budgets across categories of support. My needs are individual and should not be cut by broadsupport. Any reduction must involve proper individual assessment, transparency, natural justice and real appeal rights.

I ask the Committee to recommend changes that:

• stop blanker cuts to social, civic and community participation supports;
• protect capacity building and improved daily living supports;
• guarantee safe 24/7 support for people assessed as needing it;
• ensure no one is pushed into sil or group living because individualised support is underfunded;
• protect self-management, direct employment and self-directed support;
• recognise that the reality that it is not possible to self-direct supports in a group setting
• require individual assessment and appeal rights before supports are reduced; and
• assess the reforms against australia’s human rights obligations. The life i have now is exactly what the ndis was meant to make possible. please protect it. dis participant, victoria.