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Hello,
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My name is (she/her), I’m a senior Occupational Therapist at , supporting many participants under the NDIS scheme.
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I’m writing to highlight my profound concerns regarding the governments proposed NDIS changes, that would have catastrophic impact to the disability community and the participants we work with.
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Proposed change: Allowing the government to create an assessment (ICAN), implemented as a once off scheduled assessment, by an NDIA representative, with no prior contextual knowledge or experience of the client’s disability impacts, no therapeutic rapport, with the results of this to be entered into a system that auto generates a plan - that cannot be contested apart from further assessment under an identical process.
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Occupational Therapists are formally trained to conduct thorough functional assessments for individuals to understand and reflect a participants disability impacts and functional support needs. Understanding of specific participants disability needs are imperative to capture the intersecting and often multi-faceted experience and support needs of each person. This process requires extensive, evidence-based assessments and evaluation of the participants needs, disability impact, environment, support systems and structures, access to skill-building opportunities and required strategies and equipment to facilitate this. This approach reflects person- centred practice and direct collaboration with participants to ensure their voices are heard.
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It is unclear, how this proposed change, will refllect the wide range of specific disability needs each client and participant has, and how this will be embedded within the ICAN assessments process.
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Planning reviews are already a distressing and overwhelming experience for participants; in which their livelihoods and experiences are needed to be justified within the ground of NDIS legislation. Many people also have differences in communication and executive functioning needs [non-speaking, requiring additional processing and consolidation time and limited capacity for self-advocacy due to systems and organisations neglecting to prioritise the voice of lived experience], and it is unclear how
The NDIS aims to support each individual to equally participate in these proposed processes so that their needs are accurately reflected and funded.
Proposed change: Ministerial powers to cut support funding to entire categories across the scheme, without the scope to contest or reinstate previously provided support.
This proposed change allows the government to remove disability supports for entire groups of participants, without consideration or consultation based on individualised, comprehensive and specialised review and assessment. Therapeutic and disability support worker services cannot be provided based on generalised assumptions on what government representatives, without disability specific training, consider important to the lives of the disability community.
Sudden removal of funds can have catastrophic outcomes for participants, many of which would be unable to be rectified even if funding was re-instated. I have highlighted some of these risks and outcomes further down this email. Without scope to contest changes to funding allocation, this proposal completely removes opportunity for advocacy for participants when their basic human rights aren’t met.
The NDIS has provided immense levels of support to communities who have not had access to any alternative forms of assistance or care. It cannot be highlighted enough, that the functional capacity, health and dignity of many people, has improved greatly since accessing NDIS funded supports. NDIS has enabled opportunity to access human rights for disability communities, where there has been no other avenue of support to access this.
The impacts of each proposed change by the government contributes to compounding risks experienced by participants, their informal supports and the quality of care and funded supports provided. These risks can be and are anticipated to be, catastrophic. Whilst I acknowledge there is an expansive list of concerns and risks associated with the proposed changes progressing, the following summarises, and hopefully highlights, some of the significant impacts the proposed changes will have:
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Increased health risks experienced including suicidality, self-harm, physical injury, deterioration of physical health concerns and death
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Limited to no capacity to engage in activities of daily living across their life; including engaging in productive occupations such as paid employment
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Increased distress experienced by participants with no access to alternative support
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Homelessness
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Increased attempt to access hospitals, emergency departments and support lines who already do not have capacity to support the number of people attempting to access these services
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Inability for informal supports to continue assisting in any capacity