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I’d like to express my concern and ask that you consider not approving the 50% cut to social and community participation funding from October 2026 and the Minister’s new power to cut funding without appeal (s 34A).
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I am a 64-year-old single mum caring for a 34-year-old son.
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My son was born with Down Syndrome. He has Dyspraxia and is non-verbal. He is illiterate with a mental age of 8 years, and has not learnt to sign, for any effective communication. Therefore, he requires 24-hour care. He is unsafe to be left alone, and he is never alone.
wears glasses, needs regular foot care and attends speech therapy to try to assist in his nonverbal communication needs.
We have been able to find a sheltered workshop where he works to his capability, three days a week. Like many manufacturing businesses in Australia, the company’s work load has been diminishing, and they are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.
The company has branched into community work, and is now attending this programme two of his work days a week. One day he works in the wood workshop where they construct, repair and update items for community groups. On the second day attends a local nursing home where he assists with Bingo, plays balloon games and Uno with the residents.
If ’s NDIS funding were curtailed, not only would he miss these activities and his feeling useful and part of society, but the local community would lose that assistance.
For many years was active in the Scouting Movement, even achieving his Queens Scout award (greatly modified, to his abilities). Unfortunately, as he grew older, he was unable to continue. While he still has minimal involvement in scouting, he cannot participate as another adult could. He now has little or no interaction with the guys.
Due to being non verbal and illiterate, it is difficult for him to have mates to interact with. attends a Saturday programme where people in similar situations come together and interact. A reduction in his funding would mean he would become lonely and mental problems would arise.
All Down Syndrome people have weight problems, to assist with this does personal training and goes paddleboarding, with a support worker. I was attending a gym with him, but it did not help with his weight. His personal training and paddleboarding is assisting him, in this area. If his funding is cut, this will affect his weight and create more medical problems.
We had occasion to take his case to the AAT tribunal, when it was decided that could do paddleboarding with a group of 5 disabled people and one support worker. We
received a review from the NDIS that was negative, so we went to the tribunal. I raised the point that if all the paddleboarders were to fall off their boards at same time who would the carer save and who would they let drown.
The tribunal realized the mistake and the funding was reinstated.
If there is no tribunal to go to, who is going to find such mistakes?