People with Disability Australia Incorporated
Postal Address: PO Box 666
Strawberry Hills NSW 2012
Street Address: Level 10, 1 Lawson Square
Redfern NSW 2016
Phone: 02 9370 3100 Toll Free: 1800 422 015 Fax: 02 9318 1372
ABN 98 879 981 198 TTY: 02 9318 2138
Toll Free TTY: 1800 422 016 Email: pwd@pwd.org.au
February 3, 2017 TIS: 13 14 50 NRS: 1800 555 677
NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
PO BOX 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Email: ndis.sen@aph.gove.au
Dear Committee,
Inquiry into the Provision of Hearing Services under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
People with Disability Australia (PWDA) thank the Committee for the opportunity to provide input to this inquiry.
PWDA is a leading disability rights, advocacy and representative organisation of and for all people with disability. We are a NSW and national, cross-‐disability peak representative organisation and member of Disabled Peoples Organisations Australia (DPO Australia). We represent the interests of people with all kinds of disability. We are a non-‐profit, non-‐ government organisation. PWDA’s primary membership is made up of people with disability and organisations primarily constituted by people with disability. We have a vision of a socially just, accessible and inclusive community, in which the human rights, belonging, contribution, potential and diversity of all people with disability are recognised, respected and celebrated with pride.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is one of the most significant social reforms of our time. On full realisation of the NDIS, people with disability will be able to choose quality services to support them how they wish: in their everyday lives, work, and future ambitions.
Our vision is of a socially just, accessible and inclusive community, in which the human rights, citizenship, contribution and potential of people with disability are respected and celebrated.
However, as the NDIS is currently rolling out, we would like to draw the Committee’s attention to specific concerns we have around the provision of hearing services. We have outlined these concerns below.
Communication support
The provision of appropriate communication support, including interpreters, directly
reflects Principle 9), of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 NDIS Act, which
states that ‘people with disability should be supported in all their dealing and
communications with the Agency so that their capacity to exercise choice and control is maximized in a way that is appropriate to their circumstances and cultural needs’1.
PWDA are therefore extremely concerned that the NDIA have not been providing adequate communication support to help people access the scheme, or during planning meetings.
Whilst the NDIS Access Form contains questions on preferred communication, we
understand that this preference is often not being met. For example, a participant with hearing impairment requested to be contacted by the NDIA through email, however, the communication that was used was telephone. Another example is a person with vision impairment being sent a number of letters by the NDIA, rather than their preferred communication of telephone. In addition, we understand that the Access Form specifies the use of language interpreters where required, however, this does not include access to interpreters in Auslan or hand-‐over sign. A planning meeting without interpreters cannot be considered to legitimately enable choice and control to a person with disability.
There is an immediate need for the NDIA to review their methods of communication to ensure that they meet the needs of current and future participants. This should include recognition that people may use a range of communication methods at one time. For example, people with dual sensory impairment, people with hearing impairment, and people from CALD backgrounds require interpreters for any and every meetings. Not all people with dual disability communicate in the same way. It is imperative that the NDIA caters to specific details of communication.
In addition, interpreting services require advance notice of bookings, and adequate time needs to be taken to ensure that a person has an interpreter, of their choice, at a planning meeting. Meetings should not be scheduled until all communication needs are in place.
Provision of services Governments have agreed2 that if an individual were receiving supports before becoming a participant in the NDIS, they should not be disadvantaged by transition to the NDIS.
1 National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ndisa2013341/s4.html 2Intergovernmental Agreement can be found here https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-‐us/governance/intergovernmental-‐agreements
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Ideally, a market of high quality hearing services would be available across Australia, to provide all people with choice in terms of their provider, and ensure that meeting the needs of consumers would drive high standards across the board.
However, at this early stage of the NDIS roll out, our concern is that the market for hearing services in Australia is untested. As this is a highly specialised area, we are concerned that at this point the market is not developed enough to provide expertise, and quality provision of care, particularly for babies and children. This could significantly affect patient outcomes. In addition, we do not believe that the market is robust enough around provision of services for people in rural and regional areas, specifically Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The Government is yet to make a decision on the future of Australian Hearing, which leaves those who are likely ineligible for the NDIS seriously concerned about continuity of their care. In addition, the NDIA is yet to confirm the eligibility criteria in terms of hearing loss threshold for NDIS participants. We understand that to date there are only 150 participants that have signed up to the NDIS for hearing services.
It is critical that the Government clarify all transition arrangements as soon as possible. Given that responsibilities for hearing services fall between state and commonwealth governments, across the aged care and disability service sector, we strongly urge the Government to consult directly with a diverse set of people who access hearing services, to ensure that transition arrangements put in place meet the needs all of people who require hearing support.
We welcome the opportunity to elaborate further on any issues raised in this letter.
Yours sincerely,
Kate Finch
Manager: Systemic Advocacy
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