To Whom It May Concern
My name is David Lamborn and I’m employed as Mental Health Support worker for Horizon Clubhouse in Mackay, under MIFNQ. The NDIS rolled out in this area at the beginning of November 2016 and has been gaining speed since then. There have been a number of areas where I have felt there is a lot of confusion and difficulty surrounding the NDIS, the remoteness of Mackay and the lack of any concise information around the NDIS are two main points. Over the last 4 months new information has been presented but it feels that if it was provided earlier, before the roll out, that many people wouldn’t have been put into positions of mental stress.
There has been a lot of discussion around the fear of not getting a plan with sufficient support categories to meet their needs & thus impacting upon their mental health, one participant was not told for three weeks that their plan had been finalised & only became aware of this when their taxi scheme was cut & thus they lost their independence.
NDIA contact (initial contact made & people still anxiously waiting for follow up over 6 weeks later, local NDIA office not open in publicised location yet so participants cannot access face-to-face assistance), NDIS applications (having difficulty accessing appropriate specialists in regional town to confirm diagnosis, not having a current specialist because of moving hometowns, inability to access documentation due to memory loss associated with diagnosis, participants resistant and confused by change)
In addition to previously reported issues/approaches: a large proportion of participants outreached seem to have little depth of understanding of what the NDIS is how it works & how it affects them. Participants do not align the D2DL services they are currently accessing with their understanding of the ‘disability’ supports available once the NDIS is fully rolled out, thus are moving slowly through the process of accessing the NDIS.
Some participants report avoiding the NDIS application procedure as the uncertainty involved exacerbates their mental illness. Some participants are in unstable situations which do not allow them to apply for the NDIS right now (i.e. hospitalised, justice system commitments, financial stresses, homeless, life stresses, and family commitments.
Although the NDIS was not commencing in our region until November, the NDIS has contacted a number of our members via letter or phone call. The letter said to expect another phone call from the NDIS however only a few have been forthcoming. Members are
apprehensive to call the 1800 number & if we do call together we have been unable to move forward with the access process as we are told to await further contact.
Waiting for over a week for a call back after a planning meeting to inform them about who he was choosing for Support Co-Ordinator, and had to call them back to get the some action on the handover, 2 weeks later and the participant is still waiting for the handover paperwork to be sent to him.
It has been brought to our attention that there have been a few occasions where phone calls from NDIA representatives have been pushing over the phone planning meetings instead of accepting the request of the person to have a face to face, there has also been cases where the person was not even aware that the phone call was in fact there planning meeting
There is a lot of concern and confusion around the way Mental Health has been approached by the NDIA, totally negating that for most people it has been about recovery and becoming well, this isn’t being reflected by the NDIA as it is being labelled as a permanent disability. This has caused a lot of people to refuse or avoid applying for the NDIS as it means they are not meant to escape their situation or are agreeable in nature and have not spoken up during planning meetings to contradict something that isn’t accurate.
Due to the roll out of the NDIS there is not going to be ongoing funding for current members whom have been found ineligible and cannot access the NDIS, despite there being continuity of support commitment. There have been a number of people that have declined to apply as at this point in their life they no longer identify with having a disability despite requiring intermediate assistance or have a person they are responsible with that is there primary concern and don’t have the means or time to apply. There have also been situations where people have been declined and found ineligible for the NDIS. There is a lot of fear and confusion around whether people will still be able to access those supports after they have been deemed ineligible.