|
Post by bear on Dec 4, 2019 5:01:09 GMT 7
Delivering NDIS plan: new medium-term accommodation for NDIS participants
The Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Stuart Robert, today announced the NDIS will fund a new type of transitional housing support designed to support participants as they prepare to move into their permanent home. Funding for Medium Term Accommodation (MTA) is available to NDIS participants who require temporary transitional housing while they wait for their permanent home to become ready or available for use. Typical examples of where MTA might be used include: bridging accommodation for younger participants who are at risk of being admitted to aged care, or those who wish to leave aged care, while they wait for home modifications or identified specialist disability accommodation participants who are ready to leave hospital but are waiting for disability-related home modifications to be completed on their house participants who have been found eligible for specialist disability accommodation but are awaiting on a vacancy or build to be completed. ‘The NDIS enables people with disability to live more independently and one of the most fundamental aspects of all our lives is having choice and control over where we live, who we live with and the supports we need,’ Minister Robert said. ‘We don’t want people in hospital or aged care settings any longer than they have to be and by introducing funding for Medium Term Accommodation, we’re addressing those challenges. ‘Today’s announcement also builds on changes being made as part of the Australian Government’s plan to deliver on the promise of the NDIS.’ Medium Term Accommodation has been introduced into the NDIS Price Guide as a new support item, giving clarity to providers on the price limits. Medium Term Accommodation also responds to a number of key COAG Disability Reform Council commitments and will help deliver on the Government’s target, announced last week, of no new younger people entering residential aged care by 2022. www.miragenews.com/delivering-ndis-plan-new-medium-term-accommodation-for-ndis-participants/
|
|
|
Post by bear on Dec 13, 2019 6:16:44 GMT 7
Culturally and linguistically diverse families could benefit more from the NDIS
UNSW’s Social Policy Research Centre and St Vincent de Paul Society NSW are bridging cultural gaps for Australian Chinese to access the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Poor accessibility and quality of NDIS support for people with disability and their families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are commonly reported.
The introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in 2013 was considered the most significant social policy reform in Australia this century. When entirely rolled out, it will provide approximately 500,000 Australians under the age of 65 who have permanent and significant disability with funding for support and services. Despite the aim of the scheme, poor accessibility and quality of NDIS support for people with disability and their families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds are commonly reported. However, there are only a handful of empirical studies available on how to address these issues. To fill this knowledge gap, a research team from UNSW’s Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) and representatives from St Vincent de Paul Society NSW (SVDP NSW) was established. Background to the researchSt Vincent de Paul Society NSW is an NDIS Partner in the Community (PITC) providing Local Area Coordination (LAC) services in Sydney, South East Sydney, South West Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter New England regions. To provide culturally responsive support to CALD communities, SVDP NSW LAC program launched an initiative called the Community Access Network (CAN) strategy in March 2018. The three goals of the CAN Strategy are to equip participants from CALD backgrounds with the skills and knowledge to engage effectively with the NDIS; to develop a network of relationships with key stakeholders and participants from culturally diverse backgrounds, and to enhance the knowledge of staff within the SVDP NSW LAC program regarding cultural responsiveness. SVDP NSW collaborated with the research team from SPRC to conduct a preliminary case study on the CAN Strategy for Australian Chinese people who speak Mandarin or Cantonese. The SPRC team included Dr Qian Fang, Professor Karen Fisher and Professor Bingqin Li. The purpose of the research was to explore how the program responded to the needs and preferences of Australian Chinese communities in the context of NDIS. What did the research reveal?The research suggested the CAN Strategy was on track to achieve its intended outcomes. Both the Australian Chinese participants and staff from SVDP NSW appeared to gain benefits from the program. The achievements varied slightly across the three goals. Participants who were interviewed reported they were satisfied with the knowledge they received from CAN. Most stated that personal consultations with Local Area Coordinators (LACs) exceeded their expectations and that it was an effective arrangement. They said they appreciated staff who exhibited two qualities they defined as essential to good cultural responsiveness – dedication and competency. The two qualities emphasise the priority of framing culture within wider quality goals such as person-centred practice. The finding also suggested that factors like language and same cultural backgrounds, which are highlighted in the literature, were important but not sufficient. 'The Chinese families didn’t know who to turn to and how to navigate their way out of the maze.' CAN assisted in establishing a network of relationships with NDIS stakeholder organisations and Australian Chinese participants. Those who had children with similar disabilities in similar age groups began to exchange peer support. One of the mothers commented that she took away two benefits from CAN – the opportunity to meet the other mothers and knowledge about NDIS. One CAN participant made the observation that Chinese families lack social networking. The participant went on to say that most of the time, the Chinese families didn’t know who to turn to and how to navigate their way out of the ‘maze’. The LACs benefited from CAN in various ways. The staff reported they had learnt from the participants’ practical experiences about navigating support services. One staff member reported that what she had learnt from the participants complemented the training and enabled her to better support her participants. “The CAN Strategy is about building trust, rapport and a two-way dialogue between the SVDP NSW LAC program, and CALD communities. As an NSW PITC, we can support CALD participants and their families and carers to build their capacity to navigate the NDIS, but there is equally as much capacity our program needs to build when it comes to working effectively with CALD communities,” CALD Community Engagement Coordinator Erin Crockford says. Where to from here?An implication of this report for practice is that an organisation can demonstrate its capacity to provide culturally responsive practices by working with and learning from participants to change its practices. "Insights from the CAN approach to cultural responsiveness are the value of mutual learning and support between the organisation and CAN participants, and the close collaboration with stakeholders from CALD communities," Dr Fang says. The research team will use these findings as an entry point to include diverse cultural groups and apply the findings to other service areas. The team also welcomes policymakers, practitioners and academics to make contact to further discuss mutual policy and research interests. newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/social-affairs/culturally-and-linguistically-diverse-families-could-benefit-more-ndis
|
|
|
Post by bear on Dec 19, 2019 6:58:23 GMT 7
A left-wing critique of the NDIS
While the NDIS has made some positive inroads, it has some way to go to fulfil its ambitious mandate, writes Nicholas Haines.
THE MAIN ACHIEVEMENT of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is to triple the total funding for disability support in Australia from $7 billion per year under the previous state and territory-based system to an estimated $22 billion after its roll-out. We should not underestimate this gain.Tens of thousands of people who languished on waiting lists under the old state and territory-based system are now receiving support services for the first time. Julia Gillard and Bill Shorten deserve credit for the political skill they used to legislate this scheme. But we can express thanks for this milestone while noting that the conceptual basis of the NDIS is deeply flawed. We can welcome the extra funding while expressing misgivings about the design of the scheme. The NDIS is, in essence, a voucher program. It takes an individualist frame to what is, at heart, a structural and systemic challenge: to make our society inclusive of everyone, regardless of disability status. Kaitlyn@BlytheByName SBS News: "even Prime Ministers are entitled to a holiday, just like everyone else" Okay cool I'll just check my welfare entitlements ... Oh weird, it looks like I don't get any kind of "holiday stipend" from Centrelink *or* the NDIS. This must be some kind of mistake? The NDIS does not conceptualise disability support as a collective, social good. It avoids structural and systemic changes to our society. It conceives of disability support as a consumer good. It casts the participants as consumers, hands them a voucher and tells them to go shopping in a “marketplace” of support services. Poor outcomes can be blamed on “the market”. In the 2011 report that laid the conceptual underpinnings of the NDIS, the Productivity Commissionwas ambiguous about the need for professionally skilled support workers. The Commission observed that most disability support is informal and unpaid. The Commission appeared to set a low bar for the quality of paid support workers, namely that they merely need to be no worse than the unpaid, unsupervised and untrained family members who provide most of the support. The Commission did not acknowledge a distinctive value that professional workers can add. Good disability support workers are not unskilled; they need to be able to manage complex interactions with government and non-government agencies, communicate in a sophisticated way, exercise high levels of emotional intelligence, and respond empathetically and effectively to challenging behaviours. Bill Shorten ✔@billshortenmp For my 23rd disability forum in the portfolio, I was in a very special part of Melbourne today, Altona, with local MP @timwattsmp hearing the lived experiences - not the Government spin - on how the #NDIS is really going In 2011, the Productivity Commission claimed that the new system would lead to greater pay and better working conditions for disability support workers. Eight years later, the scheme has fallen far short of this vision for the disability workforce. What has happened instead is that paid work in the disability sector has become more casualised and precarious. The prices are not enough to cover disability workers’ needs to document their work. The prices do not account for time needed to hand over to the next shift worker, drive from client to client, debrief with managers and colleagues and follow up participants’ concerns. The prices do not cover the workers’ needs to be supervised, managed and trained. The Federal Government does not take direct responsibility for ensuring that the services will be there when people need them. The NDIS's voucher mechanism allows the government to wring its hands while lamenting the "thinness of markets" in certain regions of the nation and in certain aspects of disability care. Gabrielle Chan ✔@gabriellechan New AC to Julia Gillard, who nominates legacy: Gonski reforms, NDIS & royal commish on child abuse #AustraliaDay www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/26/julia-gillard-gonski-reforms-shifted-debate-towards-needs-based-funding?CMP=share_btn_tw Julia Gillard: Gonski reforms shifted debate towards needs-based funding Former prime minister made a companion of the Order of Australia for service to Australian parliament theguardian.com The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) sees itself as a “market steward”, not as a public agency with direct responsibility for guaranteeing quality services for all who need them. This approach is inferior to a well-resourced public agency proactively shaping the disability workforce. Disability support work is an inescapably labour-intensive vocation with limited scope for productivity growth. In this context, an emphasis on "consumer choice and control” tends to promote low wages coupled with increasingly precarious conditions of employment. The gendered undervaluation of social care work is a major structural cause of weak workers’ rights in the disability sector. The NDIS does not truly envision a distinct, valuable contribution for professional disability support alongside unpaid familial care. The Productivity Commission’s assumption was that paid supports and family supports are almost interchangeable. This allows the government to set low expectations for paid support and to justify low wages and insecure employment arrangements for support workers. ✔@charliepick The NDIS is a productivity measure. It enables disabled Australians to participate in the economy. We should be talking about it differently Disability support for individuals is essential, but by itself, it is not enough. We also need well-resourced structural responses to exclusion such as: Making all buildings, facilities, streets and civic spaces accessible to people with restricted mobility, visual disability, and sensory sensitivity; Scaling up print accessibility services that produce braille, large text, audio and e-text versions of documents for people with a visual disability; Employing enough ASLAN interpreters to meet the demand for this service. Today there is not a single full-time ASLAN interpreter in the entire Northern Territory; and Using fiscal policy to ensure no underemployment, no hidden unemployment and no unemployment apart from frictional unemployment (the one or two per cent of the labour force who are moving between jobs at any given time). A fully employed economy would massively increase the bargaining power of workers, which would force employers to design jobs and workplaces that suit the circumstances of everybody, including the long-term unemployed and people with disabilities. Patricia Rutherford@TrishKurralinga Seems permanent funding for the #NDIS can only come if it is included in the #medicare levy. It would remove the manipulative politics & it would be more inclusive.@meckeringboy Inequity, autism spectrum disorder and the cost of NDIS cuts independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/inequity-autism-spectrum-disorder-and-the-cost-of-ndis-cuts,11530#.Wwjw6jxn_6M.twitter … @independentaus Inequity, autism spectrum disorder and the cost of NDIS cuts We have two options, says Jane Salmon. Raise the Medicare levy for NDIS and support autism or destroy human rights and breed more austerity. The NDIS brings a welcome infusion of funds for disability support services. However, the NDIS is undermined by a market orientation that ignores the social and collective nature of social care. This has worsened workers’ rights (which were not strong to begin with) and it has damaged the quality of the work by neglecting to fund training, supervision, management and other back-office functions on which support workers depend. The NDIS would become much more effective if the Federal Government took direct responsibility for assuring adequate amounts of quality services. Providing a voucher to an individual is pointless if the voucher cannot be redeemed. In addition, the Federal Government needs to fund structural responses to the discrimination and exclusion experienced by people with disabilities. Support services for individuals are not enough. That Dr Sheep Person@noplaceforsheep How much is Robert’s decision influenced by his religious beliefs? Stuart Robert to appeal NDIS funding for MS sufferer independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/stuart-robert-to-appeal-ndis-funding-for-ms-sufferer,12903 … Stuart Robert to appeal NDIS funding for MS sufferer Stuart Robert's move to appeal an MS sufferer's NDIS funding reflects his own personal prejudice — not those of the community. independentaustralia.net Nicholas Haines works in the disability support sector in Brisbane, Australia. He has a Master’s Degree in Development Practice from the University of Queensland. independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/a-left-wing-critique-of-the-ndis,13421
|
|
|
Post by nomadic on Dec 19, 2019 7:52:04 GMT 7
Far too long for me to read but Bill shorten claiming to be disabled-friendly is just another GROWL as he was one of the worst people when I was fighting my case. total treason towards the disabled as he gets heaps of publicity showing him as a friend of the disabled. NOTHING could be further from the truth. My top 3 (Low lives), were Jan McLucas, Shorten & Hank in no particular order. All disgusting people in every way.
|
|
|
Post by bear on Jan 20, 2020 7:03:07 GMT 7
Morrison government set to announce NDIS overhaul
Participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme have suffered lengthy delays on decisions and uncertainty and distress caused by a lack of information, prompting a fresh federal government pledge to fix the system.
An independent review into the scheme, to be released by the Morrison government on Monday, includes 29 recommendations to cut wait times, improve services and to make plans amendable.It also calls for more flexibility in the use of NDIS funds and clarifying access for people with a "psycho-social" disability. Longer plans for participants, enabling them to be covered for up to three years without a review, should also be adopted, it found. While there was support for the scheme across the community and all levels of government, the review found the legislation and rules underpinning the scheme were "unnecessarily rigid and do not allow flexibility". NDIS Minister Stuart Robert said the Morrison government would use the findings to "update and clarify" the legislation and remove barriers to the NDIS, which costs about $22 billion a year to run. "The review’s findings reaffirmed what we have been hearing from participants, their families and carers and the disability sector – that while many participants have had excellent experiences and are benefiting from the scheme, many others have had frustrations with wait times, complexity of processes and a lack of understanding of their needs," Mr Robert said. The review, undertaken by former finance department secretary David Tune, found it was clear that many of the benefits the NDIS sought to achieve "are yet to be consistently realised". Participants said the scheme was too complex and difficult to navigate, they experienced lengthy delays and did not understand how the National Disability Insurance Agency made decisions about eligibility. "While there is support for the NDIS across all levels of government and the community, responses to the review often expressed frustration, dissatisfaction and sometimes anger about the way the NDIS has been implemented," the Department of Social Services stated in a summary of the review. "The review made recommendations to improve NDIS processes and remove barriers in the law that make it difficult for the NDIA to effectively support people with a disability." The government has already promised to allow for longer plans for participants, which will enable them to go on accessing support for three years without needing to go through frequent reviews. It has also committed to adopting the recommendation to have a “participant service guarantee”, which will set out basic service standards, from July 1. Disability support groups have raised concern about the slow transition of people with a psycho-social disability into the NDIS, which requires a person to have a permanent impairment or an impairment likely to be permanent. The review recommended clarifying what “permanency” means when requesting access to the NDIS, noting the episodic and fluctuating nature of some mental health conditions. The scheme now has more than 310,000 participants, with the government estimating the sector will require at least 90,000 more workers in the next five years. The review noted that reforms already adopted by the NDIA had helped reduce wait times for access decisions from 38 days in the June 2019 quarter to 12 days now. It was revealed last week that more than 1200 Australians had died waiting to receive a National Disability Insurance Scheme package between July 2016 and September 2019, with wait times ranging between four and seven months. Figures published in Adelaide's The Advertiser found 270 Queenslanders and 170 South Australians were among the 1279 people who died waiting for support over the three-year period, and 65 were children. South Australians had the longest wait in the nation, with wait times sitting at an average of 210 days – months longer than the national average of 121 days for children under six and 152 days for Australians aged seven and above. Labor’s NDIS spokesman Bill Shorten called the wait times “disgraceful”, saying there needed to be more staff and more accountability. Mr Robert announced last November the controversial scheme would be overhauled after he conceded Australians were not satisfied. He flagged at the time the key areas where the NDIS was failing were long wait times, poor access and financial stability. www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-government-set-to-announce-ndis-overhaul-20200119-p53st0.htmlm.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2582210985382253&id=1415019052101458
|
|
|
Post by bear on Jan 20, 2020 7:09:08 GMT 7
Go figure Stuart......maybe that's got something to do with the way LNP ideology only aligns with Labor's in certain areas and, let's face it; having world class infrastructure & practise i.e. NBN/NDIS for the benefit of all Australians certainly isn't your fit is it? Bear
|
|
|
Post by nomadic on Jan 20, 2020 7:24:17 GMT 7
Robert is one of the least disability-friendly politicians in history. His record proves it.
|
|
|
Post by bear on Feb 5, 2020 7:08:37 GMT 7
People with severe mental illness face difficulties accessing NDIS
"People will continue to receive inappropriate supports in their NDIS package if they are assessed as eligible,” says Ms Hancock.
Those with severe mental illness are facing additional problems accessing the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), say researchers from the University of Sydney’s Centre for Disability Research and Policy (CDRP). The independent Tune Review, undertaken by former public servant, David John Tune AO PSM, into the NDIS was released earlier this month, revealing access to NDIS support was a complicated and frustrating processfor many individuals. Researchers from the CDRP have suggested that people with a psychosocial disability have additional challenges with accessing support from the NDIS. Associate Professor Nicola Hancock from the CDRP says, “GPs, psychiatrists, clinicians and people living with psychosocial disability have a poor understanding of [the] NDIS and what evidence is needed and conversely, NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency) staff have a poor understanding of psychosocial disability.” Ms Hancock adds that the poor understanding of psychosocial disabilities by NDIA staff leads to people not applying, applications getting rejected, and NDIS plans being inappropriate for a person’s needs. Along with this lack of understanding about psychosocial disabilities, there are issues with obtaining appropriate evidence to access the NDIS. For those that do meet the eligibility for the NDIS, they can face further barriers or difficulties with accessing the NDIS. These additional barriers were highlighted in the Tune Review. Mental health illness that affects your ability to perform daily activities is known as psychosocial disability and may make someone eligible for the NDIS. An estimated 600,000 Australians live with severe and persistent mental illness. Approximately 64,000 of those will be eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Ms Hancock says that even when there is evidence, treating doctors and clinicians are often inexperienced using the language of disability, preferring to use hopeful language rather than talking about permanence, and specialist reports are usually not accepted as evidence. She also adds that lack of advocacy is also an issue, saying, “[There is] a lack of advocacy or support for people to assist them to clearly articulate what their needs are. People have not been permitted or encouraged to have family or service providers who know them well to attend meetings with NDIA.” To ensure NDIS funding is accessible to all types of disability, Ms Hancock believes changes need to be made to make it accessible. Ms Hancook says, “The NDIS was initially designed with physical and intellectual disabilities in mind. It continues to need modification to suit people with psychosocial disability and NDIA are well aware of this. “With ongoing genuine engagement and redesign with mental health experts, including people living with mental illness themselves and their families, NDIS will become more fit for purpose for this community.” Without changes to resolve the challenges people living with a psychosocial disability face when accessing the NDIS, Ms Hancock says they may continue to be excluded. “[People] will continue to receive inappropriate supports in their NDIS package if they are assessed as eligible,” says Ms Hancock. She adds that the Tune Review has been a step in the right direction to ensure the right changes get made to support those with a psychosocial disability. Ms Hancock says, “While not solely focused on psychosocial disability, this report shines a light on the many challenges specific to psychosocial disability and recommends well-informed solutions. “It is a welcomed step in the process of making NDIS fit-for-purpose for people living with a psychosocial disability.” To read our guide to mental health and the NDIS, click here. www.disabilitysupportguide.com.au/information/article/mental-health-and-the-ndis
|
|
|
Post by nomadic on Feb 20, 2020 7:19:32 GMT 7
|
|
|
Post by bear on Feb 21, 2020 6:14:23 GMT 7
States say disabled miss out as Canberra hoards $1.7b of NDIS funding
The Victorian and NSW governments have accused the Commonwealth of holding back $1.7 billion in extra funds for the National Disability Insurance Scheme to prop up its promised budget surplus.
Victoria’s Disabilities Minister, Luke Donnellan, and his Liberal counterpart in NSW, Gareth Ward, have written to the federal government demanding that the reserve funds, which were agreed upon in May 2019, be immediately released.The two states say that despite a "breakthrough" agreement eight months ago, the Commonwealth has repeatedly failed to release the money, which is meant to be "spent on people with disabilities so they can reach their full potential", and now the funds are being withheld until after the federal budget is handed down in May. The NSW and Victorian disabilities ministers say the delay is unacceptable, with Victoria accusing the Commonwealth of "systemic neglect" as it tries to shore up the federal surplus, which is under threat from the summer bushfire crisis and the coronovirus. But the Morrison government rejects the claim that an NDIS underspend is being used to prop up its budget, with Disabilities Minister Stuart Robert saying the scheme is “demand driven” and all the money needed to fund it is available now In Jume 2019 Premier Daniel Andrews and Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced they had finally settled a long-running dispute over funding for the NDIS. Children in Victoria with severe and complex disabilities and who have been given up by their families to state care were meant to have been the big beneficiaries, with the federal government agreeing to the state's demand for a shared approach to caring for those children. The state’s share of the federal money in dispute, between $600 million and $700 million, was to be rolled out and spent on services for people with disabilities around the state. Victoria is now spending $2.5 billion each year on the NDIS. Mr Donnellan says he and his officials tried to finalise the deal at meetings of the intergovernmental Disability Reform Council in October 2019 and again two months later but were met with silence by the Commonwealth. The Labor frontbencher says he has been advised that senior Commonwealth public servants say there will be no final agreement to roll out the money until after May’s budget. “This is unacceptable,” Mr Donnellan and Mr Ward wrote to Mr Robert this week. “State governments expect money allocated through the scheme to be spent on people with disabilities so that they can reach their full potential,” they wrote. “Money that is unspent at present is offsetting the Commonwealth’s budget position and the NDIS should never be used as a budget measure – whilst we’re sure this isn’t the intention, it is a fact.” “There are many initiatives which could be deployed to address the scheme’s performance and improve supports for people with disability in our jurisdictions." But Mr Robert told The Age that he needed deals with all the states and territories, not just Victoria and NSW, for the NDIS reserve fund to flow. "The NDIS is a demand-driven scheme and all funds needed for it from the Commonwealth are available now," he said. "The NDIS reserve fund is not being used to ensure a surplus. "The NDIS reserve fund requires agreement from all states and territories – not just NSW and Victoria. "I’ll continue to have discussions in good faith with all states and territories to ensure we get the NDIS reserve fund right for Australians with disability." m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2609270306009654&id=1415019052101458www.smh.com.au/national/states-say-disabled-miss-out-as-canberra-hoards-1-7b-of-ndis-funding-20200220-p542ss.html
|
|
|
Post by bear on Apr 4, 2020 6:50:12 GMT 7
How the NDIS has failed under a Liberal government
Now that we have abandoned the precious surplus, Tim Cornwall asks if we could reverse the NDIS underspend that was enabling it.
THE COALITION Government’s obsession with getting “back in black” was revealed at the Budget announcement last year, with a surplus projected on the back of underspending on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). With that surplus now being abandoned, let’s take a look at how the Liberals have treated a cornerstone achievement of the last Labor government.It was a reflection of a common theme in Australia — Liberals talking while Labor listens and acts. When the NDIS was legislated by Julia Gillard in 2013, it came with the support of disability advocacy groups happy to be heard after years of struggling with a fractured system. It promised to centralise and streamline the funding, allowing every person with a disability to access the services they need without any cap. As Gillard was brought to tears while introducing the legislation, just one Coalition member was present to hear her speak — the first piece of symbolism in this story. The NDIS is an insurance scheme in name only — the recipients do not purchase any insurance policy. Instead, it is an entirely publicly-funded program administered by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). This was to be rolled out nationally by 2020, ensuring that each person with a disability would get access to the programs that they needed. At the time of the NDIS proposal, a PwC report showed that Australia was ranked 21st out of 29 OECD countries in terms of employment participation of those with a disability. Another alarming statistic showed about 45% of those with a disability living near or below the poverty line. The report also showed that the NDIS was projected to be cheaper than the status quo beyond 2025, owing to the increase in workforce offsetting the expenses. Then came 2013 and an Abbott government without even the room for any kind of disability ministry. That was another sign of things to come. In 2014, he announced a cap on employees at the NDIA. The Productivity Commission had recommended 10,000 employees, but Abbott capped it at 3,000. Even today, the number of employees at the NDIA is only 3,230 with much of the work outsourced and subcontracted, causing mass confusion for customers. The 2014 Budget promised the NDIS rolled out on time and in full but had another caveat that the Disability Support Pension (DSP) would be reassessed for thousands of young people who rely on it. People with Disabilities Australia (PWDA) President Craig Wallace said at the time that the transfer from DSP to Newstart or Youth Allowance would leave a person “destitute — $200 a week short of cash”. Wallace recommended that those found eligible be offered employment rather than a cut to their pensions, but the Coalition persisted with 33,000 people moved from the DSP to Newstart. The 2016 Budget came with more caveats. The NDIS, still promised full funding, would again be used to cut welfare. A decision was made to review a further 30,000 DSP recipients per year for three years. The policy was then scrappedafter they found that less than 2% of reviews were finding recipients ineligible. The 2019 Budget revealed further mismanagement. PWDA (and many others) were disgraced with the fact that the Government had underspent on the NDIS in the previous year almost $4 billion. The estimate for the 2018-19 Budget was $16.69 billion, but only $12.9 billion was actually spent. At the same time, Scott Morrison was celebrating a projected $7.1 billion surplus. I would have thought a marketing man would know not to stand on vulnerable Australians — not a good look. He took a bet that the mainstream media wouldn’t focus on it and that bet seems to have paid off. Let’s now take a look at Labor’s policies on this and see the difference between the major parties here. Labor has always stood against any cap on employees working at the NDIA. This is something obviously welcomed by the PWDA. The ALP has also proposed changes to planning processes, giving more power to the people on the plans and a focus on minority groups. The PWDA also recommended a focus on women and a higher target on public sector-employed people with disabilities but endorsed many of these Labor policies to fix the now-botched NDIS. Ever since the NDIA and NDIS were started by Labor back in 2013, it seems that the LNP has done all that it possibly can to undermine it, leaving some of the most vulnerable Australians in the dark or without funding completely. PWDA is now calling on the Government to establish a senate inquiry into the adequacy of the social security system for people with disability after their projected decrease of the DSP by 2.3% between 2019 and 2023, putting more and more people in poverty. Now with new stimulus packages rolled out by the day, will the Liberal National Party stop their abandonment of Australians with disabilities? The COVID-19 pandemic is putting those with disabilities in an even more vulnerable position, but there has yet to be any directed announcement addressing the needs of this community. PWDA, along with eight peak disability bodies, have called for a disability-specific package to be implemented, but the incompetency of the current government makes it unlikely. m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2645758079027543&id=1415019052101458
|
|
|
Post by bear on Oct 12, 2020 7:48:31 GMT 7
Appeals against government NDIS decisions have spiked by more than 700 per cent since 2016
NDIS Minister Stuart Robert said there had been difficulties accessing the scheme in the past.
New figures show NDIS appeals to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal have soared in recent years, as the government comes under fire for disability reforms.
Appeals against National Disability Insurance Scheme decisions have skyrocketed by more than 700 per cent since 2016, as the government concedes parts of the process have been "complex, costly and inconsistent".The Administrative Appeals Tribunal - which reviews federal government decisions - received 1,780 appeals related to the NDIS in 2019-20, an increase of some 727 per cent when compared with the 215 NDIS-related appeals in 2016-17. In 2016-17 some 0.24 per cent of the 89,610 participants sought an appeal, while in 2019-20 some 0.45 per cent of 391,999 participants sought an appeal. The NDIS develops individual plans to provide funding and support for people with disability. NDIS decisions that can be appealed in the tribunal include whether someone meets funding criteria, as well as decisions to not review a participant's plan. Asked about the ballooning number of appeals, NDIS Minister Stuart Robert said not everyone who has previously applied for access to the scheme has been completely happy with their experience. "We’ve heard loud and clear that a key problem facing Australians engaging with the NDIS is inconsistent decisions and we know current arrangements can be complex, costly and inconsistent," he told SBS News in a statement. "Participants have reported they have spent thousands of dollars chasing assessments to show their functional capacity and some Australians cannot afford the same access to professionals as others." Mr Robert said recent reforms, such as the introduction of the independent assessment process, would make access to the scheme more consistent and transparent. "We believe it's important all NDIS participants are treated equally and fairly to ensure all decisions made in access and planning are made using the same level of impartial data and consistent criteria and we are making changes to deliver on that commitment." The government said the growth in the number of NDIS appeals coming to the tribunal could be "partially attributed" to the growth of the scheme in recent years. Between 2015-16 and 2019-20 the number of participants has increased from 29,719 to 391,999, an increase of 1,219 per cent. Some 100,000 participants had joined the scheme in the past 12 months alone, the government said. A spokesperson for the AAT said the NDIS caseload was one of the tribunal's fastest growing areas by proportion. Naomi Anderson - a lawyer at the Victoria-based Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service, which provides legal assistance with NDIS matters - said she was not surprised more people were fighting government decisions. “These increases would be broadly reflective of the increases we and other advocates who do this work have been seeing in people approaching us for help,” she told SBS News. Ms Anderson said Villamanta has a growing waitlist of people who have requested legal assistance with AAT appeals. She said there could be a number of reasons there is an increasing number of appeals being filed. "People who joined the scheme at rollout often had plans that were based on their prior support arrangements due to the need to bring everybody on quickly. For many, their subsequent plans have been reduced, leading them to seek a review," she said. "For others, it has been a poor planning experience, and when the internal review process is also conducted poorly, there is no choice but to go to the AAT." In 2019-20, the decision under review was changed in 65 per cent of all finalised applications, up from 59 and 42 per cent in 2018-19 and 2017-18 respectively. There were 391,999 people accessing the NDIS at the end of June this year, according to government figures. It says applications to the AAT made up less than one per cent of all access decisions made over the past seven quarters. Independent assessment controversy In August, the government announced the “most substantial” changes to the NDIS since it launched, which it said would "help deliver on the promise" of the scheme and make it easier to navigate. But one part of the reforms, the independent assessment process, has prompted concern as well as confusion in some parts of Australia’s disability community. Some of those to voice concern - which include disability rights advocacy bodies Every Australian Counts, Women With Disabilities Australia and Synapse - believe assessments could be too brief to properly determine an applicant's eligibility for the NDIS, place extra barriers between applicants and the scheme, and force vulnerable people to be assessed by practitioners they don't know or trust. Functional assessments have always been part of the NDIS process, however current arrangements can be complex and costly. Participants have reported they have spent thousands of dollars chasing assessments to show their functional capacity. View more: t.co/r56buNp8Pj pic.twitter.com/ie9VRG1NVT — NDIS (@ndis) 2020-09-13T00:00:00+00:00 The new independent assessment process came under scrutiny earlier this month in a ruling made by the AAT. The National Disability Insurance Agency, which implements the NDIS, had earlier decided that mother-of-two Jennifer Ray did not meet the scheme's "disability" criteria, despite earlier diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder, ADHD and depression. Ms Ray, who was represented by Ms Anderson, used evidence to support her application gathered from multiple health professionals over several years. In contrast, the NDIA provided evidence from a single independent assessor, an occupational therapist who had seen Ms Ray once for a period of three hours. The tribunal said it did not have confidence that the independent assessor’s opinions "were based on an accurate understanding of Ms Ray's background, past achievements and her current state of mental health". Mr Robert said independent assessments are a key reform that will provide an equitable way to "capture information about a person’s functional capacity, without making assumptions based on disability or diagnosis". "These changes are in line with the original intent for the NDIS and follow extensive conversations with NDIS participants, families and the disability sector as well as pilot programs," he said. "We believe it’s important all NDIS participants are treated equally and fairly to ensure all decisions made in access and planning are made using the same level of impartial data and consistent criteria and we are making changes to deliver on that commitment." An independent assessment pilot prior to the announcement of the reforms found 90 per cent of participants were either very satisfied or satisfied by their experience, according to the NDIA. www.sbs.com.au/news/appeals-against-government-ndis-decisions-have-spiked-by-more-than-700-per-cent-since-2016
|
|
|
Post by bear on Nov 27, 2020 8:22:52 GMT 7
NOVEMBER 25, 2020 10:22 AM AEDT NDIA invites participants to have their say on NDIS reforms
The NDIA is calling on people with disability, participants, their families and carers and the wider disability sector to have their say on changes to make the NDIS simpler, faster, fairer and more flexible.NDIA CEO Martin Hoffman said the Agency has today released three consultation papers about changes to how people access the NDIS, planning and plan flexibility, and early intervention services – the latter supported by the release of a detailed consultation report around best practice Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) reform. The papers are part of the Agency’s ongoing public consultation about implementation of reforms announced in August to improve the Scheme experience for current and future participants. The release of the papers today kicks off the launch of a three-month open public consultation on how the NDIS reforms will be implemented. People with disability, participants, their families and carers and the wider disability sector are strongly encouraged to take part. Mr Hoffman said that more than 412,000 Australians are now benefiting from the NDIS with more than 190,000 receiving supports for the first time. “We know that, for many people, the NDIS experience has been life-changing, but others have told us the Scheme could be simpler, faster, fairer and more flexible,” said Mr Hoffman. “It’s clear that after seven years of focussing on getting the new Scheme up and running it is time to make some changes to deliver on the original intention of the NDIS so it works for everyone now and into the future. “This is your NDIS – so we are calling on participants, the community and the disability sector to help shape the NDIS to make sure we implement the changes to deliver a Scheme that works for you.” With the community’s input the end-result will be one that: delivers fair and consistent plans and personalised budgets;is easier to use and is faster and more responsive;provides participants with more flexibility to use their budgets to achieve the best outcomes for them; andis sustainable and in place for future generations of Australians. Other proposed improvements in today’s released papers include: Increasing the age limit for the early childhood early intervention pathway from 7 to 9 years.Free independent assessments will become the primary source of information used to decide whether a person meets or continues to meet disability or early intervention access; and a key input informing the value of a plan budget.Planning conversations will focus on helping participants to consider how best to use their funds rather than needing to justify each individual support in order to secure funding. The NDIA recognises the need to take the time to get this right, which is why implementation of changes through the announced reforms will now take place in mid-2021, not early 2021. This will allow time for extensive consultation activities to be undertaken with people with disability, NDIS participants, families and carers, and the wider disability sector and to complete, collect and review feedback on how the reforms are implemented as part of the second pilot of independent assessments. www.miragenews.com/ndia-invites-participants-to-have-their-say-on-ndis-reforms/NOVEMBER 26, 2020 8:32 PM AEDT New NDIS worker screening takes effect from February 1, 2021
The NDIS (Worker Screening) Bill has passed through the WA ParliamentNew screening process for NDIS workers begins on February 1, 2021A nationally consistent tool that can help NDIS provide a quality and safe workforceReplaces an array of screening processes used in States and Territories The National Disability Insurance Scheme (Worker Screening) Bill has today passed through the Western Australian Parliament, ensuring a new screening process for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) workers will come into force in early 2021. The new worker screening checks will help ensure that individuals seeking to work with people with disability via disability providers or directly engaged do not present any unacceptable risk. The nation-wide Worker Screening Check (NDIS Check) and NDIS Worker Screening Database will be introduced by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) from February 1, 2021. The screening process will assess whether a person who works or seeks to work with people with disability poses a risk to them, and will determine whether they are cleared or excluded from working in certain roles. Once the NDIS worker screening commences, all new workers will be required to take the check and existing workers will phase-in over time. Transitional arrangements will be in place between December 1, 2020 to February 1, 2021 to ensure workers have an acceptable check in place until the NDIS worker screening check commences. NDIS workers and providers are encouraged to visit the NDIS Check website at www.ndiswsu.wa.gov.au to find out more information and be aware of obligations before the worker screening process commences operation. As stated by Disability Services Minister Stephen Dawson: “Worker screening checks will be a vital tool to better support the dignity, safety, and wellbeing of NDIS participants. “I’m really pleased this important legislation has enjoyed bipartisan support so Western Australia can successfully progress the establishment of consistent standards for worker screening. “I look forward to seeing a consistent national approach to worker screening processes for NDIS workers coming into place. “The NDIS Check will replace the array of screening arrangements operating in States and Territories by setting a single national standard and screening process for all NDIS workers delivering supports and services to people with disability.” www.miragenews.com/new-ndis-worker-screening-takes-effect-from/
|
|
|
Post by nomadic on Dec 6, 2020 14:19:34 GMT 7
|
|
|
Post by bear on Dec 6, 2020 16:47:52 GMT 7
Not in the slightest nomadic...... Seeing the S&X word would give Robert an apoplectic fit as proved by the outcome in not only the denial of funds for workers, but for aids as well. Extrapolate that out and my conclusion is that the government absolutely sees disabled Australians as being sub-human.
|
|