Post by bear on Dec 11, 2021 12:23:15 GMT 7
Exclusive: huge rise in appeals come amid claims of ‘stealth cuts’ to people’s previously approved NDIS funding
Legal challenges against NDIA decisions more than triple in five months
The number of Australians challenging National Disability Insurance Agency decisions has exploded since July, with new data revealing a 300% increase in legal appeals.
As the Morrison government confronts Labor claims about “stealth cuts” to funding packages, figures obtained by Guardian Australia confirm a huge rise in applications to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal over NDIS decisions.
These appeals generally mean a person with disability has seen their funding package cut, a requested support has been denied or the agency has rejected their claim to join the scheme.
Woman nearly died from bowel complaint when care plan not followed, disability royal commission told
Between July and November 2021 the AAT received 2,503 NDIS appeals, compared with 590 for the same five-month period in 2020.
This represents a 324% increase and means there have been more appeals lodged in the first five months of this financial year than all of 2020-21 (2,091 appeals).
The number of participants in the scheme rose by 17% in October 2021, to 490,000, compared to the same time in 2020.
The government argues appeals make up a small proportion of all participants, but the new figures directly challenge claims that the increase in appeals is explained by scheme growth.
The opposition’s NDIS spokesperson, Bill Shorten, said the new figures obtained by Guardian Australia were “proof that there is an undeclared wholesale cutting of NDIS plans”.
“These are massive increases in appeals, more than 300% in some instances,” he said.
It comes as a growing number of NDIS participants speak publicly about how their packages have been drastically cut in recent weeks.
Guardian Australia has reported warnings from a Perth mother who might have to quit her job due to cuts to her autistic son’s plan and how a Victorian man with motor neurone disease could be re-hospitalised after the NDIA stopped funding 24-hour nursing care.
In another example later blamed in part on an agency “error”, a Victorian family that won transport funding in a landmark federal court case had this same money cut four years later.
Disability advocates – who are funded to help people challenge NDIA decisions – have reported a deluge of requests for help from “terrified” NDIS participants.
Last week, the NDIA issued a lengthy “clarification” statement about NDIS AAT applications.
It followed reports, including in Guardian Australia, that noted a 21% increase in AAT appeals in 2020-21, compared to the previous 12 months.
The NDIA noted the number of NDIS participants “grew by almost 20% during the past financial year”.
It stated the “increase in total AAT cases [is] a result of the continued growth in participant numbers during this period”.
Guardian Australia requested more recent data from the AAT after the NDIA published its “clarification”.
And the latest figures back the anecdotal claims from advocates about an unusually large rise in appeals that cannot be explained by the fact more people have joined the scheme.
For example, in November the AAT received 723 NDIS appeals, almost as many as there were across the entire second half of 2020.
The backlog of cases at the AAT has also risen, from 913 unresolved appeals in November 2020 to 3,084 last month.
Rachael Thompson, an advocate at the Rights Information Advocacy Centre, said there was total confusion in the community.
Violence was ‘normal’ at Victorian disability group home, royal commission hears
She said requests for help were mostly about cuts to support the agency had previously funded.
“No one knows what’s going on,” Thompson said. “There doesn’t seem to be a particular theme, it’s just … they seem to be reducing, systemically, people’s plans.
“It’s seeming the NDIA are just choosing to ignore the recommendations from treating professionals, and only funding a quarter or half of what they’re requesting. People are being given explanations like, ‘It’s not value for money,’ [or] ‘We don’t have enough evidence.’”
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has warned about a cost blowout to the scheme, but scrapped “sustainability” planned reforms after they were rejected by the states.
Internal documents obtained by Guardian Australia earlier this year suggested the agency had worked on other plans to tighten spending through operational changes that do not require legislation.
While the AAT is designed for people to challenge government decisions without legal representation, advocates say NDIS participants are often pitted against externally contracted lawyers hired by the agency.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
The agency has described the process as “an early resolution model that assists participants by working with them”.
NDIS participants could expect to wait about 23 weeks – or about five months – to have their AAT appeals resolved in the 2020-21 financial year.
An AAT appeal is only lodged after an internal review by the agency is unsuccessful, meaning the entire process is longer than this.
An NDIA spokesperson defended the agency’s position on AAT appeals.
“The statement issued on the NDIS website relates to figures released in the AAT’s annual report (1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021) and we provided comparable figures to 30 June 2021,” he said.
“The agency acknowledges the increase in the number of AAT appeals since 30 June.”
There were a “range of factors that might result in a participant’s plan value changing year on year”, the spokesperson said.
A recent NDIS survey showed that in the September 2021 quarter, 84% of participants “rated the planning process as either good or very good”.
amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/11/legal-challenges-against-ndia-decisions-more-than-triple-in-five-months
Legal challenges against NDIA decisions more than triple in five months
The number of Australians challenging National Disability Insurance Agency decisions has exploded since July, with new data revealing a 300% increase in legal appeals.
As the Morrison government confronts Labor claims about “stealth cuts” to funding packages, figures obtained by Guardian Australia confirm a huge rise in applications to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal over NDIS decisions.
These appeals generally mean a person with disability has seen their funding package cut, a requested support has been denied or the agency has rejected their claim to join the scheme.
Woman nearly died from bowel complaint when care plan not followed, disability royal commission told
Between July and November 2021 the AAT received 2,503 NDIS appeals, compared with 590 for the same five-month period in 2020.
This represents a 324% increase and means there have been more appeals lodged in the first five months of this financial year than all of 2020-21 (2,091 appeals).
The number of participants in the scheme rose by 17% in October 2021, to 490,000, compared to the same time in 2020.
The government argues appeals make up a small proportion of all participants, but the new figures directly challenge claims that the increase in appeals is explained by scheme growth.
The opposition’s NDIS spokesperson, Bill Shorten, said the new figures obtained by Guardian Australia were “proof that there is an undeclared wholesale cutting of NDIS plans”.
“These are massive increases in appeals, more than 300% in some instances,” he said.
It comes as a growing number of NDIS participants speak publicly about how their packages have been drastically cut in recent weeks.
Guardian Australia has reported warnings from a Perth mother who might have to quit her job due to cuts to her autistic son’s plan and how a Victorian man with motor neurone disease could be re-hospitalised after the NDIA stopped funding 24-hour nursing care.
In another example later blamed in part on an agency “error”, a Victorian family that won transport funding in a landmark federal court case had this same money cut four years later.
Disability advocates – who are funded to help people challenge NDIA decisions – have reported a deluge of requests for help from “terrified” NDIS participants.
Last week, the NDIA issued a lengthy “clarification” statement about NDIS AAT applications.
It followed reports, including in Guardian Australia, that noted a 21% increase in AAT appeals in 2020-21, compared to the previous 12 months.
The NDIA noted the number of NDIS participants “grew by almost 20% during the past financial year”.
It stated the “increase in total AAT cases [is] a result of the continued growth in participant numbers during this period”.
Guardian Australia requested more recent data from the AAT after the NDIA published its “clarification”.
And the latest figures back the anecdotal claims from advocates about an unusually large rise in appeals that cannot be explained by the fact more people have joined the scheme.
For example, in November the AAT received 723 NDIS appeals, almost as many as there were across the entire second half of 2020.
The backlog of cases at the AAT has also risen, from 913 unresolved appeals in November 2020 to 3,084 last month.
Rachael Thompson, an advocate at the Rights Information Advocacy Centre, said there was total confusion in the community.
Violence was ‘normal’ at Victorian disability group home, royal commission hears
She said requests for help were mostly about cuts to support the agency had previously funded.
“No one knows what’s going on,” Thompson said. “There doesn’t seem to be a particular theme, it’s just … they seem to be reducing, systemically, people’s plans.
“It’s seeming the NDIA are just choosing to ignore the recommendations from treating professionals, and only funding a quarter or half of what they’re requesting. People are being given explanations like, ‘It’s not value for money,’ [or] ‘We don’t have enough evidence.’”
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has warned about a cost blowout to the scheme, but scrapped “sustainability” planned reforms after they were rejected by the states.
Internal documents obtained by Guardian Australia earlier this year suggested the agency had worked on other plans to tighten spending through operational changes that do not require legislation.
While the AAT is designed for people to challenge government decisions without legal representation, advocates say NDIS participants are often pitted against externally contracted lawyers hired by the agency.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
The agency has described the process as “an early resolution model that assists participants by working with them”.
NDIS participants could expect to wait about 23 weeks – or about five months – to have their AAT appeals resolved in the 2020-21 financial year.
An AAT appeal is only lodged after an internal review by the agency is unsuccessful, meaning the entire process is longer than this.
An NDIA spokesperson defended the agency’s position on AAT appeals.
“The statement issued on the NDIS website relates to figures released in the AAT’s annual report (1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021) and we provided comparable figures to 30 June 2021,” he said.
“The agency acknowledges the increase in the number of AAT appeals since 30 June.”
There were a “range of factors that might result in a participant’s plan value changing year on year”, the spokesperson said.
A recent NDIS survey showed that in the September 2021 quarter, 84% of participants “rated the planning process as either good or very good”.
amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/11/legal-challenges-against-ndia-decisions-more-than-triple-in-five-months