Post by bear on Jul 2, 2023 7:40:51 GMT 7
An NDIS review has participants and people with disability on edge. These are the areas it's most concerned about
Bruce Bonyhady is co-chair of the NDIS review panel, which Bill Shorten says will find ways to get the scheme back on track.
Over its first decade, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has improved hundreds of thousands of lives across Australia.
Key points:
A long-running review of the NDIS has handed down an interim report, identifying five key areas of concern
The authors are calling for feedback from the Australian public, especially people with disability
The review will make its final report in October
But it's not all been smooth sailing: there have been complaints about bureaucracy, inequality, a lack of transparency around decision making and more for years.
The scheme's financial sustainability has also been a cause of concern for successive governments.
That led to a wide-ranging review of the scheme. It has sought input from thousands of people, but also left some participants nervous about how the scheme might change.
An interim report has identified the review's main areas of concern and issued a call for feedback on how to address them.
"This report identifies a number of challenges that we believe need to be addressed," review co-chair Bruce Bonyhady — one of the scheme's key architects — told ABC's RN Breakfast.
"If they are addressed in the way that we've started to outline, then the scheme will be both sustainable and [continue to be] transformational."
These are the five areas the review is focusing on, what comes next and what you can do to help shape it.
The higher-than-expected number of children on the scheme
Many more young children are entering the scheme than was anticipated, the report says, partly due to underestimated rates of disability among kids and a lack of support for such children outside the NDIS.
"With so few supports outside the NDIS, it is not surprising that parents are fighting to get their children with developmental concerns, delays and disabilities into the NDIS," the report says.
"Then, after receiving early intervention supports, they are not leaving the scheme."
The report also says "there has been a focus on diagnosis rather than support needs" and that a reliance on therapy in clinical settings is preventing "children living ordinary and inclusive childhoods".
The NDIS review has been running since last year.
Children are the fastest-growing category of NDIS participant. Data in May showed that 11 per cent of five- to seven-year-old boys were on the scheme.
Perth mum Jenni Crowther is concerned any changes to the scheme could put her daughter Lily's supports at risk.
Lily, 9, lives with cerebral palsy and was diagnosed as autistic last year. She receives funding for occupational and speech therapy, which Jenni said had been transformational and allowed her "to play like any other child".
Jenni Crowther says NDIS funding has helped her daughter Lily take huge strides.
Without those supports, Ms Crowther worries Lily would experience "a huge backtrack" and become further isolated.
She agreed there was a lack of help outside the NDIS and said sectors such as health and education needed to do more to support kids.
"The reality is [young kids with disability] do need supports ... but they will forever be on the system if we don't do something to get that network around them as well."
The financial sustainability
Now supporting nearly 600,000 participants, annual spending on the NDIS has reached $35 billion.
At the current growth rate of around 14 per cent each year, spending is projected to reach $97 billion by 2032-33.
The authors of the report emphasised the difficulty of balancing the needs of people with disability with the scheme's finances.
"The NDIS is an uncapped, needs-based scheme. However, the NDIS must also be sustainable and its costs predictable for governments and the public. It also must provide certainty for participants and their families."
Help us investigate the NDIS
We are asking you — the NDIS participants, family, workers and providers — to tell us what's wrong with the scheme and how to fix it.
The government earlier this year announced an annual growth target of 8 per cent to try and bring costs down.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten has said he's confident of making savings by cracking down on issues such as red tape, fraud and price gouging, instead of participant funding.
The 'oasis in the desert'
While the NDIS replaced a fragmented, state-centred support network with a more unified, national one, its monumental growth has seen disability support outside the system dry up.
It's now among the country's sole avenues for disability support and has become what the government calls "an oasis in the desert".
"Community supports for all people with disability, as originally proposed, have not been delivered," the report said.
"This has had a significant impact on the cost of the scheme. It has also left people who are not in the NDIS without support. This is deeply unfair."
The NDIS "can't be an island that every other system expects to do the heavy lifting", Professor Bonyhady said.
Bill Shorten answers social media questions about the NDIS
Bruce Bonyhady is co-chair of the NDIS review panel, which Bill Shorten says will find ways to get the scheme back on track.
Over its first decade, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has improved hundreds of thousands of lives across Australia.
Key points:
A long-running review of the NDIS has handed down an interim report, identifying five key areas of concern
The authors are calling for feedback from the Australian public, especially people with disability
The review will make its final report in October
But it's not all been smooth sailing: there have been complaints about bureaucracy, inequality, a lack of transparency around decision making and more for years.
The scheme's financial sustainability has also been a cause of concern for successive governments.
That led to a wide-ranging review of the scheme. It has sought input from thousands of people, but also left some participants nervous about how the scheme might change.
An interim report has identified the review's main areas of concern and issued a call for feedback on how to address them.
"This report identifies a number of challenges that we believe need to be addressed," review co-chair Bruce Bonyhady — one of the scheme's key architects — told ABC's RN Breakfast.
"If they are addressed in the way that we've started to outline, then the scheme will be both sustainable and [continue to be] transformational."
These are the five areas the review is focusing on, what comes next and what you can do to help shape it.
The higher-than-expected number of children on the scheme
Many more young children are entering the scheme than was anticipated, the report says, partly due to underestimated rates of disability among kids and a lack of support for such children outside the NDIS.
"With so few supports outside the NDIS, it is not surprising that parents are fighting to get their children with developmental concerns, delays and disabilities into the NDIS," the report says.
"Then, after receiving early intervention supports, they are not leaving the scheme."
The report also says "there has been a focus on diagnosis rather than support needs" and that a reliance on therapy in clinical settings is preventing "children living ordinary and inclusive childhoods".
The NDIS review has been running since last year.
Children are the fastest-growing category of NDIS participant. Data in May showed that 11 per cent of five- to seven-year-old boys were on the scheme.
Perth mum Jenni Crowther is concerned any changes to the scheme could put her daughter Lily's supports at risk.
Lily, 9, lives with cerebral palsy and was diagnosed as autistic last year. She receives funding for occupational and speech therapy, which Jenni said had been transformational and allowed her "to play like any other child".
Jenni Crowther says NDIS funding has helped her daughter Lily take huge strides.
Without those supports, Ms Crowther worries Lily would experience "a huge backtrack" and become further isolated.
She agreed there was a lack of help outside the NDIS and said sectors such as health and education needed to do more to support kids.
"The reality is [young kids with disability] do need supports ... but they will forever be on the system if we don't do something to get that network around them as well."
The financial sustainability
Now supporting nearly 600,000 participants, annual spending on the NDIS has reached $35 billion.
At the current growth rate of around 14 per cent each year, spending is projected to reach $97 billion by 2032-33.
The authors of the report emphasised the difficulty of balancing the needs of people with disability with the scheme's finances.
"The NDIS is an uncapped, needs-based scheme. However, the NDIS must also be sustainable and its costs predictable for governments and the public. It also must provide certainty for participants and their families."
Help us investigate the NDIS
We are asking you — the NDIS participants, family, workers and providers — to tell us what's wrong with the scheme and how to fix it.
The government earlier this year announced an annual growth target of 8 per cent to try and bring costs down.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten has said he's confident of making savings by cracking down on issues such as red tape, fraud and price gouging, instead of participant funding.
The 'oasis in the desert'
While the NDIS replaced a fragmented, state-centred support network with a more unified, national one, its monumental growth has seen disability support outside the system dry up.
It's now among the country's sole avenues for disability support and has become what the government calls "an oasis in the desert".
"Community supports for all people with disability, as originally proposed, have not been delivered," the report said.
"This has had a significant impact on the cost of the scheme. It has also left people who are not in the NDIS without support. This is deeply unfair."
The NDIS "can't be an island that every other system expects to do the heavy lifting", Professor Bonyhady said.
Bill Shorten answers social media questions about the NDIS
'Reasonable and necessary'
If you're an NDIS participant, you'll know how important these words are in the context of the scheme.
WATCH IN LINK
Duration: 7 minutes 44 seconds7m
Support for participants must be deemed both reasonable and necessary by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), which runs the NDIS.
The report says the words have been poorly defined, leading to many of the scheme's challenges -- including poor planning experiences, inconsistent and inequitable decisions about funding and disputes between participants and the NDIA.
The markets
The markets in the NDIS have not worked as originally imagined, the report states.
"Competition has not produced improved quality, innovation or diversity of services for all participants in all locations.
"For many participants, especially in remote areas, the limited availability or poor quality of services means that in practice they do not really have choice or control over their supports."
Workforce quality and retention are also big issues, it said.
"The market system has not driven inclusion and helped to nurture connections with family, friends and community. In fact, sometimes the exact opposite has occurred. All of these failings are undermining outcomes for participants and contributing to increasing scheme costs."
What next?
The review will make its final report in October.
But before then, now key areas for reform have been identified, the report's authors want feedback from the Australian public, especially people with disability.
"We need your help again," they said.
"Together, we can get the scheme we fought for back on track."
To give your feedback you can visit ndisreview.gov.au.
Submissions close on August 25 2023.
www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-30/ndis-review-interim-report-participants-disability/102545796
WATCH IN LINK
Duration: 7 minutes 44 seconds7m
Support for participants must be deemed both reasonable and necessary by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), which runs the NDIS.
The report says the words have been poorly defined, leading to many of the scheme's challenges -- including poor planning experiences, inconsistent and inequitable decisions about funding and disputes between participants and the NDIA.
The markets
The markets in the NDIS have not worked as originally imagined, the report states.
"Competition has not produced improved quality, innovation or diversity of services for all participants in all locations.
"For many participants, especially in remote areas, the limited availability or poor quality of services means that in practice they do not really have choice or control over their supports."
Workforce quality and retention are also big issues, it said.
"The market system has not driven inclusion and helped to nurture connections with family, friends and community. In fact, sometimes the exact opposite has occurred. All of these failings are undermining outcomes for participants and contributing to increasing scheme costs."
What next?
The review will make its final report in October.
But before then, now key areas for reform have been identified, the report's authors want feedback from the Australian public, especially people with disability.
"We need your help again," they said.
"Together, we can get the scheme we fought for back on track."
To give your feedback you can visit ndisreview.gov.au.
Submissions close on August 25 2023.
www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-30/ndis-review-interim-report-participants-disability/102545796