NDIS update June 2018

Widespread concerns are mounting up

 

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) the agency responsible, the NDIA, and the Federal Government are the subjects of serious, protracted concern expressed by disability advocacy and support groups since the start of the year.

 

Issues range from the huge number of complaints being made about the scheme, the enormous backlog of complaints, how long it is taking to process them, the planning process, planners themselves, lack of knowledgeable and trained staff, lack of staff in general, concerns about commercial services and service providers, the political resolve to fully fund the scheme now and into the future and the re-emergence of the spurious parallels to welfare handouts… All in all, far from a rosy picture.

 

. . .

Disability sector advocacy organisation Every Australian Counts has launched a petition Fund it and Fix it that everyone is invited to sign. Just click on the image to take you to the petition and add your voice.

 

. . .

A group of people with disability recently took the message to Parliament to make sure Australia’s politicians know the time to fund and fix the NDIS is now. Ben, Lynne, Chris, Terri, Peter, Linda and Carleeta told politicians from across Australia about the problems that the disability community is having with the NDIS.

 

The backlash to the equivocation over funding in the recent Federal Budget quickly led to a commitment and confirmation from the Federal Treasurer that the promised funding was in place and always will be. Not only disability advocates, but a huge number of ordinary Australians responded that they will be holding the Treasurer to those commitments.

 

Complaints

The NDIS report itself shows 4,146 complaints made in the first three months of the year, with complaints overall representing about 10% of everyone with an approved plan. A damning ombudsman’s report detailed a litany of mistakes and shortcomings with the NDIS and in the NDIA. The report referenced 8,100 reviews pending with about 620 new review requests per week. Some reviews are taking nine months to complete, with only about 200 reviews being cleared each week. The report also found systemic problems in communicating with participants during the review process. Not that you would know anything was wrong from the 100% positive regular email communications from the NDIA about the scheme, painting a positive and optimistic picture of every aspect of operation and how well things are working.

 

Planning

The NDIS recently began promoting self managing your plan, saying that this will give you, a family member, or a trusted person, complete control over your funds – including paying your supports and service providers. Read more…

 

NSW commits to full rollout

New South Wales has become the first state to sign up to the full roll out of the NDIS. You might remember that NSW was the first state to sign up to the NDIS in the first place. And now they are the first state to sign up to rolling out the scheme long term. Read more ….

 

Every Australian Counts

Advocacy group for service providers Every Australian Counts has launched a new website http://www.everyaustraliancounts.com.au/

 

You can add your voice as well – remember to check out the petition!

http://www.everyaustraliancounts.com.au/action-index/fund-it-and-fix-it/

 

 

1 comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *