Last week, I was proud Bill Shorten launched Labor’s plan to fix the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Our detailed plan will put people with disability at the centre of the scheme where they should be, ensuring they have the choice and control that was promised.
As Canberra’s representative and a member of the Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS, I have heard too many heartbreaking stories of people’s experiences with the scheme.
People battling to access the most basic and obvious supports, waiting years to the detriment of their health and in the case of young children their development. Plans cut despite evidence of their immense benefit.
People unable to live with their partners and children and receive support as if this is somehow impossible.
People so traumatised by these battles that they give up on the NDIS.
I cannot understand how the ministers and NDIA leadership who listen to this evidence can do anything but address these issues with urgency. But they have not.
The NDIS was intended to give people with disability choice and control over their lives and support them to achieve their aspirations, spurring the provision of innovative, individualised supports.
At its best, the NDIS can transform lives for the better, and thankfully this is the story for many participants. At its worst, it can ruin them. Nine years of neglect by the Coalition has the NDIS at its worst.
Canberra man and amputee David Harkness has been stuck in hospital for more than six months waiting for necessary home modifications to be approved by the NDIA. He is one of more than 1,000 participants in this situation around the country.
On the NDIS committee, I have deeply considered the deficiencies in the implementation of the NDIS that have caused unacceptable situations like David’s. But ultimately it comes down to one thing – the Coalition don’t understand the NDIS or care about getting it right. Under their governance, the scheme has been driven by cost cutting, suspicion and neglect.
Last week, I was also proud to have Bill visit the ACT Leisure Program in Hawker with Andrew Leigh and me. It is an innovative and inclusive organisation and a great example of what can be achieved through the NDIS.
We met Peter, who described the constant misery of fighting against a system designed to make his and his wife’s experience as hard as possible. Everyday necessities like accommodation, transport, and treatment are a constant battle. People like Peter deserve a NDIS that will put them at the centre of the scheme.
Labor will do this. We will stop unfair cuts to plans, lift staffing caps, cut labour-hire arrangements, the excessive use of external lawyers, and boost the number of permanent public servants – and more. Under Labor, the NDIS would no longer be an afterthought.
Most of all I know a Labor Government would work tirelessly get the NDIS right. This is one of the things that makes me most want a Labor Government.
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Canberra Daily.
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