plan for the NDIS

By Sara Gingold

Shorten’s fourth priority was a review of SIL, which he said is ‘delivering poor outcomes for many participants.’ It's a poorly kept secret that the government and NDIA are sour on SIL, which despite only supporting 5% of participants accounts for 28% of Scheme expenses. No detail was provided about what this review will look like, though Shorten did list housing supply, rental market accessibility, co-tenancy models, community housing and other innovative housing models as being “integral” to getting better home and living outcomes.

Shorten has long been keen to push a tough -on-fraud message and the Press Club address was no exception. Where this speech was different was that it went beyond a commitment to tackle crime in the NDIS, to a promise to also address unethical practices.

Examples of unethical practices that he listed include: pressuring participants to ask for services or support ratios they don’t need; spending participants’ money contrary to their plan asking for or accepting additional fees for a service offering rewards for taking particular services not on a participant’s plan

Shorten emphasised that the majority of providers are doing the right thing and that the focus on these investigations will be on the organisations who treat participants “feel dehumanised and treated as cash cows” and who “taint the reputation of quality service providers”.

He also spoke about getting rid of ‘shoddy therapies’ that don’t actually offer any value. But who gets to decide which therapies are ‘shoddy’?

Determining which therapies are evidence based, and what evidence to consider, is far more complex that a pub-test-approved slogan.

The final priority was basically a call for states and territories to do more to support people with disability, so that people aren’t forced to depend on the NDIS for all their disability support needs. Shorten was vague about whether they plan to renegotiate the initial agreements with the states & territories which left the Commonwealth footing the bill for all NDIS overspend. Unfortunately, right now, there isn’t a lot of incentive for the states to relieve the Scheme at the expense of their own hip pocket.

That’s all for the speech! If you are so inclined, you can watch it on ABC iView, though be warned it's over an hour long and is, for the most part, not hugely riveting.

Dr George Taleporos also has a great write up of the address, including raising important concerns about comments Shorten made during the Q&A about minimum qualifications of disability support workers.

And, if you’re worried that you’ll have to wait too long for another public frenzy about how expensive the NDIS is, rest assured the Federal budget is only weeks away.

We’ll see you then!

(07) 4659 5662

Warrina Services is a specialist support agency that has been providing individual support to people of the Darling Downs since 1986. We support people with a diverse range of needs and also provide mental health services to assist personal recovery.

We can help you to achieve positive outcomes in your life. These may be related to choice and independence, education or training, attending social activities, increasing skills, getting a job or contributing to your community.

If you would like further information please visit our website www.warrinaservices.org.au Or contact us

Phone: 07-46 380 399

Email: warrinas@warrinas.com.au or visit our office at 172 Bridge Street

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Asks Dr George Taleporos, Independent Chair of Every Australian Counts

I know that many people in our community will be feeling nervous following the news on Friday. So I’m writing to explain what we know, what we don’t know, and what we need to do about it.

On Friday, without warning, after his meeting with national Cabinet, our Prime Minister announced that he would be taking action to cut the growth of the NDIS.

The current growth in the NDIS is around 14% every year, but the Prime Minister wants to get the growth under 8% by July 2026.

And after that he wants to reduce the growth in the NDIS even further.

The Prime Minister said, “We know that the trajectory of NDIS expenditure is just not sustainable into the future.”

What does this mean for us, people with disabilities and our families?

Will it make it harder for people to get onto the NDIS?

Will we miss out on essential support because our funding packages will no longer keep up with the growing costs of services?

The truth is, we don’t know. But we are concerned, and we need the government to engage with us openly about what this means and how it will affect our lives.

Before the election, the Labor Party promised to stop the cuts, rebuild trust with our community, and put people with disabilities at the centre of the scheme.

By Dr George Taleporos

Then Shadow Minister Shorten walked beside us as we marched the streets to Defend the NDIS.

In my podcast before the election, he promised to restore trust.

He said, "We've got to take the anxiety out of the scheme.”

But now, once again, we are worried and afraid that cuts are heading our way.

I have written to the Minister for more information about how this will affect our lives.

I have asked him to meet me for a recorded interview to explain this announcement to our community.

I encourage you also to write to the Prime Minister asking him how this announcement will affect people with disabilities and reminding him of the importance of the NDIS. I’m asking you to contact the Prime Minister because I’m not sure he gets it, while I do believe that our Minister does.

Ten years ago, the NDIS became law and the government fulfilled its promise to deliver an uncapped and demand-driven lifetime support scheme for people with disabilities. I hope the announcement on Friday leads to a collaborative effort with the disability community to find sensible cost savings.

But if the government bulldozes ahead with cuts that hurt disabled people, that is a broken promise that we will call out and fight against.

So how different is this from the article on pages 22 and 23 titled Shorten’s plan for the NDIS. Do any of these politicians speak to each other before they speak to the press? Editor