WhatsUp in Disability Magazine May Jun 2023

The Editor’s Desk

King Charles III's official reign has begun in spectacular fashion, with a Coronation fit for the 21st century. That was witnessed by world leaders and royal watchers across the globe, it was a blend of historical significance, extraordinary protocols, and a hint of drama with simmering family tensions in the House of Windsor.

He knew his destiny at age four, standing beside his newly-crowned mother on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. On Saturday, 70 years on – and with his late mother’s crown on his head – King Charles III took his place in history as the 74-year-old was officially crowned monarch to the cheers of “God Save the King”.

With his “darling wife” Queen Camilla by his side, King Charles swore a Coronation oath – to uphold a series of promises sworn in “God’s presence” in a ceremony steeped in pomp and tradition.

Along with historical rituals involving priceless coronation regalia from the crown jewels collection, new music by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber was played, and Australian violin virtuoso Madeleine Easton performed. The centrepiece of the ceremony – which was conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby – was the crowning of the King, using the St Edward’s crown, which weighs 2.23kg and is decorated with 444 precious stones. It came after he was anointed behind a private screen, in the most sacred part of the process, and fitted with a new ceremonial robe.

Shame on you, ABC for their coverage by Stan Grant, being accused of bagging the ‘Living daylights out of the monarchy’ by having a discussion about the colonisation of Australia and shame on the Sydney Opera House for not turning the lights on. The harbour must have been dark that night.

Steven Paull JP (Qual) President

WhatsUp

As time gets closer to the Hospice's 20th Anniversary date, 1st July, Toowoomba Hospice Chairman Graham Barron OAM was thrilled to award the first Hospice employee Mark Munro, their Administration and Fundraising Manager a certificate for 20 years of service on his anniversary date. Mark was instrumental in getting the Hospice off the ground and raising the funds needed to allow Toowoomba Hospice to provide free Palliative Care for the last 19 years. We thank you Mark!

When I arrived to interview Mark in his office he immediately printed out his speech notes and went through each of them, individually highlighting the key points in the history of the Hospice, the services offered, the financials and the volunteers.

“You know, Sister Frances Flint CSB, OAM came to Toowoomba in 1988 to set up the Diocesan Media Office as the Social Issues Convener for the Catholic Women’s League I just smiled and nodded my head.

“In July 1996, NT Euthanasia came into effect. Sister Flint was concerned as to a Christian, all life is sacred. She noted that there was no Hospice in Toowoomba for those who may not choose euthanasia if the law came to Queensland.”

“In 1997 she investigated different Hospices throughout the state and had meetings with Hospitals and Churches and the project for a Toowoomba Hospice snowballed with community support.”

“The current Hospice Chairman, Graham Barron OAM, led the fundraising drive with Sister Frances and fellow board member Bob Goldsworthy, a local Lions Club member and successfully raised the entire cost to build the facility of $1.2 million.”

The doors opened on 1st July 2003 with one

20 years

by Steven Paull

Mark Munro

Mark Munro at the helm as the Administration and Fundraising Manager.

“You know, we have 6 bedrooms here and since opening we have cared for over 1,800 clients, at no cost except for their medication and that can be for up to 3 months.”

I had done my research and knew that!

With a yearly budget of over $2.2 million Mark acknowledged that Grants are not always accessible and his activities in the community seeking sponsors and fundraising are essential as is the generous support of the Queensland Government and our local Buddhist Community.

The hospice also has over 70 volunteers and they work in the kitchen, housekeeping, gardens, maintenance, courier, reception, accounts, flowers and fundraising events.

At this time, I wanted to know more about the man himself and asked him to tell me about the man behind the fundraising.

“I attended Cairns High School and did well in my marks, but I was a hands on person and not academic. You don’t have to be an academic in life to succeed. As you can see.”

“I got involved in the School Council, became a team leader and fundraiser.”

“What skills did you have to do these roles?”

“It’s the talking skills, you know. Being honest and being a doer. If you promise to do something and follow it through.”

“I worked for a charity and then an event company in Toowoomba and the position was advertised and I was lucky to get the job. I was given some keys and I started in April. My office still had plastic on the floor and I had to organise for all the furniture.”

“What was your greatest challenge?”

“Networking, meeting people and meeting with businesses to come and support us.”

“I have a great team here, a great leadership team and fantastic volunteers to support me and the Hospice.”

“I was adopted too, I was born in 1970, January the 8th and I became a ward of the state in Ipswich, my family had come over from Poland to escape oppression, and it was on 13 October 1973 that I was able to go home with my parents, Rodney and Patricia Munro who had adopted me.”

“I’ve never looked back, I’ve had a wonderful life. Adoption was good for me.”

“What are you most proud of?”

“The success of the Hospice, the acceptance from the public of what we do and I’ve been here for 20 years and helped to raise millions of dollars.”

“It takes a certain type of person to work in a hospice, don’t you think?”

“Our Nursing team are wonderful, our administration team meet with the families and they are so very understanding.”

“What do you like to do away from work?”

“I love comedy. If I can make someone laugh, it makes me feel great! I love going to comedy shows and I also love going to Jazz shows. I love cooking, (laughs and pats his stomach) especially Thai but I can’t stand colliander or fish sauce. So I don’t use these.”

“Do you have a person that you admire?”

“I admire a lot of people and try to take a little from each of them.”

“Mark, look in the mirror, and see that there’s a person to admire.”

Knowing Mark from the time that he joined the Toowoomba Hospice has been a great honour for me as he is a generous and passionate person, immensely likeable and totally engaging. I cherish our conversations.

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Boundless Love, Dedicated Care

The Toowoomba Hospice is a purpose-built, accredited private healthcare facility, providing specialist palliative healthcare for individuals and their loved ones who are experiencing a terminal illness.

Palliative care means looking after every aspect of the mind, body and soul, in an environment that provides dignity and support. The Hospice is a six-bed facility where clients can spend quality time in their own room, visited by their loved ones whilst receiving expert medical care. We aim to provide short-to-medium term palliative care dependent on individual needs for any adult (18 years and over). Whilst the Hospice is an independent hospital our routine is flexible. During a clients stay the Hospice staff do everything in their power to meet the specific needs of all our clients.

The Hospice employees registered nurses, personal care assistance, volunteers and a multidisciplinary team to provide holistic patient centered care for our clients. We also encourage client’s General Practitioners (GP) to attend their own patients whenever possible.

Clients coming to Toowoomba Hospice must have a life-limiting health condition, be no longer having active medical/curative treatment, and be deemed to be within the last 3 months of life (as diagnosed by the client’s medical/nursing practitioner, or specialist). Alternatively, we offer respite for clients with a life-limiting health condition when a care giver is requiring respite, or the client may need symptom management.

We acknowledge that your decision to come to Hospice, or to bring your loved one to Hospice for end-of-life care can be a daunting and emotional time. As a family member or friend you may experience guilt especially

if you have been caring for your loved one at home. Hospice provides a place where we become the carers and you can hand over your responsibilities to our staff and concentrate on being the family member/friend. We work with compassion, common sense, empathy, integrity and respect. Our aim is to ensure that our clients and their families and friends feel comfortable and safe. We work as a team with the Nurses who support your medical and nursing needs while Pastoral Carers support.

Volunteers

Key to the success of the Hospice is the band of loyal volunteers, over 70 of them, with the majority in the 50+ age group.

"I love the Hospice and have been here for over 4 years. I work between housekeeping and reception and I think it is a very rewarding and friendly environment to work in and an overall beautiful place."

Fundraising

The Hospice relies on the continued support and generosity of our community, as well as a number of well planned activities, fundraisers and the adopt a room program. Some of the upcoming events include:

10 May Mothers Day High Tea

26 May Hang Ya Boss out to dry

1 July 20th Anniversary Gala Dinner

7 July Trivia Night

2 September Charity Race Day

13 October World Hospice and Palliative Care Day Networking Soiree

29 October Jazz Breakfast

26 November Hospice Carols

Of course if you would like any further information or to be part of an amazing groups of volunteers or any event CONTACT MARK!

Group Supports

NDIA announce 6-month extension to group supports pricing transition. Huge news for everyone delivering group services from Core who has been preparing for the 1 July 2023 transition to the apportioned pricing model. Effective 5 May 2023, the NDIA has announced a number of changes to the original transition plans, including:

A 6 month extension to the transition date, meaning providers now have until 31 December 2023 to move to the new pricing model. Providers can still only use either the transitional or new pricing model though, meaning that when one of your group services moves over then they all have to move over.

An increase in the maximum duration of a Program of Support from 12 weeks to 6 months, provided the person has an opportunity to regularly review the Program

“Clarification” to the rules around Non-Faceto-Face, to make it easier for providers to group some activities together for ease of billing. It’s not entirely clear what clarification has been provided, however, as there is no new detail in the new document. Perhaps this will come out with the Provider Handbook we’ve been eagerly awaiting since December 2022.

The big news is obviously the six month extension to the deadline. Providers who are currently looking at the mountain of work that is needed to transition to the new pricing model will have more time to complete that work.

Most providers will be grateful for the extra time to prepare and implement the new pricing model. So call me a whinging Pom but I have to say: haven’t we been here before? This feels like Groundhog Day. This is the fourth time the NDIA has set a firm

by Rob Woolley DSC

deadline for this transition and then at the last minute granted an extension. Every extension doesn’t make the act of transitioning easier, it just kicks the can down the road. That’s only useful if providers can use that extra time to do the work, but we know how easily other things take up that space. We know many providers that have committed to the original deadlines and done the work, at the expense of other important projects in their organisations.

The sector has been crying out for more guidance and diligently highlighting all the challenges with the new pricing model for 3 years. If new realisations have come to light to prompt this extension and changes to the pricing model, there is something very broken with how the NDIA listens to the sector. Or they’ve been listening intently the whole time - they reference extensive sector consultation in late 2022 but we know these concerns were aired well before then - but don’t have any ideas on how this will work in practice. There hasn’t been these kinds of delays and goalposts-moving in significant transitions for other service types.

Let’s look at the positives! More time to transition means more time for providers to produce guidance for participants, transform back-end systems, evolve workforce information and processes and redesign group services to reflect the new pricing model. So still lots of work to be done.

This extension is a golden opportunity for providers to regroup, reassess their plans for transitioning to the new model, liaise with other providers going through the same thing (or even those providers that have already transitioned), consider what needs to change in finance and quality systems, and strengthen plans for communicating the changes with participants. In short: there’s lots to do so don’t simply pause the work for several months.

WhatsUp

Have we been mislead about NDIS Fraud?

Back in August 2022, Australia’s Criminal Intelligence Commission’s (ASIC) Chief Michael Phelan went on 60 Minutes to talk about fraud – specifically, NDIS fraud.

Phelan estimated that 15% to 20% of NDIS funding was lost to fraud. This was calculated to be $6bn a year.

These figures have been picked up and repeated in both progressive and conservative newspapers. The Courier Mail just last week rather magically smooshed together this estimate with rising Scheme costs to predict $12bn could be lost to fraud each year.

These are alarming figures, but according to information released in two FOIs, we should have some serious questions about their accuracy.

The accuracy of these figures matters a lot right now. Significant policy has been developed on their basis, with the Albanese government committing $126 million to fund a Fraud Fusion Taskforce. Calls for additional drastic policies have intensified – fraud figures have also been deployed to support mandatory registration for providers.

Testing ASIC’s claims

In an FOI, we asked ASIC for:

• any document modelling or informing Michael Phelan’s statement that 15%–20% of the NDIS or $6 billion is being lost to fraud;

• the total dollar amount of alleged NDIS fraud being investigated, or investigations coordinated, by ASIC.

The FOI response was heavily redacted, and the 15%–20% and $6bn figures were certainly nowhere to be found. Unless, of course, those figures were hiding under all the black text, which we can only assume was put there to stop the government leaking transparency everywhere.

Cheekiness to one side, two pieces of relevant data were helpful:

A statement found in the 2019 Organised Crime Risk Assessment that fraud in Commonwealth-funded programs “almost certainly totals well over a billion dollars a year”.

NDIS Commission

By Chris Coombes DSC

Safeguarding Policy

• ASIC’s talking points for Michael Phelan’s 60 Minutes interview refer to this research: “For background, the Australian Institute of Criminology assessed that in 2020–21, serious and organised crime cost Australians $60.1 billion, with $9.4 billion attributed to organised fraud”.

ASIC’s did not answer our second question. According to the FOI, the ASIC believes $9bn in total is lost to fraud. So, if Phelan’s claims that up to $6bn or 20% is lost to NDIS fraud is also accurate, the remaining $3bn of fraud must be lost through all other “organised fraud”.

Yes, that includes taxation, social security, and … every-freaking-other-type-oforganised-fraud combined.

In other words, we’ve been asked to believe that the cunning NDIS fraudsters are sneakier than all the fraudsters cheating all other programs – combined – by a factor of two.

I get that this was the upper end of Phelan’s estimation, but it is still asking us to suspend disbelief.

Not having gotten any clarity from ASIC, I turned to the NDIA for the fraud that they’re allegedly emptying out of the Scheme.

Their most recent 2022–23 quarterly report (Q2 of Y10) highlighted that, at 31 December, there was $13.4 million dollars being investigated for alleged fraud.

The NDIS Commission will adopt the codesigned participant safeguarding principles outlined in the NDIA policy and will work with the NDIA to roll out relevant actions, to implement the Policy. By working together we can better support participants to uphold their right to safe and quality supports.

Everyone has the right to live a safe life, free from harm. It is recognised that people with disability are at a much greater risk than others of experiencing violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.

Together with the NDIA, the Commission is committed to supporting and working with people with disability who engage with the NDIS to take steps to uphold their right to be safe, while respecting individual’s rights to make decisions about risk.

The NDIA Policy aims to help participants reduce risks against violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in their lives by building or enhancing safeguards.

Safeguards are things we can do or actions we can take to manage risks of harm that may be present in our lives.

For some participants this might look like building their capacity to recognise risk of harm and improve safeguarding through accessible information, training and education.

The Policy, implementation plan (both also in Easy Read) and co-design story documents are available on the NDIA’s website:

https://www.ndis.gov.au/ participantsafeguarding

Yes, that is million with an “m” and an “a” for alleged.

Latest Activity Report

By Jessica Quilty

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) has published the latest activity report, covering the period from 1 October to 31 December 2022. It provides an overview of NDIS Commission activities, including complaints, registrations, reportable incidents, behaviour support, compliance, and stakeholder engagement.

The activity report for the reporting period shows:

• The number of complaints lodged nationally was steady, with a 1% increase from 1,976 last quarter to 2,001 this quarter.

• The total number of registered providers remained stable at 19,315 in this quarter, compared to 19,536 last quarter.

• There was a 7% increase in reportable incidents (excluding unauthorised restrictive practices [URPs]) in this quarter.

• The number of NDIS behaviour support practitioners considered suitable to deliver behaviour support services increased 40%, from 3,252 last quarter to 4,544 this quarter.

• There was a 13% increase over last quarter in NDIS worker screening clearances nationwide.

• At 31 December 2022, there were 449 NDIS worker screening exclusions in place, compared to 329 last quarter.

• 42 banning orders were issued between 1 July 2022 and 31 December 2022, with a further 4,868 instances in which the NDIS Commission worked to educate providers on compliance.

• The NDIS Commission was advised of 4,470 NDIS participants subjected to 410,657 URPs, a 6% increase over the previous quarter.

• The NDIS Commission continues to focus on ensuring that registered NDIS providers understand their responsibilities regarding the use of URPs and promoting the use of positive behaviour support strategies to reduce the use of restrictive practices.

The NDIS Commission has released a detailed analysis of URPs received during the 2021/22 period, including an outline of activities undertaken in response to the data.

Supported Accommodation

In August 2021, the NDIS Commission initiated its first Own Motion Inquiry into aspects of supported accommodation in the NDIS.

The inquiry examined reportable incidents and complaints in supported accommodation services (specifically, group homes).

A literature review conducted by the Living with Disability Research Centre at La Trobe University in Sydney will inform the NDIS Commission’s capacity-building work with providers and the development of relevant practice standards and quality indicators.

The NDIS Commission has produced a comprehensive action plan in response to the inquiry. Providers can expect a range of changes, including new practice standards, an updated compliance strategy, and more guidance on incident notification requirements.

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Behaviour

Behaviour Support Updates

NEW NDIS Behaviour Support Practitioners Register

You can now confirm whether a behaviour support practitioner is considered suitable by the NDIS Commission by using this new search tool. Only behaviour support practitioners who have consented to publish their details are included in the search results. A number of provisionally suitable behaviour support practitioners awaiting an outcome on their applications will not appear until their applications are approved and they have been deemed suitable.

Quality of Behaviour Support Plans (BSPs)

The NDIS Commission produced a report on quality evaluations of 2,744 BSPs submitted between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2021. evaluations were conducted using the BSP-QEII and the NDIS Commission’s own Companion Tool for compliance with the NDIS Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support Rules 2018. The national median score of evaluated plans was 12 out of 24, which falls in the “weak” quality range, and 80% of BSPs scored in the underdeveloped or weak quality categories.

Based on the findings of this audit, the NDIS Commission is undertaking a series of actions to lift the capability of behaviour support providers and improve the quality of plans.

Registered NDIS behaviour support providers have received correspondence from the NDIS Commission about the review, specifically the requirement to take all reasonable steps to consult with

• the person subject to the BSP, when

developing and reviewing a BSP;

• that person’s family, carers, guardian, or other relevant persons; and

• registered NDIS provider(s) that may use a regulated restrictive practice under the BSP.

The NDIS Commission has highlighted that its draft interim and comprehensive BSP templates do not provide for recording the consultation with participants, and it is not apparent from the BSPs evaluated that there has been direct contact between the behaviour support practitioner and the relevant participant.

The Commission will exercise its powers to obtain information about the engagement and consultation with NDIS participants and other aspects of behaviour support providers’ practices to help target further education, guidance, and compliance actions.

To begin this effort, the NDIS Commission will engage with behaviour support providers who lodged one or more BSPs with the NDIS Commission between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022. Selected participants will receive further information by the end of March 2023.

Review of BSP Templates

The NDIS Commission sort input into the review of the interim and comprehensive BSP templates. They wanted to know what stakeholders like about the current templates, what they do not like about them, and how the templates can be made better. The online survey closed 17 March 2023.

NDIS Commission

By Jessica Quilty

Fact Sheets and Guides

NEW Participant Fact Sheets on Behaviour Support

The NDIS Commission has created five fact sheets about behaviour support. They have been written with and for NDIS participants in regular and Easy Read versions.

• What is positive behaviour support

• Understanding your rights

• Choosing a specialist behaviour support provider

• What to expect from your specialist behaviour support provider

• What to do if you are not happy with your specialist behaviour support provider

Updates to the Restrictive Practice Safe Transportation Guide

The Safe Transportation Guide was updated by the NDIS Commission in February 2023. This guide was developed for registered NDIS providers and NDIS behaviour support practitioners supporting NDIS participants, but it may also be of interest to anyone who supports a person with disability. It provides guidance on the use of restrictive practices in transportation.

High Intensity Support Skill Descriptors

The NDIS Commission has modified the High Intensity Support Skills Descriptors, which came into effect on 1 February 2023.

The descriptors detail the knowledge and skills that workers should have when supporting participants with high intensity

daily personal activities listed in the NDIS Practice Standards (High Intensity Daily Personal Activities Module 1).

Providers delivering high intensity supports contained in that module should be sure that they are across these new changes:

• Complex bowel care

• Enteral feeding support

• Dysphagia support

• Ventilator support

• Tracheostomy support

• Urinary catheter support

• Subcutaneous injections

• Complex wound care support

There is also updated general advice for providers delivering epilepsy and seizure support. If you missed our original alert, find out more here.

New and Updated Practice Alerts

Sun and summer safety provides guidance on heat-related illness, its risk factors, managing this risk, and preventing heat-related illness in NDIS participants.

Pain management covers some of the causes of pain, who is at risk, and how to identify, manage, and prevent pain in NDIS participants.

High-risk restrictive practices describes practices which place participants at high risk of harm and may constitute or result in abuse, unlawful physical contact, or neglect of a participant. The NDIS Commissioner and Senior Practitioner will take action when any of these practices are being used.

Brenda Gabe

by Steven Paull

all of Brenda’s activities. Women with Disabilities

Victoria is excited to announce that nominations for the 2023 Brenda Gabe Leadership Award are now open.

If you know a woman with a disability who is making a difference for women with disabilities, please consider them for this award.

Brenda Gabe was a much loved and respected member of Women with Disabilities Victoria.

Brenda wore many hats; she was a schoolteacher, psychologist, champion swimmer, businesswoman, wife and mother.

After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1994, she became involved with Mulgrave Neighbourhood house and successfully completed the Leadership Plus course in 2007.

Brenda went on to become a strong and committed disability advocate, perhaps one of her most enriching roles. Amongst her numerous commitments, Brenda made time to represent Women with Disabilities Victoria on various committees, forums and conferences. She played a leading role on disability-related campaigns including making both housing and public transport more accessible and preventing violence against women with disabilities.

Making a positive difference for women with disabilities was very much at the forefront of

You can nominate yourself or your group (selfnomination) or any individual who identifies as a girl/woman (cis or trans), non-binary, or a gender diverse person who identifies with the values and ethos of WDV and with a disability who resides in Victoria.

We welcome nominations for people who have been put forward previously and continue their leadership endeavours for women with disabilities.

All award nominees are acknowledged and celebrated at our Members Event on the 29th of August. The winner receives $2,000 for professional development.  Many previous nominees have shared what a difference it made to them to be recognised.

Please find our Brenda Gabe Leadership Award nomination guidelines and flyer below. For information about our previous nominees and award winners, or to nominate, please visit our website via the link below.

Nominations close on the 30th of June 2023. https://www.wdv.org.au/brendagabeaward/

WhatsUp Expenses

Travel expenses for Support Coordinators

What you need to know.

Are you aware that as a Support Coordinator, you can charge for both travel and kilometres (among other things) when doing face-to-face visits to participants? It's true! However, this may come as a surprise to some in the industry, as it is not widely known

As a Support Coordinator, it's important to understand the charges associated with face -to-face support. This is not only handy for you as a provider but also to be aware of what your participants may be billed from by external providers.

According to the NDIS Pricing Arrangements, there are two types of costs: labour and non-labour. Labour costs refer to the time providers spend travelling to deliver support, which is capped at 30 minutes in MMM1-3 areas and 60 minutes in MMM4-5 areas.

Essentially the most you can charge with regard to travel time when you live in a MMM 1-3 area is 30 minutes, whilst MMM 4-5 is 60 minutes.

On the other hand, non-labour costs include road tolls, parking fees, and vehicle running costs, which may be negotiated with Participants for a reasonable contribution towards these costs.

It is worth noting that labour costs should be billed using the same line item as the primary support and the ‘Provider Travel’ service type, while non-labour costs should be billed using line item 07_799_0106_6_3 and the ‘Provider Travel’ service type.

Sidenote: Did you know? Providers may charge more than $0.97c per kilometre if

the participant agrees to the charges in advance. Travel support line items are not subject to price limits, so providers can agree on a reasonable price for this type of support.

What does the NDIS say about support items without price limits?

Where a support item does not have a price limit, the provider and participant should agree on a reasonable price for the support. If necessary, they should also agree on the billing schedule for the support. For example, they might agree that support should be claimed weekly. These claims are subject to the general claiming rules, including that, in general, supports can only be claimed after they have been delivered.

Essentially, anything without a price limit should be discussed and agreed upon prior to the delivery of the support. To ensure best practice, these should be documented in a signed service agreement which you, the organisation, have a copy of, and the participant also has a copy.

Platform Providers

The NDIS Commission initiated another inquiry into platform providers operating in the NDIS market.

The purpose is to better understand how services accessed through platform providers support choice and control and facilitate the delivery of quality NDIS-funded services.

Aged Care Code

By Steven Paull

A new Code of Conduct for Aged Care has been introduced. All providers delivering NDIS supports to participants have been required to comply with the NDIS Code of Conduct since 1 July 2018, and that requirement is not changing.

Providers and workers delivering both aged care services and NDIS supports will be required to comply with both the Aged Care Code and the NDIS Code. However, as the Aged Care Code is based on the NDIS Code, with slight differences in language and definitions that are specific to each sector, the obligations are largely the same.

Information is available on the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission website.

WhatsUp Community

Goodnight Possums!

by John Elliott

Barry Humphries died on Saturday 22 April at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney following complications from hip surgery stemming from a fall earlier this year. He was 89.

Barry Humphries was a true Australian legend. Somehow he helped us all feel good about where we came from. Didn’t matter what shape or size we were.

Mourning Barry who was taken ill in Sydney last week with complications after hip surgery, means saying goodbye to his charismatic, hyper-real fictional personas: not only “the Australian housewife and superstar” Dame Edna Everage, with her radiant, rinsed hairdo, trademark sparkling spectacles and bright gladioli, but also to the revolting Australian cultural attaché, Sir Les Patterson, and the irrepressibly dull Sandy Stone.

Over decades, each of these stage characters has mischievously shaped the world’s view of Australians, satirising the stereotypical lack of taste that British “pommies” enjoy looking down on.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, described Barry as both “gifted and a gift”. His most famous creation, Dame Edna, based on his own aunts, first emerged in rather dowdy form in 1955. Early appearances of the lowly housewife from Moonee Ponds were at the Establishment nightclub in Soho, a venue set up by the satirical comic and Private Eye founder, Peter Cook.

I took this pic of two great Australians in 1992 at Carlton Hill Station in WA. Edna and Slim Dusty were performing together in the outback.

WhatsUp

Last month, NDIS Minister Bill Shorten spoke at the National Press Club on the ‘future of the NDIS,’ where he outlined his 6 policy priorities for the Scheme.

Shorten is a man caught between a rock and a hard place - or more specifically, a Review and a budget. The Minister has promised that all substantial changes to the NDIS will be led by the recommendations of the big independent review into the NDIS. Yet on the flipside, with the May budget set to once again indicate a ballooning NDIS price tag, there must be political pressure to be seen to be doing something.

We are left with a speech that includes a mixture of announcements, kind of announcements, hints of things that may-or -may-not be announced one day and a good chunk of fluff. Let’s look at the 6 policy priorities to sort out the real from the rhetoric.

1. The NDIA workforce

The first priority highlighted by Shorten is to increase the capacity and capability of the NDIA. This will be done through a focus on building a specialised workforce, lifting staff caps, improving systems and processes, moving some call centre functions back inhouse and reducing staff turnover.

Shorten did not say how much we can expect the staffing cap to lift by. It has gone up over the years, but only by a few hundred workers here and there. Labor went to the last election promising only 300 additional staff for the Agency. Which, if you ask me, isn’t in line with the scale of the problem.

More positively, there was an emphasis on hiring more people with disability at the Agency.

Shorten’s

2. Long-term planning

Shorten also promised a move away from short-term planning and towards more multi -year plans. This was a bit of a nonannouncement, as 3-year plans have been the standard for people with stable needs for a while now.

“Unless we’re moving to even longer plans, there’s not much to see here.”

3. Addressing rising costs

Now for the reason the majority of journalists were in the room: the rising cost of the NDIS. Very importantly, the Minister was clear that the NDIS would continue to fund reasonable and necessary supports and that there would not be a move to kick people with certain diagnoses off the NDIS. Instead, he spoke about ensuring every dollar was well spent, and that people are not being charged higher rates for supports just because NDIS is footing the bill. Depending on the outcome of the Review, they ‘could’ also trial an approach where payments would be more closely tied with outcomes rather than just time spent.

A major focus was ensuring interventions reduce lifetime costs, with Shorten making the rather dubious statement that ‘The parent of any child on the NDIS will tell you they hope to exit the scheme as quickly as possible.’

One of the more concrete announcements was the trial of an early intervention program for infants between 9 and 15 months old showing early signs of autism. 700 families in WA will participate in the trial, which will be run in partnership with Telethon Kids Institute.

plan for the NDIS

By Sara Gingold

4. Better outcomes for Supported Independent Living (SIL)

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.

5. Eliminating unethical practices

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.

6. Increasing mainstream and community supports

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

Toowoomba

Office hours Mon-Fri 9-5pm

What do we know about the PM’s announcement on Friday?

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.

This is what we do know…

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

WhatsUp

DID YOU KNOW?

Studies show that workers in the community services sector experience higher levels of job satisfaction than in other industries.

School students

You can study a VET pathway (Vocational Education Training) while at school to gain a qualification, knowledge, work experience and skills in the Community Services sector. Please see your VET Teacher, Industry Liaison Officer or Careers Counsellor at school to start working towards your career pathway in Community Services while at school.

Parents and Carers

Are you supporting a young person to make career decisions? Skills Road (www.skillsroad.com.au) may contain some useful tips and information to guide the process. Take the Career Quiz to research aligned careers.

School leavers

Your transition from school to academic and further education pathways may include Certificate IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma, or Bachelor’s Degree in your chosen field through various Universities and Registered Training Organisations. Certificate III is the most common entry level qualification, and many roles will require you to be willing to obtain this if you haven’t already.

Entering the work force

Entering the workforce can look different for everyone. If you are currently working through a certificate, you can find ‘Entry Level Roles’ into industry to begin your career in your chosen field. You can even work part time in the industry while you undertake further education or training.

The Community Services Gateway to Industry Schools project aims to provide schools the resources to inform students about the range of careers and pathways in Community Services sector.

Project Objectives

• Create sustainable partnerships with all stakeholders.

• Provide Industry focused learning opportunities for students to develop learning to assist with pathways to a career in Community Service.

• Provide opportunities for participation in employment and training.

• Identify, provide and promote relevant personal development for school staff to improve industry awareness.

• Develop communication that promotes and raises awareness of the community service sector, with assistance from Queensland Governments investment in vocational education.

Ellie Cole WhatsUp

Para-swimmer Ellie Cole – who just so happens to have the most Paralympic medals of any Aussie of all time – was shamed for having “a pretty token impairment”.

Here’s her response.

“I've never experienced anything like this before,” Cole says.

“In fact, it's always been the opposite growing up with a disability in Australia. Everybody always saw me having an amputation or prosthetic as being quite disabled.

“Over time, with the Paralympic Games having the platform that it has, I suppose the language around disability has changed quite a lot. And now it's gotten to a point where I've gone through the whole range of being perceived as quite disabled, and now [being told] I have a ‘token’ disability.

“So that's been really interesting.”

The comment came after she appeared on The Project to talk about the recent controversy around the official Paralympics TikTok account.

The Paralympics account has gone viral with 3.4 million followers for their tongue-incheek videos. But some people are angry about the content, which they say is “vile” and “disgusting” for making fun of Paralympic athletes.

“The videos are actually really funny,” Coles says. “There are a few people with disabilities who take issue with the content, but most of us absolutely love it.”

She says this kind of humour is prevalent throughout the Paralympic community and something she experienced her whole career. Case in point: this prank they pulled with one of her first swim teams in 2006.

“All of the amputees in that swim team thought it would be funny to put our prosthetics in an elevator and send our legs up to the top floor. So, whoever was getting in the elevator, the doors would open and they would see an elevator full of legs. That’s the kind of stuff we did on camp. We’d also play jokes on each other, so a lot of this TikTok content for Paralympians is just what we’ve grown up with.

“But I suppose an everyday person wouldn't be exposed to that side of disability – ever. Able-bodied people will always see people with disabilities as a vulnerable group, and so their first instinct is to protect a vulnerable group. That's just the way that our brains are wired.

“The Paralympics challenges every single social stereotype that there is. We've used our disabilities to become athletes. It's not something that we're ashamed of, or that we hide. In fact, we do laugh a lot about our disabilities with each other. But I suppose [we] Para athletes have been quite naive to not understand that the rest of the world haven't grown up being exposed to that kind of stuff.”

Cole went on to The Project to share this point of view about the videos. That’s when someone slammed her for having “a pretty token impairment” and questioned whether “she really [is] the authority on this?”

The comment annoyed her for days before she pulled them up on it. As she interpreted it, they were basically saying she wasn’t disabled enough to have an opinion.

“Well, it's strange, because people from older generations – I still get the odd comment here and there at the supermarket saying, ‘You're such an inspiration for being outside!’ So you've got people who have grown up in an environment where they've

that it is inspirational for somebody with a prosthetic to do the grocery shopping.

“

But then you've got this other side, where you've got people who see my impairment as just being ‘token’. So I kind of sit on a very wide spectrum of how people perceive me, but it's completely out of my control. It makes me feel a bit unsettled with who I am, in a way.”

Is this a divide that she feels within the disability community?

“No, people know where they stand,” she replies.

“I know that I'm much more able-bodied than many others. But I also know how challenging it is, for me some days, just to get out of bed to be able to put my prosthetic on and to be able to walk around without significant pain that actually does stop me from doing activities sometimes.

“There are so many parts of having a disability that people never ever see. And so, while you might see me breaking world records and winning gold medals, some days I struggle to move until the middle of the day.”

Despite 3,370 days before the Olympics head Down Under, the race to find a suitable Olympic mascot for the 2032 Brisbane Games is already on.

Petitions have already surfaced calling for the nation's iconic 'bin chicken' to be the face of the games.

Should the Ibis become the 2032 Brisbane Olympics mascot? HA HA!

WhatsUp in May

With Sarah Rossiter

Acclaimed photographer Ken Duncan OAM to speak at 2023 Toowoomba Mayoral Prayer Breakfast

The 29th community fundraiser will be held on Tuesday, May 9 at Rumours International, 323 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba from 6:00am to 8:15am.

Mr Duncan, who describes himself as ‘an average photographer with a great God’, will offer an insight into his successful photographic career and how nature and Australia’s wild landscapes have shaped his life and faith.

Mr Duncan is a pioneer in the field of panoramic landscapes and limited-edition photographic prints, which have captured the rugged beauty of Australia’s often isolated locations and wildlife.

Lauded as one of Australia’s most iconic image makers, Mr Duncan’s travels have allowed him to capture equally stunning images on assignments across Europe, the United States, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

He has completed projects for National Geographic, The New York Times and Rolling Stone magazine.

Mr Duncan has worked with World Vision to document the group’s efforts to improve lives in developing countries. He has produced two books to aid World Vision’s fundraising.

Through his Walk a While Foundation, Mr Duncan loves to spend time working with Indigenous youth in remote Australian communities. The Foundation helps to empower

www.mycommunitydirectory.com.au

Indigenous people to tell their stories through creative arts.

He has been published in more than 50 books worldwide. He has also worked with prominent advertising agencies on international accounts, and directly with major corporations such as Bank of America, American Airlines, Qantas, Fuji Film and many more.

Other special projects have included work for World Vision, Australian rock band Midnight Oil and the film The Passion of the Christ (at Mel Gibson’s request).

In 2009, Mr Duncan was honoured to be awarded a Medal Of The Order Of Australia (OAM) by the federal government for his services to landscape photography, publishing and the arts.

That same year, he received the photographic industry’s highest honour – the Photo Imaging Council of Australia’s Gold Tripod award.

He was also delighted to be announced the Gosford City 2009 Citizen of the Year for his long-standing contribution to his home region of the New South Wales Central Coast.

Australian Photography + Digital Magazine has labelled Mr Duncan, ‘the photographer who is now undoubtedly Australia’s (and possibly the world’s) leading exponent of panoramic landscape photography...’

Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for school aged children. Tickets can be purchased online, by calling 131 872 or in person at Toowoomba's Customer Service Centre (4 Little Street) from 8.30am to 5pm on weekdays.

WhatsUp

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