Skip to main content

Not Standard NDIS

 Thousands of Australians with disabilities fought for decades to get NDIS put in place. The difference the scheme has made in people's lives over the past few years is almost immeasurable. People who couldn't get funding now can and participants like myself have the opportunity to go to different providers or even different states much easier. 

Growing up with funding models that made me rank my disability I missed out on the appropriate funding level because I scored highly on the physical disability components yet did not have the accompanying cognitive and intellectual disabilities. 

When the Morrison Government announced the new independent assessments, a chill went down my spine. I immediately heard echoes of my past. The way the new independent assessment tools were explained to me it sounded like a tick and flick way of getting participants less funding. 

Architects of the NDIS Scheme have said that the new approach is a way for the government to save up to 700 million dollars and reduce the size of participants' supports. 

How might they do this you ask? The government will engage independent assessors not known to the participant to do a tick and flick questionnaire which then sets the budget for the participant's plan. This budget cannot be challenged. As opposed to the current assessment criteria where supporting evidence is provided through reports from doctors and allied health professionals who have worked with the participant for a longer period of time. 

People with disabilities fear blowing up the scheme in this way could lead to deaths. I, along with every person with a disability in this country, asked Minister Linda Reynolds to keep her hands off our NDIS because I am not standard. 



I Am Not Standard


Access to NDIS shouldn't be decided by a standardised test

Because how does a questionnaire know what suits my disability best?

Why does pinching pennies have to leave me stranded? 

Just because I am not standard.


I have a name but now I am just a numbered participant.

How can a code explain all the challenges I have been sent?

My disability does not go away just by magic one day. 

Every time I am reassessed, I fear I will end up with less and end up depressed. 


How dare you take away my support and cheapen everything for which I fought?

I wish that I was born somewhat more uniform.

That way it would not seem like a National Disappointment Scheme.

I know you love your reasonable and necessary framework but I am outside your lines which leaves me stranded because I am not standard.


© Chris Van Ingen | 6 May 2021

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Defend Our NDIS

 Defend our NDIS; people have had enough of cuts and changes to the NDIS. The Every Australian Counts campaign has organised a national day of action and events across Australia to take place on 28th of April.  I have been involved in the NDIS from the initial trial phase through to today. People may remember that I was involved in an advertising campaign spruiking the benefits to come once the scheme was up and running.  ‘You’re in charge! Yes we are, aren’t we!’ For awhile this was the truth for participants like myself. I have been very lucky and received 90 percent of what I need from NDIS.  The question is would I have received the same benefits if I was not a skilled disability advocate?  People with disabilities want the original version of the scheme that was promised without having to fight for a reasonable request. It would be a more efficient scheme if the government put the millions of dollars in legal fees into service delivery instead.  According to the Australian Service
3 comments
Read more

A Vision for an Inclusive Australia (DRC Final Report)

 The final revised version of the Disability Royal Commission (DRC) into violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation was published on 2 November 2023.  The Royal Commission ran for four years with hundreds of people with disabilities testifying at hearings and thousands more supplying the Commission with written submissions.  The final report titled Our Vision for An Inclusive Australia  made 222 recommendations to improve laws, policies, structures, and practices to ensure a more inclusive and just society. That supports the independence of people with disabilities and their right to live a life free from violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation.  The report covers 12 volumes ranging from:  Voices of People with Disability  About the Royal Commission Nature and Extent of Violence, Abuse, and Exploitation Realising the Human Rights of People with Disability  Governing for Inclusion Inclusive Education, Employment, and Housing Enabling Autonomy and Access Criminal Justice and People wi
Post a Comment
Read more

United in Action (International Day of People with Disability 2023)

 International Day of People with Disability is here again. It is a day to celebrate the achievements of people with disabilities while at the same time reminding the world that people with disabilities need access to equality.  This year's UN theme is United in Action to rescue and achieve the sustainable development goals for, with, and by people with disability.  Around this time every year I am blown away by the giants in the world who live with a disability and I am using today's post to highlight just a few.  First let me tell you about Natalie Wade, a passionate lawyer who works in the area of disability rights law. Natalie is also the coauthor of Disability Rights in Real Life Handbook  as well as being the inaugural orator for the Disability Leadership Oration . This will air at 5pm AEDT on ABC TV and ABC iview on the 3 December 2023.  The next person I wish to highlight today is Elly Desmarchelier, a brilliant disability advocate, writer, and national spokesperson for
Post a Comment
Read more