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 Services Union the average participant's package funding level has dropped by 4 percent in the past year. Even the NDIS's own quarterly report shows a funding drop from $71,000 per package to $68,500 per package. 

Now to the average person this might not sound like a lot but let me put these numbers into context. For me a drop in funding of $2,500 can mean the loss of 100 hours of one on one support or the acquisition of a new shower commode chair so I can go to the toilet more comfortably. I have been lucky so far and this hasn’t happened to me but some participants have had their packages cut to up to 40 percent. So imagine what this means for their life and independence. 

I have spent my life feeling like a burden and the Liberal Government with the media rhetoric asking if we can afford to keep the NDIS only makes this feeling worse. How expensive would it be for people with disabilities and the soul of Australia if the Liberal Government succeeds in cutting the NDIS? 

Independent research has shown that for every dollar that the government spends on the NDIS, $2.25 is added to the economy. 

To fix the NDIS we need to stop the waste and cuts and put people back in the centre of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. 

Supporting people with disabilities is so important that is should be above politics but I’m afraid the only way the NDIS will be fixed is if we vote out the Liberal Government in the next election. 

Is That Necessary?

People with disabilities fight for every dollar of support

Until we are left drained and weary. 

I ask you is this reasonable and necessary?

When the government said yes to the NDIS 

We saw this as a victory for people with a disability.

I drove my new wheelchair through the red tape

But then it got caught in my wheels as the scheme took shape.

The powers that be cross out a line item like it’s on a shopping list

Without realising the opportunity for independence that has been missed.

Every bit of core support is given after being bitterly fought.

A mobility aid such as a walking frame is not a fashion accessory or quirk

And should slot easily into the reasonable and necessary framework.

Definitions of disability should not need so much paperwork that you need your own personal secretary.

We have to ask ourselves is that necessary? 

Chris Van Ingen | 26 March 2022