Whilst there are certainly some positive initiatives to come from the NDIS Review to ensure the NDIS and broader system supports deliver equitable access and participation for people with disability, we have received a number of calls and emails from Family Advocacy members who have expressed their concerns around the need for current unregistered providers to become registered, and the threat this brings to self-management and the omission around the necessary components to safeguard self-management. This is also concerning for people living in rural, remote, and regional areas where services are often quite hard to find. We will be working with the government to ensure that self-management remains fit for purpose and that the necessary components to safeguarding self-management are incorporated in any reform.
Another area of concern is around housing and living. Many people are expressing their nervousness concerning being forced into group homes with the recommendation that funding for participants requiring 24/7 living support should typically be based on an average shared support ratio of 1:3. We will certainly be advocating to ensure the many and emerging individual arrangements are not lost, as well as the continuation of people using creative ways through the Independent Living Options.
It may be helpful to keep in mind that these are recommendations, nothing is changing overnight, and we are at the beginning of a very long journey of reform instigated by the Disability Royal Commission and the NDIS review. Strongly articulated through the review findings is the need to consult with the disability sector and if this approach is adopted well by the government there will be opportunities for you to have your say and input to influence possible changes.
If you want to hear more, we attach a link to Reasonable & Necessary Podcast - Your Guide to the NDIS Review: Experts Have Their Say, hosted by Dr. George Taleporos, which brings together Australia’s leading disability advocates to unpack the NDIS Review. Dr. George, along with El Gibbs, Nick Avery, Jarrod Sandell-Hay, and Sam Paior will guide you through all the big changes that are proposed, and what they might mean for you.
We hope you have the opportunity to utilise the holiday period doing all the things that bring you joy and recharge your batteries, so you can join us in giving voice to safeguarding the many things that are essential for this funding scheme to be viable for supporting genuine community inclusion.