Category Disability

Is NDIS the gold standard for disability care in the world?

0 Comments read Disability, Health & Science, NDIS
Jonathan Marchand, who has muscular dystrophy and requires a ventilator to breathe, had been living in a long-term care home for nearly 10 years. Last August, he had "caged" himself in front of the national assembly in Quebec (Canada) to highlight the institutionalisation of people with disabilities. Photo Credit: Supplied by Jonathan Marchand

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 23.08.2021 (Hireup): Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is said to be a ‘game changer’ for people with disabilities and their families, but how does it hold up on the global stage? I spoke to three leading disability organisations in Canada, the United Kingdom and Singapore to find out what supports are available in their countries. Are they advocating for a universal, person-centred scheme which offers people with disabilities more ‘choice and control’ over the care and services they receive?

Every Canadian Counts Coalition (ECCC) board member Jonathan Marchand says: “[The] NDIS is an example to follow. In Canada, there is no centralised funding for services and support for people with disabilities. It is left to the provinces and there’s a patchwork of support that, for the most part, hasn’t been updated for decades now. In some places, you will even struggle to get funding for a wheelchair”.

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Difficulties Australians of CALD backgrounds face in accessing the NDIS

0 Comments read Disability, Health & Science, NDIS

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 21.06.2021 (Hireup): Twenty-five percent of Australians with profound or severe disability don’t speak English at home but most of the information provided by the NDIS is in English. So how do people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds access the needed supports in their plan?

The term ‘CALD participants’ refers to participants of the NDIS who don’t use English as the primary language at home. Historically, Australians from CALD backgrounds have been underrepresented in the disability sector.

According to the National Dashboard in 2020, there were 40,391 people from CALD backgrounds; 9.3 percent of the 442,209 people nationally on NDIS. And further data shows that CALD participants are utilising 66 percent of their plans on average compared to 68 percent for non-CALD participants.

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Why are those on the NDIS charged more?

0 Comments read Disability, Health & Science, NDIS

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 27.05.21 (Hireup): When Monique Power approached a local private paediatric physiotherapy practice and told them that her daughter, who was born with a rare and sporadic disability, was a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participant, they increased their standard consultation fee by $100. When she queried the price gap, the provider couldn’t give any reasonable justification apart from saying, “We thought that is what we were meant to be charging”.

“Their lack of knowledge, moral compass and sheer ignorance of the nuances of the NDIS is unfortunately not an isolated occurrence”, says Power, Founder of RippleAbility, which helps parents and carers to access and optimise their NDIS Plans.

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) provides funding to NDIS participants to purchase a range of reasonable and necessary supports to increase independence, and social and economic participation. This funding is provided through individual participant budgets and the amount NDIA pays for these supports is set in the NDIS Price Guide, which is updated annually on 1st July.

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