Why did The Productivity Commission recommend the NDIS not cover Aged Care?

11/11/2021 0 Comments read Disability, Health & Science, NDIS

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 11.11.2021 (Hireup): John Walsh, a long time former National Disability Insurance Agency board member and one of the authors of The Productivity Commission (PC) report that recommended the design of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), explains the reasons why the NDIS was geared for a specific disability cohort – and why in his opinion, it shouldn’t cover Aged Care. Walsh has lived with quadriplegia since an accident during a rugby league game in his early twenties.

NB: What was the reasoning behind limiting NDIS to under 65-year-olds?

JW: There were very clear definitional, economic and ideological reasons why the NDIS should focus on younger people with disabilities.

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Why we need to bolster My Aged Care to come at par with the NDIS

20/10/2021 0 Comments read Disability, Health & Science, NDIS

George Laszuk. Photo Supplied by GL

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 20.10.2021 (Hireup): George Laszuk is among thousands of Australians with a disability who are not covered by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which excludes people over the age of 65.

He missed the NDIS safety net by less than a year. “It came as a bombshell. I felt cheated. We had campaigned for it for so many years. Until today, it has never been made clear as to why we were excluded,” says Laszuk, who contracted poliomyelitis at 11 months of age in 1951. October is polio awareness month.

He is now experiencing Post-Polio Syndrome and requires a powered wheelchair and assistance with showering and daily chores. His My Aged Care package barely meets his daily needs despite him being in the highest category of the program.

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

23/08/2021 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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