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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Medics with disabilities call for medicine to be inclusive

21/08/2020 4 Comments read Disability, Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 21.08.2020 (SciDev.Net): Doctors treat and heal patients, but they are seldom seen as people who may themselves require care or accommodation. Medics with disabilities are now calling for a paradigm shift in the mindset to make medical education and the profession more inclusive.

“Being a doctor is a privilege. We have the opportunity to play a part in a person’s most significant of journeys. We have the sacred trust of the public. We have also been thought leaders on many historical issues. For these reasons the medical profession needs to lead the way in inclusivity,” says Dinesh Palipana, a Sri Lanka-born Australian doctor who was left severely disabled after a road accident.

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