Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

For thousands of families across Australia—indeed, there are many in my electorate and, no doubt, in the member for Hughes's electorate and everyone else's electorate as well—the NDIS has become a critical part of everyday life. It's certainly opened many avenues for people who live with disability, helping to improve their way of life and, quite frankly, helping people reach their potential. When the Gillard government established the National Disability Insurance Scheme, as you will recall, it was certainly built on the belief that every person in our community, including those who live with a disability, deserve to know that their country is committed to building a society based on acceptance and inclusion. I know the member for Hughes well understands this, given his personal experience in the area of disability, but I think it's important that the scheme that we have, the NDIS, actually does address and deliver on those qualities. However, I think everyone must acknowledge that the implementation of the NDIS has not been without significant challenges. That's why it's cautiously welcomed that the government is in the process of rolling out a plan to address pressures on families, particularly those trying to access the Early Childhood Early Intervention pathways of the NDIS.

I know that raising a child under six is challenging, but raising a child with a disability places enormous pressure on families. I know that from personal experience. My office—and, no doubt, the offices of many members here—has been inundated with inquiries from parents about their waiting times. Many wait for months to access NDIS plans that would allow their young children to gain access to much needed early childhood support. Many parents have paid hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in out-of-pocket costs while they wait for a review of their plan or wait for a plan itself from the NDIA for services such as speech pathology, other physical therapies et cetera. I hope the interim plans for these families, who are expecting to wait over 50 days, are being implemented without the same kinds of delays and inadequacies that we've seen, regrettably, in many facets of the NDIS. In theory, the plan will assist many young families and will allow them to pay crucial support services whilst waiting for the full NDIS plan to be delivered or, alternatively, waiting for their plan to be reviewed. However, I have to say I fear the same problems that have overwhelmed the NDIA may very well be apparent in terms of accessing early childhood pathways. I trust that these interim plans will not simply be a way of kicking the can further down the road, and I hope the government holds to its commitment to a six-month time frame for the full NDIS plan to be received.

Grace Fava—many around here will personally know her—founder and CEO of the Autism Advisory and Support Service, was certainly encouraged by the $10,000 interim package for families that has been announced. However, Grace herself has raised concerns about the efficiency of implementing this program, particularly when NDIA offices are currently overwhelmed with the number of cases already before them. It is important that we acknowledge that there is a need not just for funds to go into the NDIS plans but for more efficient services to be delivered and more properly trained staff—particularly staff who have an empathy for families who live with someone with a disability. In my electorate, these matters are certainly even more complicated, from the fact that mine is a most multicultural community and that people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds find it very difficult to navigate the NDIA's system.

With the government's underspend on the NDIS last year of $1.6 billion, I would've thought that part of that money should've been put aside to be able to come back into helping those who need it, particularly families who live with disability—as opposed to the money being set aside to help support the government's budget bottom line. I think we can do better. We need to do better for families. And we certainly need to work for meaningful inclusion of people with disabilities in our society.

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