Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] Labor is relieved about the Morrison government's decision to take action on some of the recommendations of the Robertson review into the tragic death of NDIS participant Ms Ann-Marie Smith, who sadly died in April 2020. However, we've come to learn from this government that, as with most of their decisions, their actions are far too little and far too late. The lived experience of disabled Australians and NDIS participants in our country, when dealing with this government, is nothing short of a disgrace, and the inaction of this government on this issue is absolutely shameful. It's time for the Morrison government to start taking responsibility, commit to a substantial and thorough inquiry on this issue and put in place the resources and facilities to safeguard the interests and the wellbeing of our most vulnerable Australians.

The Robertson review and its recommendations, which are the subject of this bill, was an inquiry into one tragic death that occurred as a result of the failures of the NDIS system. Labor pushed for an independent inquiry into NDIS safeguarding more broadly, but the NDIS commission instructed the inquiry, led by former Judge Robertson, to specifically and exclusively review the adequacy of regulation of the supports and services provided to Ms Smith. As such, the terms of reference for the review were specifically confined to the circumstances of Ms Smith's case. Not only was this inquiry far too limited in its scope but the review didn't even have statutory powers, and meetings were held in Adelaide over two days with those who provided a submission or an outline of what they wished to say. Submissions were not made public and there was no wider sector or parliamentary engagement communicated by the government in relation to the Robertson review's evidence-gathering process and the development of this bill. The inquiry was neither broad nor transparent enough to offer an adequate set of recommendations addressing all of the areas within the NDIS and the NDIS commission which are in urgent need of reform. But even despite its limited scope, some of the recommendations, such as greater communication between the NDIA and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, do have merit.

The report highlights the buck-passing between the NDIA and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. The problem is that the NDIS commission only regulates providers and the NDIA is set up to administer the scheme to participants. Robertson says that there are two agencies not sharing information and people could easily fall through the cracks of patchy oversight. Despite these few clear recommendations, which did come as a result of the Robertson review, it has still taken a year for the government to start to take action on it. So you have to ask the question: when designing this commission did none of the Liberals stop to ask is it actually set up properly? Is it fit for the task of protecting people on the ground? Is it the right body to set up to protect people? Should it sit back and wait for the phone to ring? The government should provide answers to these questions and outline what it intends to do to ensure that the commission's powers are being properly used to prevent abuse and neglect, not just an issue of a slap on the wrist after the fact. It has now been nearly two years since the death of Ms Smith and a year since recommendations were made addressing the cause of her death. Only now is the Morrison government attempting to make even the most minor reforms based on the recommendation of the Robertson review, but they're not enough. The Robertson review did not even seek to review all the crucial issues relevant to the NDIS's failure.

Labor argued that it should have been broadened to also look at what went wrong in the case of David Harris, an NDIS participant who was found dead in his house more than two months after his supports had been cut off. This sad death was another preventable tragedy that occurred as a result of the Morrison government's failure to effectively regulate and reform the NDIS. David was dead in his Parramatta unit for two months before his body was discovered by police—after he was found by authorities and after his grieving sister based interstate learned that David's NDIS funding had been cut off because he missed an annual review meeting. This meant cleaners and other NDIS funded supports stopped visiting a 55-year-old man who had substantial mental and physical care needs. After her brother David's lonely death, Leanne asked one thing, that case managers be introduced to the NDIS. This government, the Morrison government, wrote back saying there were no plans to introduce such a measure.

How many Australians with disability have to die in their homes before this government admits there is a problem? David and Ann-Marie's tragic deaths are just two such stories of a growing number of tragedies which have come as a result of the failure of the Morrison government to ensure that the NDIS meets its most basic aim: to ensure the safety of disabled Australians. This is what Labor committed to when we introduced the NDIS. Sadly, like other things that we've introduced, this government has done nothing but tear it down.

The failures of this government with regard to the NDIS are symptomatic of their attitude towards Australians with disabilities and other vulnerable groups that are within our communities. The coalition have continued to disregard the needs of vulnerable Australians, once again placing profits and political punchlines over the urgent and drastic need for change. The Morrison government's failure of vulnerable Australians has only become more obvious through the course of the pandemic. The botched vaccine rollout for NDIS participants, disabled Australians and Australians in aged-care residences are evidence of this government's extreme apathy and lack of care for those of us most in need of support and security.

I think back to 27 May when I asked the Prime Minister in question time: 'How many Australians in residential disability care have been vaccinated?' I did receive a response from him in June. It was shocking but far from surprising. The Prime Minister informed me that nationally less than 25 per cent of NDIS participants in residential care facilities had received at least one dose of the vaccine. In my home state of Victoria the situation was even worse: only six per cent of NDIS participants in disability accommodation had received two doses of the vaccine. These are appalling figures. But they're not just figures. They are people's lives and people's families who have suffered—because, while there's been some progress since that time, the statistics demonstrate the immense and appalling apathy of the Morrison government towards the safety of people with disabilities.

This government has failed to fulfil its duty to Australians. It has shown an ongoing apathy towards Australians with disabilities and their right to be safe and secure—it is endemic. What we can be sure of is that the tragic death of Ms Ann-Marie Smith was not a one-off. It is symptomatic of a system in which the government has constantly left people with disabilities behind. The government has treated disability rights advocate groups with so much contempt it is appalling. All Australians deserve to feel safe, and they deserve access to the basic resources necessary for ensuring their physical and mental health. The maltreatment and death of disabled Australians has been overlooked and de-prioritised again and again by this government. Our communities and those who are most vulnerable in them deserve a lot better. They deserve a government that is on their side, one that looks out for their interests, especially for those Australians not in a position to look after themselves.

The Morrison government have ripped $4.6 billion out of the NDIS. It failed to act, despite 1,200 Australians with disabilities dying while waiting to be funded for the scheme. While we welcome the government's decision to take action—belatedly—on the recommendations of the Robertson review, their action is too little, too late. It's been over 10 months since the Hon. Mr Robertson handed down his review and 14 months since Ann-Marie Smith passed away, and only now are the Morrison government deciding: 'We'd better take action.' I ask: how many Australians have died or been subject to maltreatment in these 10 months? How many disabled Australians and their families suffered while the Morrison government resisted the implementation of the recommendations? The cost of the government's inaction is far too high. They will prioritise punchlines and the scoring of political points over their responsibility to actually serve the Australian people. People living with disabilities are being ignored and left behind.

There is no longer any excuse for the government's failure to step up and do its job. This is a government that refuses to take responsibility and refuses to take action on these issues that matter to Australians. The failure of this government to ensure the safety of NDIS participants—and the countless deaths which have occurred because of the Morrison government's inaction—should be an embarrassment to our country and an embarrassment to the Prime Minister. You would think that any minister responsible for this—or for robodebt, or for the countless other scandals—would have been dumped. A normal government, with a leader who has values and ethics, would have dumped ministers who have failed this badly. But what we find with the Morrison government is that, with scandal after scandal, it promotes those involved. It's wrong. It's time that people living with disability and their families and advocates were properly consulted and given the proper treatment and the proper respect that they deserve. Only an Albanese Labor government will do that for people and families living with disability.

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