Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about a particular constituent of mine and their NDIS case. I was initially contacted by Jayne Hewetson through her occupational therapist, who went on to tell us that they were raising concerns for Jayne's wellbeing should she not receive any NDIS. They'd applied and been knocked back continuously. When they contacted me, Jayne was in the Royal Adelaide Hospital with severe issues which she had managed to basically overcome. I have to say from the outset that Jayne is chairbound and completely dependent on her mobility scooter for accessing the community. She suffers from severe lymphoedema, severe arthritis and complex PTSD.

When I first heard about Jayne, she was, as I said, in the Royal Adelaide Hospital. The hospital would not release her unless she had some ongoing care at home, because they had basically examined her and decided she needed ongoing care. They had applied to the NDIS and got absolutely nothing; they were rejected. That's when they came to see me. I was advised that they had applied for the NDIS but were refused for various reasons. I then took it upon myself to make representations to the minister on behalf of Jayne because I was very concerned for her. This is what holds up beds in public hospitals. People are in those beds without any support to go home. We could release many beds if the support were in place to do so. I made representations to Bill Shorten, the minister, who took a keen interest in this particular case himself. He asked for it to be reviewed and to look at why it was knocked back. Through his intervention in this case, Jayne finally received her NDIS and was able to return home, where her quality of life has improved immensely.

During the last nine years, the NDIS under the former coalition government was neglected and underfunded, and it was always under constant attack from a revolving door of different ministers that would come and go. The former government left the NDIS at a place where it was not what it should have been. For the NDIS to reach its potential, it needs a reboot. That's what the minister and this Labor government are currently doing. Since we've been in government, we've worked to deliver on our promises, and they include getting the NDIS back on track so people like Jayne and many others that I've seen in my office get the services that they require.

The first step we would have seen in the things that came out in the budget: the six-point plan, the NDIA workforce, the long-term planning, the addressing of spiralling expenses, better outcomes for supported independent living and, very importantly, elimination of the unethical practices that we have seen much of and the increasing of community and mainstream supports.

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