Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to record my support for the highly anticipated National Disability Insurance Scheme. I have been involved with the disability sector and people with disabilities for many years now and agree it is now time that the NDIS be implemented. The Gillard Labor government should not be paying lip service or playing politics with this important issue. It should come clean and explain to Australians how it is going to fund this very important scheme.

All too often we hear those on the other side make announcements and get the media all hyped up. They use weasel words, they spin round and round, but you cannot lock them down. It is time for them to come clean. After all, this is the same government that promised no carbon tax, promised a surplus and in fact reported through a number of its members' newsletters that they had actually delivered a surplus, which we all know is a blatant misrepresentation of the truth. How can you believe anything this Prime Minister or the government says? Most Australians agree that it is a stark, sad reality that the state of the system of support for Australians with a disability is fundamentally broken and that it is now time for the NDIS.

A number of constituents who have contacted me regarding this issue tell me they think it is time that the Gillard Labor government committed to real funding of the NDIS. The Gillard Labor government does not have a good track record of implementation, and this issue is too important to be meddled with or mucked up by the Gillard Labor government and the politics associated with it. They are a desperate government who will do and say anything to stay in power.

The coalition is ready to work together on this issue so that we can get it right. We have made an offer to work with them. To get this right, a coalition government is absolutely essential. A coalition government is needed to deliver a strong budget surplus and to give certainty to this scheme, which will affect so many Australians with disability and their families. This is the only way a government can guarantee that an NDIS will be sustainable. Territorians want an NDIS. I have spoken on this issue before in this place and shared some of the stories of constituents who have asked me to support the introduction of an NDIS.

The NDIS will help people with a disability participate more fully in economic and social life through the provision of funding for aids, essential equipment, supported accommodation and round-the-clock care. Sadly, we can all agree that most Australians with a disability currently are not getting the support they need, and that is an absolute disgrace. Whether people have been born with a disability or have acquired it during their life, there is currently no real support system for them; there is nothing really for them to fall back on during their time of need. In some instances there are people who can recover the costs of their care due to injury if the injury is through the fault of another or can be covered under an insurance scheme. However, for the overwhelming majority of Australians with a disability it is a lifelong struggle for them and their carers to find the money to pay for essential care and equipment.

It is disappointing that the Labor government has not released a proper set of NDIS rules. It is very hard to determine who will get assistance and who will not without these guidelines. The Gillard Labor government released a discussion paper on the NDIS rules on 1 February 2013. It is a fair statement to say that this paper does not shed light on the NDIS rules—not one little bit. This is disappointing for Australians with a disability and their loved ones who are waiting with high expectations for a firm and rigorous eligibility procedure to follow. The aforementioned paper proposed a series of questions, hardly what we would expect of a draft set of rules. What is clear, though, is that the coalition has supported each milestone on the road to developing an Australia-wide NDIS. We supported the initial findings by the Productivity Commission and have encouraged vehemently the Gillard Labor government to take up our offer of a cross-party committee, so that we can ensure that we can get it right. Not surprisingly, this offer was refused by the Gillard Labor government. We wholly supported the $1 billion in the last budget and will support this legislation.

The coalition believes that the NDIS can be delivered in the timeframe recommended by the Productivity Commission, but this can only be achieved by a prudent government that manages its finances and delivers a budget surplus when it promises. The Gillard Labor government has now promised to deliver a budget surplus over 500 times, and we are still waiting. My hope for all Australians with a disability is that the promise of a fully-funded NDIS is not broken the same way that the carbon tax promise was broken. The coalition stands ready to work with the Labor government to achieve its promise and deliver a well overdue NDIS.

Additionally, medical defence organisations and individuals with a disability are concerned with the measure that allows the NDIS CEO to make directives that a participant must sue or make claims from insurers when there is the chance that costs could be recovered. Personal injury litigation is an expensive and arduous process and this can be dangerous as it could force more costly litigation upon our already over-litigated society. Insurance premiums will skyrocket, which will trigger a flow-on effect to Australians and on their ever-increasing cost of living. Our overworked courts will be even more clogged-up with unnecessary litigation. As usual, the Gillard Labor government has provided little detail as to how individuals will be assessed, how they will be eligible, what kind of disabilities will fall under the scheme and also what support services will be provided under the scheme. This will not be obvious until the rules and regulations are released, which we do not expect for some time. It would be useful if we had them now; however, this is the path of the process that they are choosing to go down.

The NDIS is a once-in-a-generation reform that will unfold over several parliaments and it is important that we work together to get this right. The Leader of the Opposition has shown his personal dedication and commitment to this issue by dedicating to Carers Australia $540,000 raised by the 2012 Pollie Pedal bike ride. He has also personally met Australians with disabilities and their carers, and with numerous disability organisations, as have many of the members on this side. Carers Australia is a fantastic organisation, and the next two Pollie Pedal rides have been dedicated to raising funds for the organisation to further assist Australians with a disability.

The Gillard Labor government continues to spruik the NDIS as a scheme promoting Labor values and Labor beliefs, but Australians are sceptical, and they tell me that they do not necessarily believe this is the case. The NDIS supports Australian values and Territory values. The NDIS gives Australians with disabilities and their carers a fair go. It will help those who face challenges for reasons beyond their control. The NDIS is designed to empower the individual to remove government from their everyday life and reduce red tape.

The coalition believes that the full implementation of an NDIS would be nothing short of a new deal for people with disabilities, and their carers. We must get this right, and we will get this right with a prudent coalition government with strong fiscal policies for the future of Australia. To get this right it is as essential that we have a high level of consultation and a precise attention to detail from now through to implementation, until we see results that this is working for Australians. The coalition has always welcomed a cross-party parliamentary committee chaired by both sides of politics to oversee the implementation. One of the biggest health reforms since Medicare, it is fundamental that we get this right. A parliamentary oversight committee would lock in all parties and provide a non-partisan environment where issues of design and eligibility could be worked through cooperatively.

While the NDIS will fundamentally help Australians with disability, it will also provide some form of certainty to the selfless carers that care for their loved ones with a disability. A mother should not have to fear for her adult child's safety when she passes on. A father should not have to worry every day of his life how he will pay his 40-year-old son's specialist bills, when he is too old to work. It is important to note that every government in Australia and every opposition in Australia supports and wants to see a successful NDIS. This is a very important point, because it is not the same for the Gillard Labor government's carbon tax.

The Gillard government should accept our offer of a parliamentary oversight committee. This government likes to pay lip service to wanting to have cross-party support for the NDIS, but when the opportunity to get this has presented itself they have declined to participate. What message does this give Australians? The coalition want to give the government, the Greens and the Independents an opportunity to work together on this very important issue. We want to offer our hand of cooperation by moving amendments to this bill to establish a non-partisan oversight committee. And the Gillard Labor government should accept this offer to ensure a successful NDIS delivers results to Australians who need it most. This is the right thing to do.

It was disappointing that at the COAG before last the Prime Minister could not rise above her partisan instincts and agree to work on this with as much support she could find. It is to the credit of Premiers Baillieu and O'Farrell that they continued to negotiate in the face of public attack and misrepresentation by the federal Gillard Labor government. But they stood firm until they reached agreements to host launch sites. The coalition urged the Prime Minister to adopt a more cooperative approach when dealing with our state and territory governments as there can be no NDIS without their buy-in and without their support. It is now up to the Prime Minister to continue to work with the states and territories and to adopt a more constructive approach to reach a more bilateral agreement—hopefully one that will benefit the people of my electorate, Solomon.

Whilst the Productivity Commission never envisaged a problem with the absence of launch sites from a few states and territories, Territorians know that we in the Top End are extremely far from the nearest capital city and without confirmation from the Gillard Labor government about how eligibility tests will be carried out, I cannot be sure that the people in my electorate will not miss out because of Labor's incompetence. The coalition will continue to place this issue above politics and, as I said, we are prepared to work with state governments and the Commonwealth Gillard Labor government toward a better deal for people with disabilities and their carers.

In the last federal budget, we fully supported the government's commitment of $1 billion dollars to the NDIS However this does not add up to the $3.9 billion that the Productivity Commission said would be necessary over only the first phase of the NDIS. It is essential that this scheme is fully funded throughout the rollout phase as this first stage will benefit over 20,000 people with disabilities and their families and carers. Australia is the land of opportunity. The NDIS will provide this for many families across Australia as long as it is fully funded to reach its potential. As I have said, the coalition stands ready to provide strong and stable government. A coalition government can provide this funding with its plan to deliver a safe, secure Australia with a budget surplus.

Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great pleasure that I rise today to speak on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012. For too long, people in Australia born with a disability or who perhaps acquired one through injury or illness have found it difficult to be able to get the resources together that they need to be able to support their disability. When that is the situation the burden often falls back on carers and their communities to chip in and support those people with those disabilities and their challenges. Because of the challenges that those communities and individuals have faced, there has been a call to establish the National Disability Insurance Scheme to provide the resources that are provided to support people with disabilities and their carers. This particular bill establishes the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the National Disability Insurance Scheme Launch Transition Agency.

I am very pleased that my seat of Corangamite, and indeed the whole of the Barwon south-west health region of Victoria, has been selected to be a launch site. I am looking forward to working with all of the communities across that region to ensure that the National Disability Insurance Scheme launch site provides valuable lessons for the nation and provides us with key insights as to how it should work and how it should be rolled out across the whole nation. In the Barwon region there are at the moment some 5,000 people with significant and profound disabilities. I know from talking to many people with disabilities within my region that they are looking forward to participating in this and getting the necessary resources to support them with their disabilities.

One of the exciting things about the establishment of the National Disability Insurance Scheme is that those with disabilities and their carers will be at the heart of the decisions made about what they require, whether that be aids, care or other things. Whatever it happens to be, it will be their decision as opposed to a decision imposed upon them by a state government, the Commonwealth or an NGO within that space. That is important. Providing people with the opportunity to be at the heart of decisions about what they need is important. The people being at the heart of such decisions will also be able to put in place individualised care and support packages that can best support them with their disability. With these launch sites—of which Victoria has one—we have had to work closely with the state government, the Baillieu government, to get the agreement and arrangements in place to help support the scheme. It is pleasing that the Victorian government has come on board and is working in partnership with the Commonwealth to make sure that it does work.

In talking to a lot of disability support agencies, they are indicating to me that they are now starting the process of gearing up for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. They are predicting that there will be more workers within the industry. I think it is a good thing to have more professionals working closely with people with a disability and their family support mechanisms; this will also be very important. Last week, I was fortunate enough to be able to announce with the minister that there will be some 80 employees taken on in the not too distant future to help support the Barwon South West launch site. We will be recruiting a whole raft of different people with different experiences and with different qualifications, and I certainly look forward to meeting with those people in due course and hearing firsthand how they see the National Disability Insurance Scheme working.

We also have agreements with some of the other state and territory governments around the nation, and I think that is very pleasing. Disappointingly, at this stage the Queensland government is one example of a government that has not recognised the need for this scheme, and has not recognised the need to partner with the Commonwealth in delivering the National Disability Insurance Scheme. That is extremely disappointing for Queenslanders with a disability and I would hope that the Queensland Premier, in due course, does recognise the need for the scheme, and does come on board and partner with the Commonwealth government in delivering the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

I can recall when I was first elected to parliament back in 2007 I received a delegation of people with disabilities from my seat. I was surprised at the complexity of the system that was in place, and how difficult it was for individuals to negotiate with funding providers to get in place the individual care packages that they needed that were tailored to them. At that point in time, I was briefed on a concept that was getting around to form an insurance-type body that would help provide funding and support—perhaps similar to a traffic accident commission or a work cover-type model. The conversations at that point in time were only just beginning, but they had begun. I can recall the concept was around making the person with a disability or their carer at the centre of decision-making where they would be assessed and provided with an amount of money that they could use to buy the types of aids they might need, or to engage a carer, or whatever it may happen to be This seemed to me to make a lot of sense, particularly in terms of what was in place and the complexity of it and, to be frank, the complete and utter underfunding for those with a disability.

I look forward to working with the Geelong region, working with the transition agency and working very closely with disability organisations across my electorate to make sure that not only do we get it right, but the valuable lessons that come from having the disability insurance scheme launch site in Geelong are taken around the country. The Geelong region does have a proud track record of being at the forefront of reform. We do it better than any other region, and I am sure that with Geelong people fully behind this launch site, we can learn how to better support people with a disability and of course their families. That is an endeavour that I personally hold and I know that people in the Geelong area also wish to see occur.

On that note, I look forward to working with the sector, with people with a disability and with their carers not only to deliver this for Geelong, but also to learn important lessons that we can take around the rest of the country.

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012 and I do so as someone with a personal and vested interest. Sixteen years and 11 months ago my son, Trent, was born with Down syndrome. The day he was diagnosed was perhaps the hardest day in my life. Words cannot explain the grief parents suffer when they discover all the hopes and dreams that they have for their child are dashed, and their child is born with a disability for life. It leaves one with a great sense of guilt. It is the financial uncertainty, knowing that it is a lifelong condition for which there is no cure. I remember leaving the hospital and thinking of the inequities that a child who is born with a disability is often treated differently by our government and given different financial resources as if they acquired that disability through an injury or through a motor vehicle accident. Further, autism is another disability that affects up to one in 100 Australians.

But as well as having Down syndrome my son is also one of those one in 100 who suffer from autism. Like many parents whose children have been diagnosed with autism, it took a while for Trent to be correctly diagnosed. When he was about 18 months old we had concerns that he had problems with his hearing, because he was not responding to noises as you would expect of a normal child. So, for month after month we took him along to a hearing clinic, where they would put him in a darkened room and make noises with a puppet in one corner of the room, expecting him to turn, so that we would know his hearing was okay. But of course Trent would pay no attention, so the hearing specialists thought he had significant problems with his hearing.

We then went through months and months of trying to fit him with a hearing aid. The very minute we put a hearing aid into his ear he would pull it out. It was a game we would play for hours and hours on end, and he would always win. However, one day we were over at my mother-in-law's place and he was watching his favourite TV show, Blue's Clues, on the TV over in the corner of the room. The very minute he heard the sound he knew and recognised his little face turned to it. And I thought, 'You little bugger. You have been conning us all this time.' His hearing was okay, but he was autistic, which provided many of its own unique challenges.

With both autism and Down syndrome, Trent does not have any language and he cannot dress or toilet himself. He has repetitive habits and he will need care from my wife and me for his entire life. Now that he has reached the age of 16, it is time for him to start shaving. Every week I go through a procedure where we basically play jujitsu. I try to get the razor to his face and he tries to push it away time and time again. Now that he has got a bit used to it, shaving is down to about 40 minutes from the original hour and a half. That is something I will have to do with my son for the rest of his life.

But Trent certainly knows what he wants. He is a happy kid. He laughs as much as any kid. He is satisfied and comfortable in the world he lives in that we created for him. He certainly gets frustrated from time to time but he can often get past that frustration after about 30 minutes of hard work. He does not have to worry about what is happening on the next day, the next week or the next year. His world is uncluttered by the worries of responsibility, social acceptance and the subconscious fears that plague the rest of us.

But most of all, having a son like Trent has made me realise that every life is important; it is precious and it is valuable. However, caring for Trent is a lifetime task. There are simply no days off. And, of course, our greatest worry, something we try to put out of our minds, is what will happen to our son when we are too old to care for him or when we are gone.

There is also the financial concern. The Autism Society of America estimates that the lifelong cost of caring for a child with autism is between $3.5 and $5 million. But all the money in the world does not make dealing with autism or Down syndrome easier. Many parents I know who have children with severe disabilities are on medication for depression. Studies have shown that single mums looking after kids with autism have the same stress levels as soldiers in combat. Then of course there is the strain on the family. Divorce rates for parents caring for a disabled child are high, at almost twice the rate of the national average.

Although no amount of money will heal disabilities such as Down syndrome or autism, money and resources can improve the quality of life. It can provide greater opportunities and it can help take the stress off families. In my maiden speech in the House, I talked about the unsung group of heroes working across Australia today, whom we may well call our neglected people: our carers and children with disabilities. I noted that as a society we ask our carers to provide over one billion hours of unpaid work a year, which would cost us well over $30 billion if we taxpayers had to pick up the tab for it. Simply, as a society we are asking our carers to do more than their fair share of the heavy lifting. I also pledged that during my time in parliament I will be fighting to ensure that our carers and our children with special needs are provided with the resources they rightly deserve and need.

I for one am pleased that we are moving to improve the lot of people with disabilities and their carers. But let us not gild the lily. Let us not mislead the public and the carers of people with disabilities about what this bill actually does. The Productivity Commission's report called for these trials to be funded with $3.9 billion over the forward estimates. But this parliament has kicked in only $250 million a year over the four years for the trials. That is just 25 per cent of what the Productivity Commission called for. So, before the NDIS has even started, this parliament has short-changed Australia's disabled by 75 per cent of the funds necessary just for the trials. Yet, we seem to be able to find money for almost everything else. And we do not have a clue about how we are going to pay for the full NDIS roll-out, which is going to cost upwards of $8 billion a year.

So, if any member of this parliament claims that they have delivered a National Disability Insurance Scheme, when the truth is the trials are short-funded 75 per cent, they are simply hoodwinking the public, and they are involved in a cruel hoax on our nation's disabled and their carers. No-one can say they have delivered the NDIS until they have actually delivered the funding needed, and it is delivered on a sustainable basis. That is what the debate should be about.

There is not a split match between members on either side of the House when it comes to our desire to deliver an NDIS and to deliver better services for our carers and kids with disabilities. However, I have great concerns that the government is playing politics with the NDIS. We have had the community service minister shrieking across the chamber here, 'We own the NDIS!' No-one owns the NDIS, and when it is finally delivered—which may be in seven years time—it will be owned by the people of Australia. What the public wants to see is this issue tackled in bipartisan spirit with every member of the House working together to deliver an NDIS. We know, according to the Productivity Commission's report, that to deliver this in full could take seven years—spanning the lives of three parliaments. To do that over three parliaments we need stability. We need to have a bipartisan approach through those next three parliaments over those next seven years.

To address that issue and that problem, my good friend the member for Dawson, someone who understands disabilities from his own life experiences, thoughtfully put together a motion to establish a joint select committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme. This would have overseen the implementation of the NDIS; it would have been subject to terms of reference and agreed upon by both the Prime Minister and the opposition leader and ratified by the entire House; it would have comprised four government members and senators, four opposition members and senators, one Greens member and one member of the non-aligned group—either a senator or a member of the House of Reps; it would have been jointly chaired by a government member and an opposition member; and, most importantly, this committee would have remained in existence until the full implementation of the NDIS is achieved. If members of this current parliament were truly concerned about the welfare and opportunities of our disabled, rather than playing politics, they should have supported that motion. Instead, it was completely rejected. Such conduct raises further concerns about whether this government is really truly concerned about a better deal for our disabled, or whether it is just here to play politics with the most vulnerable members of our society. I call on the government to rethink its negativity, to rethink its opposition to this bipartisan approach and to create an opportunity where both sides can go ahead on a bipartisan approach.

Going forward, to deliver the NDIS over three parliaments in seven years, there are a few very important things that we need to get right. Firstly, we need to be very careful that any funding we put forward goes to provide resources to those who need them the most, is not captured by the bureaucracies and is not wasted on needless administration. Most importantly, we need to work out how we are going to fund the NDIS on a long-term, sustainable basis—for we could have all the good will in the world, we could tour the countryside talking up the NDIS, we could print glossy brochures to stick up in our windows and hand out around our electorates, we could take the applause from disabled groups and we could design the most effective and the most efficient scheme to provide those services, but unless we show how the NDIS will be paid for on a sustainable basis the NDIS will remain nothing but a mirage.

As I said, the funding must be on a sustainable basis. It cannot be funded by deficit spending. This is the reason why there are only two ways that we can fund the NDIS. The first is that we must cut the waste. We must eliminate every indulgent and feel-good scheme. Perhaps we should set up a museum of government waste here and put in all the long lists of wasteful schemes we have seen from this government, so that every single parliamentarian walks past them every day and does not repeat those mistakes. We must end the palpable waste that I have seen in this place, which has made me sick to the stomach since I have been here. We need to develop a culture of thrift across the bureaucracies—and, when one reads in today's papers that senior Climate Change Authority executives have been dining out at posh Italian restaurants and leaving the taxpayers to pick up an almost $2,000 bill, we need to take to this culture of indulgence with a meat axe. Most importantly, if we deliver the NDIS, we are only going to achieve this by making sure that our economy is running on all cylinders and by lifting our productivity. We cannot do this by introducing new taxes and red tape that raise the cost of doing business in Australia and make Australian industry uncompetitive, for ultimately the only way we can deliver the NDIS is for it to become a social dividend from a productive economy running on full steam.

Look at some of the policies that this government has promoted which jeopardise our ability. On the government's own figures, the carbon tax will reduce Australia's GDP by a cumulative total of $1 trillion by 2050—$1 trillion reduction in GDP! That is the greatest threat we have to delivering the NDIS. We need policies to deliver this NDIS: we need policies that foster individual economic opportunity; we need policies that promote free markets and protect them with effective competition laws; and we need policies where we can see the economy grow, for that is the only way that we can deliver the NDIS and provide it on a sustainable basis.

Deborah O'Neill (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think that the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012 is a very important piece of legislation and I am certainly pleased to rise and speak on the NDIS, which is an area of considerable debate in the community. I think it is an issue in which the community is looking to people in this House to participate in a fulsome and wholesome way, having waited so long for this issue to actually rise to the top of consideration for governments.

I have to acknowledge the very heartfelt and honest assessment of the member for Hughes's own commitment to the disability sector, and I acknowledge the personal journey that he is on. Around this entire chamber there would not be a person whose life has not been affected or impacted in some way by disability, whether that was at the moment of birth or a disability that has been acquired in some shape or form during the course of one's life—so I think that all of our hearts might be in this. But before I become, perhaps, too gentle on the member for Hughes—I know he is sturdy enough for the critique that I would like to offer—I would just like to focus in on a couple of words that he has mentioned.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He was talking about Campbell Newman in Queensland.

Deborah O'Neill (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Absolutely—because one of the things the member for Hughes said was, 'We have to have the desire and we need some action.' These words are very important. This is the government which has the desire and this is the government which has taken action to address the very real and pressing issues facing people who experience disability. We had 12 years of the Liberal-National coalition. They had the opportunity to do something about this issue while in government. After all—let's face it—this is not a new issue. There have been powerful community responses to this issue over many years. But in the 12 years of the Howard government there was no vision, no desire and certainly no action—no real action. Nothing happened in this space that was anywhere near as significant as the vision this Labor government is offering the people of Australia. We are doing so in response to the people of Australia waking up and saying, 'We have to be able to respond to this issue better than we have been able to so far.'

At the end of 12 years of Liberal government, we had plenty of crowing about a surplus. A surplus is a great thing—but not in and of itself. Achieving a surplus after we have looked after the poor, the vulnerable and the people who are experiencing disability—that would be something to be proud of. But we have to make sure that we have ideas, that we have vision. We have to use the money that Australian taxpayers offer up in ways that respond to the real and pressing needs in our community. That is what the NDIS is. It is a real response to real people. It does require vision and it certainly requires leadership—and the only people who will offer that leadership and bring about the delivery of the NDIS are the Labor government.

We can look to Queensland, as my colleague here in the chamber suggested. When this debate emerged, after the Productivity Commission report, all of the states engaged in the discussion. I am proud that New South Wales was the first to come on board to get this trial going—because the people who are dealing with the challenges of disability do not need to wait any longer. They do not need to go to the bottom of a pile of possible policy considerations for those opposite. They need to be at the forefront of our consideration. They worked so hard to get attention onto this sector. So now is the time to act.

The reality described by the Productivity Commission is that there are indeed pockets of success in some states but that, overall, there is no disability support arrangement in any of the states or territories around Australia which really meets people's needs. Having said that, I want to make sure I put on the record my personal admiration for the amazing workers and carers—the community effort which has provided the degree of response which has been offered to people with disability until now.

But we have reached a point where, quite frankly, the system rules—and the people have to fit in with that system. Currently, there are a range of options available to only some people with disability. We need to make a change to that. We know that any person who has a significant disability will need support. Some will need early intervention; some will not need early intervention but might need something later on. The individualised nature of the responses required means that we must start anew—to create a system which serves the people, not continue to ask people with disability to fit in with a system which, as has been proven, is not meeting their needs.

In acknowledging the workers, the carers and the community support, I wanted to bring attention today to the great work being done in my own community—around Gosford in the seat of Robertson. I particularly wanted to mention Fairhaven, a local community group which started up with parents who had children with disability. About 50 years ago, a group of parents—who probably could not afford the time or the money, but who could not afford not to act—gathered together and decided to create educational opportunities for their very special kids. From that has grown an amazing organisation led very ably by Jim Buultjens and his great board, his staff, the volunteers and the parents of the people who use that facility to create opportunities for work and opportunities for social engagement. They do great work. They are 100 per cent behind getting this National Disability Insurance Scheme off the ground, and it cannot happen too soon for them.

I also want to acknowledge the work of the House With No Steps, which has agencies right across the country. I went to an amazing event at the end of last year, entitled the Glitz and Glamour Ball. Many, many local community members with disabilities were there, as were their families and friends, and I have never been to a night of such celebration in the entire time that I have been in this parliament. The outfits were out of this world, and the doctors from Gosford Hospital, who had put together a band, were setting up and getting ready to play, and the minute the participants of that night heard that the band was about to play they were on the dance floor. In terms of the notion of disability, so often it is framed as people having less than capacity. The reality is that people who have labelled disabilities are people who enable the rest of us, in so many ways, to look at the world with different eyes, to appreciate the things we have and to be taught new ways of being, including not to be embarrassed about putting your dancing shoes on and getting out on the dance floor and really enjoying music when it is offered. That was certainly my experience of the night with the people from the House With No Steps at the Glitz and Glamour Ball.

The community is behind this piece of legislation. In my electorate, we also have one of the aspect schools, which deals with and assists families of children with Asperger's or autism spectrum disorders. Their participation in the process that led to the establishment of this legislation, which has come out of the Productivity Commission's report, was really very significant. What we have before us is the product of many, many conversations with key advocates of the community to make sure that what we are proposing is something that is seen to be sustainable, that is seen to be fair, that is seen to be a timely and appropriate response to the real issues that are happening for people experiencing disability, and their families and their carers.

In essence, this bill creates the foundation for this very important reform. It will, when implemented through this parliament, fundamentally change what is available as an option for people who face disability, whether it is at birth or acquired. And it does not matter through what means that disability might be acquired; it might be a later revelation of a genetic disability, it might be a car accident or it might even be an unfortunate situation where somebody, a young man or woman, dives into the water and finds themselves permanently disabled in a way that no family can anticipate.

The Productivity Commission's Disability care and support report that came out in 2011 was very widely accepted. Certainly there were a number of community campaigns to encourage people to respond to that with the Count Me In campaign. At this point of time, I would like to note also the leadership of advocates in our community, people who have come to see me individually. A businessman who lives outside my electorate but has a disabled daughter was one of the first to come to see me and asked me to sign up to the Count Me In campaign. There was also a number of disabiliTEAs that I attended—I will be speaking to that later this evening as I put forward a notice of motion on this issue—at Pearl Beach and Kariong in my electorate.

But I would also like to note the broader leadership of the Mariners, that great local team from the Central Coast right at the top of the soccer football table. We are very proud of them and they are very proud to put their name to the Every Australian Counts campaign as well. They have argued that they have had a long interest in improving care and support and independence for people with disability, and they continue to do that. I am sure that, like me, the Mariners and the people who support the Mariners are waiting for this legislation to pass because, as I said at the beginning of my speech, no-one in this chamber and no-one in the community would be unaware of the challenges faced by people with disabilities and by families who are caring for people with disabilities.

One of the reasons that the NDIS is held in such high esteem in our community is that it has been produced out of a process of long and careful consideration with stakeholders. Families have had a say, carers have had a say and of course people with disability have had an important input into this legislation. Critically, the National Disability Insurance Scheme Advisory Group and the National Disability Insurance Scheme expert groups have participated in putting forward ideas in four key dimensions, including eligibility and the assessment of disability. Of course we need to talk to the experts, we need to talk to families, to understand the challenges the current system presents and to provide alternatives. We also have had advice on quality, safeguards and standards. Obviously there are challenges across the states, so creating a national capacity for choice and control for people with disabilities has been one of the key areas that has been attended to. Workforce and sector capacity have also been considered in the preparation of this bill. This government has also funded the National Disability and Carer Alliance to make sure consultation is ongoing.

In July this year the government will be launching sites across the country, in South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and, happily, close to me in the Hunter region of New South Wales and also in the Barwon area of Victoria. This means that 20,000 people will be part of the launch sites that are going to enable us to really work out what is the best way to proceed on a much larger scale for all Australians who find themselves encountering disability.

The scheme is based on the principle of providing long-term certainty for the resourcing of disability and care. One of the things that has often been raised with me in my consultations with local constituents is that, when somebody is identified as having a disability, the insecurity of not knowing what help they might be able to get or how long the care might be available for is one of the pressing concerns that leads to an incredible anxiety. We understand that short-term responses are an inadequate response for a whole-of-life disability and that is why the scheme considers the whole-of-life context of people's disabilities.

The other thing that has emerged from the good care that has already gone on is the fact that everybody's care is unique. There are individual needs. To be able to choose carefully the response that suits you and enables you to achieve the most that is possible with a disability is a key concern of this government. We also want to look at supporting carers. As the member for Hughes pointed out, a billion hours of carer responsibilities is a very big contribution. We need to make sure that we are caring for the carers, and that is a critical part of our consideration as well.

All of this means we have to move away from the crisis model that has prevailed—the crisis model that was adequate for those on the other side of the chamber when they were in government. It is no longer adequate. The time has come in this country for us to respond to this reality, and this government is committed to making sure it improves the lives of people with disabilities. (Time expired)

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the contribution to this debate on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill by my colleague the member for Hughes, who has very direct and personal insights into the disability sector. I would also like to acknowledge a comment by the member for Robertson, who said that all of us have been touched in one way or another by the disability sector. Whilst today I do not intend to go into any personal interactions of my own, I am often reminded of and am very thoughtful about a young boy in my electorate who is severely disabled and requires almost constant support from his family and their friends. When I think about the disability sector I think of that little boy, of his quality of life and of the quality of life of his family and their friends. I believe most strongly that we have a responsibility to help him and to help his parents and his carers and we have a responsibility to help those in our community who live with a disability to try and make their lives a little bit easier and to try and make the lives of their carers a little bit easier as well.

The bill that is before the House today will establish the framework for a national disability insurance scheme and an associated national disability insurance scheme launch agency which will operate the launch of this scheme in five sites across Australia from July of this year. The five launch sites are a result of an agreement that was reached between the Commonwealth and five states and territories, with two states—Queensland and Western Australia—not hosting launch sites. But both of those states have submitted proposals to be part of the scheme.

Approximately 20 per cent of Australians currently have a disability and many of them face the same challenges as other Australians; however, with the added difficulty of having to face these challenges with a disability that often makes it so much more difficult for them. I will use employment as an example of one of those challenges. There are many Australians with a disability who want to be part of the workforce. However, disabled Australians are 50 per cent less likely to be employed than those without a disability. Providing those Australians with the assistance to get back into the workforce will not only benefit them by increasing their personal wealth but be of enormous benefit to the individuals' self-esteem. It is not easy, as many of us know, to secure employment in the current economic environment, but it is even more difficult for those people with a disability to secure any employment. We need to be doing what we can to assist them.

I would like at this point to acknowledge the assistance that carers provide to those Australians suffering a disability. Without the support of carers, many disabled Australians may not be able to do the things that are so often taken for granted, such as purchasing groceries, going for a walk or preparing a meal. It is the carers that step in and do that as well as providing constant and continuous care and support to those individuals. It is disturbing to note that in a country such as ours 45 per cent of disabled Australians are living in poverty, a number which is more than double that of other OECD countries. That is unacceptable. We need to ensure that as a nation we continue to help these Australians to maintain the best quality of life possible and we need to have a system that will provide support for those who need it and that will place the individual at the centre and in charge. Currently we find ourselves with a system where the support being given to Australians is not determined by need but by a number of factors such as what state the person with a disability may live in, whether it is an inherited disability or whether it was acquired in a workplace accident or a motor vehicle accident and so on. This system is also characterised by waiting lists for accommodation, respite, early intervention, and aids and equipment, with rationing also taking place in some instances. This is not the system that disabled Australians deserve, nor is it the best system that we can provide.

On 17 February 2010, the Productivity Commission was tasked to investigate the adequacy of support for disabled Australians and on 14 April 2010 the commission began its public inquiry. When the commission handed down its draft report into disability care and support on 28 February 2011 the report found that the current unmet need for support for disabled Australians was $6.3 billion and that a national disability insurance scheme should be created. This finding was reiterated in the final report to government, into disability care and support, on 31 July 2011.

The coalition has continually stated that it supports a national disability insurance scheme and has supported each step along the way, such as the initial work done by the Productivity Commission, the $1 billion put forward in the last budget and, of course, this legislation. It is common sense to implement a system which operates on a person-centred and self-directed model, thus reducing red tape and empowering individuals to decide what support they need, rather than to have to navigate the bureaucracy of state and federal assistance. The final report by the Productivity Commission states:

The benefits of the scheme would significantly outweigh the costs. … The NDIS would only have to produce an annual gain of $3,800 per participant to meet a cost-benefit test. Given the scope of the benefits, that test would be passed easily.

It was further noted in a report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers in November 2011 that a national disability insurance scheme could increase employment participation for people with a disability by 370,000 in 2050. Clearly, a national disability insurance scheme is not something that can be put to the side, that we can put on hold. It must be brought to the fore and that must happen as soon as possible. However, we must approach it with the requisite attention to detail that we would apply to any major project that this parliament would undertake. It is important that we get this right.

I recognise that, as with all registered programs, issues may arise in the future which need to be appropriately adjusted as time goes on, but we need to get the vast majority of the system right. So we need to be prepared to modify in the future as required if experience from the implementation phase indicates that changes are necessary. It requires us to consult with the Australian public, including our disability organisations, our providers, our carers and our disabled Australians. I am aware that the Senate Community Affairs Committee is currently holding an inquiry into the bill and that there are some issues that need to be investigated, including concerns about eligible participants needing to have acquired the disability prior to turning 65. I like my colleagues on this side of the House are eagerly awaiting the findings of the report when they are handed down, which I understand will be on 13 March 2013.

This bill is also only one part of the legislative framework that will govern the scheme, as the National Disability Insurance Scheme Launch Transition Agency, the organisation responsible for operating the launch site, will be governed by the National Disability Insurance Scheme rules. The rules will establish areas such as eligibility and assessment criteria and provide the finer detail as to how the scheme will operate, while the bill we are currently discussing is only the framework. It is important that we see the rules as well before the legislation is finalised. It is also important that we provide Australians with funding certainty. It is interesting to note that the annual debt interest repayments that this government is paying are nearly equivalent to the cost of the unmet need of Australians with a disability. Instead of the waste and the deficit, this money should be allocated to achieving this reform.

I also note that members of the government continue to claim that an NDIS represents only Labor values. This is inherently wrong as the scheme is a reflection of Australian values, such as giving all people a fair go and helping fellow Australians when they need a hand. Ensuring that the implementation of the scheme goes to plan is not something that just the government can claim as it is also an ambition of the coalition and of the parliament. Let us move on from party politics—it is not the most important issue. That is why the coalition has continually called for the establishment of a cross-party parliamentary committee that would be chaired by members of both major parties and would oversee the scheme's establishment and implementation. To date the government has not taken up this suggestion but I would hope that is something we could work towards in the future. We on this side of the House have offered to work in a bipartisan fashion in the best interests of all Australians on an issue that attracts support from both sides of the chamber.

A national disability insurance scheme provides an opportunity for many Australians, and it is up to us to make it happen. However, we are also tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that we deliver a well-rounded, fair and effective scheme that benefits all Australians. It is important that the message of bipartisanship that the coalition has extended to the government is received and that they reconsider the establishment of a cross-party parliamentary committee that will oversee the scheme.

Disabled Australians deserve assistance that will suitably match their needs and restore their quality of life as much as possible. I await the findings of the Senate inquiry into the bill and hope that in my role as the member for McPherson I can ensure that the voice of my constituents is heard in this discussion and that our disabled Australians get the assistance they deserve.

Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last year a young mother came to see me in my electorate office in Tuggeranong. This mother was struggling to cope with the needs of her two autistic children. Despite the availability of some very good services here in the ACT, the reality is that there are enormous financial and emotional stresses associated with raising children with disability. This young mother's life was difficult. She had no certainty about the future or what was in store for her young children. She did not know how she would be able to afford to pay for their care in the future.

Before Labor was elected, I would have had little more than kind words and compassion to comfort this young mother. But this brave mother in my electorate office was not seeing me for comfort or help or to ask me to assist with a difficult situation, which is commonly why constituents see their local members. In one of those moments that make you proud to be part of a progressive government, this mother of two children with autism wanted to thank me and the Gillard Labor government for initiating the National Disability Insurance Scheme. She had heard about the NDIS and wanted to get more information, but the main reason for her visit was to express her passion and enthusiasm for a national insurance scheme that could help parents like her. Her enthusiasm was palpable. It is not often a constituent comes to see you to say, 'Congratulations; this is life-changing legislation,' but that is what happened with that young mother that day, and, through a few tears, she also had plenty of smiles.

In August last year, I heard similar sentiments when the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Senator Jan McLucas, joined my colleague the member for Fraser and I at an NDIS forum here in Canberra. At this forum, we heard very troubling stories about the lack of services, of people only being able to be bathed twice a week and of families in crisis and struggling. It was incredible to watch as Senator McLucas explained how the NDIS will work and what it meant to those at the forum. The people attending the forum started talking about the possibility of improved outcomes for their children. They told us how this would ease pressures on their families and their relationships. I heard directly from people with a disability, who told me they will now have choice and greater control over the support they will receive. I also heard about the hope of families and those with a disability when they talked about having choice over their care for the first time. Most importantly, many of those who attended these NDIS forums like the one held here in Canberra were involved in the consultation process or were able to have input through the government's website. There was an NDIS advisory group and NDIS expert groups, who gave the government valuable technical advice on the design of key elements of the scheme. Their advice was in areas such as eligibility and assessment, quality safeguards and standards, a national approach to choice and control for people with disability, and workforce and sector capacity.

But we did more. The government also funded the National Disability and Carer Alliance to go out and talk to people with a disability and their families and carers as well as their service providers. We wanted to find out what they thought was important in the design and implementation of the scheme—because it was vital to the outcome that so many people were able to have input into the NDIS design and implementation process. It means the disability sector has a large degree of ownership of this scheme. It is in large part created by them to meet their needs. The outcome of the lengthy and involved consultation process is that, for real people facing real challenges, their lives now look a lot better, thanks to this bold and innovative initiative of Labor.

While some in the media like to focus on peripheral issues, we are here today introducing legislation that will forever change the lives of millions of Australians. This is truly landmark legislation and policy. This is the type of policy that will be held up in the future as one of the great legacies of the Gillard Labor government. (Time expired)

Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour. The member for Canberra will have leave to continue speaking when the debate is resumed.