Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A couple of months ago, I spoke in this place about a constituent of mine, Michael Luciano. Michael is 13 and has severe global delay, epilepsy and cerebral palsy. It seems that, like a lot of people, his mum and his dad have been put through the wringer by the NDIS. A year ago, the National Disability Insurance Agency approved his NDIS plan, which included funding for a standing frame. According to Michael's physiotherapist, this is needed to help Michael walk again after a hip operation that he underwent last year. A year on, and Michael's mum and dad are still waiting for the standing frame that they need to help Michael to walk again.

In May this year, the NDIA told Michael's mum and dad that they have decided not to fund the standing frame for Michael. They made this decision, they said, because Michael was not able to use a standing frame for more than 30 minutes a day. That seems fair enough. The only problem with that is that Michael's mum and dad tell me that that is factually wrong. They say that he can use a standing frame for a lot more than 30 minutes a day. They've currently got a leased standing frame at home. It's too small for him and doesn't have all the functions that he needs, but I'm told by his mum and dad that he can use it for at least an hour a day, sometimes twice a day. So, it's a simple mistake—one that you think should be able to be easily fixed.

As I said, I've spoken about Michael's case in this place before. In June, I wrote to the minister responsible for the NDIS, Christian Porter, and asked him to intervene to fix it up. I've now got a letter back from the minister, but all the letter does is repeat the claims that were made by the NDIA before: that Michael can stand in a standing frame for only a maximum of 30 minutes. It seems that no-one in the NDIA or in the minister's office has even bothered to read the letter I wrote. I said in that letter what Michael's parents had told me, which is that he can use a standing frame for more than an hour a day. If the NDIA doesn't think that that's right, wouldn't you think that, over the last few months, they would have organised for Michael to be independently tested? It would seem to me that that would be the sensible thing to do, but it hasn't happened. All we've got is this letter saying that the things his parents tell me are factually wrong. That's not good enough. Decisions like this mean that Michael could be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

There are more and more cases like Michael's that are starting to come through my door. Families are telling me that there are problems with the NDIS. We've got to get this right. It's a great initiative and it has so much promise. We can't afford to let people like Michael down. So, I urge the government, I urge the minister and I urge the NDIA to please have a look at this again, and please organise some independent testing of what Michael's mum and dad are saying so that he gets the services that he needs.