Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister visited the Central Coast of New South Wales on Friday, and yesterday he told this House how the NDIS is changing the lives of many people. That is certainly true; it has been positive for some. But if the Prime Minister had driven just another half an hour up the M1 to my electorate, to Dobell, I could have introduced him to the 180 people who have sought my help with the NDIS. These are people who are waiting months for access to the NDIS, months to have their plans reviewed and up to a year to access supports and services. Plans are being developed with little or no input from participants. As a result, the latest NDIS quarterly report shows nearly a third of plans are disputed as they are inadequate. Too many people are not getting the services they need, and there are not enough staff in the NDIA to help them.

While the Prime Minister was on the Central Coast visiting aged care residents, did he tell them there is no new money in this budget for aged care and that the extra 14,000 home care packages over three years will be paid for out of the existing aged care budget? There are still over 105,000 older Australians waiting for home care packages. Four-out-of-five of these people need high-care packages, as many are people living with dementia. On the Central Coast, 750 older Australians are waiting for home care packages right now. That is not good enough. This government must come clean on aged care and must fix the NDIS.