Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I want to talk about a subject that's very dear to my heart but, more importantly, critical to thousands of Australian families, and that is the National Disability Insurance Scheme. As we all know, the NDIS has been life-changing for so many Australians who live with disabilities, and their families. The NDIS was developed by Labor and will be protected by Labor, in the face of secret and not-so-secret attempts to whittle it away by those opposite in government. First they complained it was underfunded at the start—not true. Then they complained there were cost blowouts—also not true. Then they made people submit to independent assessments to make the system 'fairer'—also not true. Now, thankfully, that idea has been axed by the minister, but not until after a sustained campaign by Labor and disability advocates to get rid of these so-called 'independent' assessments. The government has finally worked out that they are not able to attack the NDIS without people being up in arms.

But they're cutting people's plans; we know that for sure. They are cutting people's plans arbitrarily and saying, 'Well, if you don't like it, go to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.' This is a process that is costly, time-consuming and, frankly, should not be necessary at all. We heard yesterday in Senate estimates just what is going on with the AAT. It is disgraceful. For the past few months, my office has been inundated with requests from vulnerable people needing assistance to navigate the NDIS. People are suffering and, quite frankly, they're desperate. It's not just participants with packages who are being affected; it's coordinators and support workers who are seeing that the NDIS is under attack. The NDIS is supposed to be about choice and control, enabling participants to live free and meaningful lives. Their lives are losing meaning as they try to navigate this terrible system.

One of the many people who has contacted me about the NDIS is Sam, a mother of four. Sam became aware of her son's disability when he was very young. At age three, after much persistence back and forth with local doctors, her son was provided with a diagnosis of autism. Like all concerned parents, Sam immediately started looking for measures that needed to be put in place to help her son. This included critical supports such as speech therapy, support with emotional regulation, and sensory processing. At age five, her son received his first NDIS package, and Sam was able to afford these vital supports. She was then able to start looking at other issues, such as food aversion and access to psychologists. However, Sam said that in no time at all the funding from the first package was exhausted. The second package she received was an increase, so that was good. She was able to access occupational therapy as well.

However, to Sam's distress, at her next review her package was cut by 60 per cent. There was just no rhyme or reason to it. This is despite her using up most of the funding from the previous year. Sam was told she would need to choose. The choice was between supporting her son with speech pathology and supporting her son with motor skills development. They were both important, but she could not have both. In Sam's own words, she was 'gobsmacked', she was 'heartbroken'. How could the NDIS possibly justify this? This is a very good question, Sam, and the government must provide you with an answer. I am hearing over and over again the human cost of ripping away support from people with a disability.

Another constituent told me that her daughter's funding for speech therapy had been halved. Another constituent has been told by their coordinator that weekly speech lessons are of no benefit to a child who is deaf and has an intellectual disability. 'Are they joking?' she asks. Two people have said their plans have been halved. Another person said that theirs had been cut by three-quarters. In her words, 'I've only managed to keep it together because I've got a wonderful medical professional who is trying everything they can to fix it.' Another person told me: 'Our plan last year was $25,000. This year, it's less than $5,000. We've only got $300 left.' This is just so distressing. It's outrageous. This is a campaign to cut the supports of people who need it the most. The government seems to be oblivious, or maybe they're not; maybe they just don't care about people on the NDIS.