Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Hansard source

Happy anniversary to all of us; we've been doing 'NDIS Monday' every Monday all year. This is getting out of control. You would think over the entire parliamentary year we might have eventually got some information—but no. Here we are again, on the last Monday of the year, possibly the last Monday of this parliament—we don't know; it could it be the last Monday of this parliament—and there's still no information.

What worries and concerns me, and what people don't seem to remember, is that when the NDIS was set up it was, at its core, an insurance scheme. That means there was to be investment early to save costs later. That is a fundamental principle of the scheme. But the greatest increases, when you look at where they are coming from, are coming from the supported independent living side of the scheme—that is, where people live in group homes. They cannot live independently, so they live in a supported environment. We're seeing the number of supported independent living participants consistently increase. At the other end of the scale, the end of the scale where we should be having an impact, where we should be changing the trajectory of the lives of people with a disability to ensure their independence, we are seeing the government ignore that concept. They've created a list of approved and non-approved supports. The problem is that they've been so arbitrary they've failed to understand different elements of different supports.

Some of these things, on the top line, I personally, as the parent of a child with autism, don't buy into. We have equine therapy. Do I think putting a kid on a horse is going to cure autism? No, I do not. It is absolutely ridiculous that some people have been advocating equine therapy as some sort of cure for children with autism. But what has been caught up in the ban on equine therapy is services like Riding for the Disabled. They are a charitable organisation who have been around for a long time, but they are now finding it increasingly difficult to survive—in fact, they may not survive—because equine therapy is no longer on the list of approved supports.

Riding for the Disabled is about much, much more than just putting a kid on a horse. These are kids for whom, by the very nature of their autism, working together in groups and being part of a team doesn't come naturally; in fact, it's very difficult for a lot of these children. At Riding for the Disabled they get in with other children and they not only do work on the horse but do work around the horses. They help with feeding, with the stables, with the courses that are put up, with washing the horses; they take instruction; they work collaboratively. All of these are the soft skills that boost the development of a child. It may seem funny to hear about a child learning to take instruction: how could that be part of it? It's part of everyone's life. Everyone has to take instruction, and when you've got a child with autism, who finds that challenging, this is a way you can start to introduce that skill.

Then there's music therapy. When my son was diagnosed, we had OT that gave parents a set of headphones with music that, if you played it at a particular pitch, would somehow or other alleviate autism. Rubbish! Complete and utter rubbish! Music therapy is no longer on the list of supports. But what does music therapy do? It puts children in a group situation. They learn turn-taking; they learn to participate in group activity. But, on top of the skills that the child is developing, it helps the parents of that child with a disability, particularly if you've never had disability in your family, if it's a new experience to you. It's very isolating for families. Families get a chance to meet other parents of children with a parallel disability—perhaps children who normally struggle to find friends, who are excluded from activities—to find some form of social network.

Because we don't know what this government is doing—we don't know what foundational reports states are going to provide—but all of these lists of approved and non-approved supports are already in action, we have children missing out on a lot of activities. That will not aid their development and potentially puts them on a trajectory to supported independent living, not independence.

Question agreed to.