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Monday 1 July 2013

News and commentary on how the NDIS will work at the front lines (3)

Today is THE day - DisabilityCare Australia, the long anticipated National Disability Insurance Scheme launches across all States and Territories except Western Australia (which is yet to sign up for it with the Commonwealth).




DisabilityCare Australia, June 2013
Fact sheets for participants in the Hunter launch site - available in standard and easy English.

DisabilityCare Australia: The national disability insurance scheme
Gillian Bennett and Jayne Margetts, ABC News online, 28th June 2013
Case study: Caytlin Weir needs support on a daily basis to shower, eat and to commute to and from work and university.The 26-year-old social work student, from Belmont in New South Wales, has cerebral palsy.She hopes the national disability insurance scheme - DisabilityCare Australia - will make her more independent."I am going to feel more in control over my life," she said.

Alison Branley, Newcastle Herald, 27th June 2013
Leigh Creighton's dream in life is to walk in the front door of his house after work and say: "honey, I'm home". The desire for a job, a wife and a family is closer than ever for the 35-year-old under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

NDIS Board and Advisory Council NamedProBono Australia News, 20th June 2013
Long-standing champion of disability reform in Australia and President of Philanthropy Australia, Bruce Bonyhady AM, has been appointed as the inaugural Chair of the Board of DisabilityCare Australia. The Federal Government made the announcement saying the Board will set the strategic direction of DisabilityCare Australia and will play an important role in safeguarding its financial sustainability, including by commissioning and considering actuarial advice in its decisions.

Govt called to account for NDIS discrimination
Ashley Hall, PM (ABC Radio), 10th June 2013
A parliamentary committee wants the Federal Government to justify its decision to exclude some long-term residents from the National Disability Insurance Scheme. New Zealanders in Australia will be funding the scheme by paying the Medicare levy, but many of them won't be allowed to access it.

Generational change looms for community business
Rebecca Marshall, Sunshine Coast Daily, 11th June 2013
... The National Disability Insurance Scheme is centred on the client, not the organisation, so the whole funding model in aged, home and disability care is changing. ... But they are going to have to have an entirely new funding model to deal with this new service model and that means all the skills and knowledge of their workers needs to change. Otherwise they won't survive. They will become obsolete.

Alison Branley, Newcastle Herald, 13th June 2013
Four hundred new people will be eligible for disability services in the first year of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in Newcastle when it launches in the Hunter. The head of the NSW launch, Rob Watkins, told a meeting in Newcastle on Wednesday night the first 3000 people in the Newcastle local government area to benefit would include 2600 current clients of the NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care and equivalent federal department. That left 400 places for new clients.

National Disability Insurance Scheme update 44
FaHCSIA, 14th June 2013
... The National Institute of Labour Studies at Flinders University ...  has been selected to conduct an independent expert evaluation of the DisabilityCare Australia launch over the next three years. The evaluation will help inform the future rollout of DisabilityCare Australia, and will provide us with invaluable insight into what works and what refinements might needed to the scheme ...  a separate division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) (will) conduct independent reviews of decisions made by DisabilityCare Australia. This will ensure that people who request an independent review will be seen by AAT members experienced in considering DisabilityCare decisions and working with people with disability.

Alison Branley, Newcastle Herald, 17th June 2013
The federal Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs said it would have controls in place to prevent and detect fraud when the sector moves to roll out its fee-for-service model from July 1, which begins with the Hunter.

At long last, the barriers are coming down 
Cec Shevel, Newcastle Herald, 28th June, 2013.
One of the most challenging comments I used to hear when I began my career in social work over 40years ago was from parents who would say they hoped their son or daughter with a disability would die before they did. I found the comment challenging because these parents were saying they did not trust the rest of us to provide the necessary care and support following the death of the parent. With the NDIS, my hope is that these concerns will finally be addressed.

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