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Down Syndrome NSW
Level 6/410 Church St, North Parramatta
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T: 9841 444


Monday 30 March 2015

News and commentary on the NDIS (30)

The Commonwealth Department of Social Services and State and Territory Government Officials invite you to participate in our public consultation for a national framework on quality and safeguarding for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

The consultation paper was released by the Disability Reform Council on 16 February 2015. A copy of the paper including an easy English version, fact-sheets and framework summary are located on engage.dss.gov.au
The consultation will provide an overview of the quality and safeguarding framework, and you will have the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback.

Details of the NSW consultation are as follows (other dates and locations nationally are here):
Sydney Monday, 13 April 2015
Newcastle Tuesday, 14 April 2015 
To assist us with venue and meeting management, we request that you register here.
If you require an Auslan interpreter or a hearing loop, please register and let us know which of these supports you require no later than 5 business days before the event. This will allow us to make the necessary arrangements to have these supports available.

Your participation will be valuable to us. We hope that you will join us as we would like to hear your thoughts on quality and safeguarding for the NDIS and how this may affect you.

If you cannot attend a public consultation, you may wish to make a submission or join the discussion online. The closing date for submissions and other contributions is 30 April 2015.

Clare Colley, Canberra Times, 27th March 2015
Bureaucratic "gobbledygook", a lack of respite and transport funding, and inexperienced planners are just some of the problems creating anxiety around the National Disability Insurance Scheme, participants have told a public hearing into the ACT roll-out.

While some had positive comments about the life-changing scheme, the bulk of the evidence before the joint parliamentary committee was negative with complaints of lengthy waits for assessment by planners with little knowledge of complex disabilities ...

Clare Colley, Sydney Morning Herald, 24th March 2015
People with a disability would be at risk of poor quality support and struggle to find a place with providers if service prices remain too low, a disability peak body warns.

Pricing has been just one of the problems identified in the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in the ACT, National Disability Services chief executive Ken Baker said ...


El Gibbs, Sydney Morning Herald, 23rd March 2015
... There are about 400,000 people with a disability in NSW, with up to 240,000 having a high degree of disability, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. With 140,000 people expected to be eligible for the NDIS, what will happen to the other 260,000 people? Where will they get support? ...
Jim Simpson, Every Australian Counts, 12th March 2015
A central aim of the NDIS is to provide equity of access to disability support. The terrible inequities of the past where access to disability support was based on rationing and queues should be banished. However, does the scheme as so far designed ensure equity of access for all people with disability or only for those people who have the awareness and understanding to seek out the NDIS or have family advocates to support them with this? Many people with disability are not in this position ...


NSW CID Member Speaks Out About Privatisation of NSW Government Disability Services
NSW Council for Intellectual Disability (blog), 23rd March 2015
This month, NSW CID Member Barbara Spode speaks out about the privatisation of NSW Government Disability Services and what she feels will be the result for her daughter India.

NSW CID most certainly agrees that the specialist services and professional skills which are particularly important for people with complex behavioural and health needs, must not be lost with the transfer of services to the non-government sector ...

Q2 Report
The NDIA reports every quarter on its operations. The Q2 Y2 report, published on 20 February, covers the period up to 31 December 2014.
To read the reports click here

NSW confirms bi-partisan approach to NDIS
Every Australian Counts, 25th February 2015
Bipartisan political support for the continuing roll out of the NDIS was strongly in evidence at the recent NSW conference of non-government support providers, National Disability Services ...

Fears young people in nursing homes will miss out on NDIS
Linda Belardi, Australian Ageing Agenda, 18th February 2015
Most of Australia’s 6,000 young people living in residential aged care will miss out on the National Disability Insurance Scheme as many lack the skills, advocacy and support networks to access the scheme, a senate inquiry has been told ...

NDIS transitions behind schedule NDIA quarterly report reveals
Clare Colley, Canberra Times, 20th February 2015
The number of Canberrans eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme has been dramatically underestimated, the latest progress report shows ...

National Disability Insurance Scheme: citizens' jury decides whether the billions are being well spent
Rachel Browne, Sydney Morning Herald, 20th February 2015
Participants in trials for the National Disability Insurance Scheme have told of both frustration and fulfillment with the multi-billion dollar program which is being rolled out to 400,000 Australians.

Sixteen randomly-selected trial participants have given their evidence to a citizens' jury of 12 people in a three-day hearing in Sydney organised by People with Disability Australia ...


Housing: the big sleeper
Every Australian Counts, 19th February 2015
Anyone with a disability will tell you that finding affordable, accessible housing is next to impossible. There are huge wait lists, too many young people in nursing homes and growing numbers of older parents despairing what will happen to their children when they can’t care for them anymore ...


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