“Looking Forward To The Year Ahead”
In 2024, it is highly probable that we will see major reforms to the Disability Sector, with the publication of the Disability Royal Commission’s Final Report in October this year and the release of the NDIS Review Report earlier this month.
Some of the most marginalised people in Australia were heard for the first time during the disability royal commission. Almost 10,000 people shared their stories via public hearings, submissions or private sessions. They represent thousands of others who were not heard. Many took risks to speak out. Over four years of tears and recounting trauma cannot be for nothing.
People with disability have given a lot to the commission and expectations are high for a comprehensive response and tangible action from the government. This needs to be balanced with adding layers of regulation that will do little to improve the lives of people with disability.
Findings from an extensive review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) have been released with ideas on how to transform it. Led by co-chairs Bruce Bonyhady and Lisa Paul, the review heard from around 10,000 people before making 26 recommendations with 139 supporting actions. Presenting their findings, co-chairs wrote:
We must return to the principle that NDIS eligibility is based first and foremost on functional impairment rather than medical diagnosis.
The review identified challenges including greater than expected growth and unclear criteria for reasonable and necessary supports, “which create complexity, stress, inconsistency and mistrust”.
The NDIS Review received more than 4,500 submissions from participants, their families and those that support them. The information contained within these submissions is fundamental to the review recommendations presented to government.
The Disability Royal Commission made 222 recommendations. These recommendations included the introduction of an Australian disability rights act, a new disability government portfolio, a minister for disability inclusion, and a department of disability equality and inclusion. There should be an independent national disability commission and major reforms to dismantle barriers to inclusive education, open employment, and accessible, appropriate and safe housing, the report says.
Rather than respond to specific recommendations, the government announced it would establish a taskforce for a staged response. But there is an urgent need to ensure NDIS participants with the highest level of support need – who are often the most vulnerable – have access to safe and adequate housing.
The commission heard that some 17,000 people with disability living in group homes are at significant risk of Abuse, Violence, Neglect and Exploitation.
Key Recommendations of the NDIS Review Report Included:
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The NDIS Review found while the scheme has transformed the lives of thousands of people with disability, it is not efficient or fair. Design flaws in the way the scheme operates mean the NDIS is on its way to being the most expensive disability system in the world.
The idea that disability supports are an ecosystem, and that multiple governments, departments, service sectors, and communities must share responsibility reflects the reality that people with disability are diverse and live in the real world, with all its complexities.
The NDIS review offers a new vision on how to move to a sustainable NDIS that will serve Australians into the future. The establishment of a new Disability Intergovernmental Agreement to provide supports within the NDIS and outside it is welcome. Many people with disability not on the NDIS are missing out on essential supports.
The establishment of national councils and committees to enable people with disability to advise government and people with disability and other experts to monitor performance and assess evidence should lead to greater accountability and access to better quality support.
After ten years we would expect an evidence base on what works. The proposed Disability Research and Evaluation fund must be adequately resourced to address this evidence gap and implement innovative practice.
The barometer for judging the NDIS review and the Disability Royal Commission”s Final Repot is the extent to which these reports advance a vision for a disability services sector that is anti-ableist and anti-racist, and accommodates a First Nations culture inclusive of people with disability in both word and action.
The NDIS Review Report has overarchingly recommended that is specific to First Nations people with disability which is for the establishment of an alternative commissioning process to be created in partnership with First Nations representatives, communities, participants and relevant government agencies. This can be read alongside the recommendations of the disability royal commission to make the NDIS more inclusive of First Nations decision-making in its governance and leadership.
First Nations people with disability have been lending their wisdom and voice to one inquiry or another for what has seemed like a generation. Each inquiry has delved deeply into the trauma stories from our community, but at the same time has placed decision-making on implementation into a holding pattern.
Disability community leadership and self-determination seems to be the consensus recommendation both the NDIS review and the disability royal commission have landed on. If we as a country, undertake to make positive reforms to the Disability Sector now, the benefits will be reaped for generations to come.