NDIS

[sptrawler]

Don't know how this is going to work out, The NDIS cost is the biggest blow out imaginable and now this.

Lack of help for people outside NDIS ‘simply unconscionable’: Scheme architect

If the NDIS is to be affordable, support needs to improve for those not in it, especially children with developmental delays, Bruce Bonyhady says.

www.smh.com.au

An original architect of the National Disability Insurance Scheme says the lack of help for Australians outside the scheme – particularly those with mental illness or children with developmental delays – is “simply unconscionable”.
Professor Bruce Bonyhady, who is now co-chairing a review of the scheme, told a seminar discussing his review’s interim findings on Monday that “only one thing is certain” for Australians who need support but aren’t at a level where they can access the NDIS.

 

[SirRumpole]

Don't know how this is going to work out, The NDIS cost is the biggest blow out imaginable and now this.

Lack of help for people outside NDIS ‘simply unconscionable’: Scheme architect

If the NDIS is to be affordable, support needs to improve for those not in it, especially children with developmental delays, Bruce Bonyhady says.

www.smh.com.au

An original architect of the National Disability Insurance Scheme says the lack of help for Australians outside the scheme – particularly those with mental illness or children with developmental delays – is “simply unconscionable”.
Professor Bruce Bonyhady, who is now co-chairing a review of the scheme, told a seminar discussing his review’s interim findings on Monday that “only one thing is certain” for Australians who need support but aren’t at a level where they can access the NDIS.

Well, you have to draw the line somewhere and some people will always miss out.

The NDIS should be means tested to ensure that the people who really need it but can't afford it can get help, and those who can afford to pay do.

 

[macca]

Well, you have to draw the line somewhere and some people will always miss out.

The NDIS should be means tested to ensure that the people who really need it but can't afford it can get help, and those who can afford to pay do.

It needs to be followed through as well, reviews need to happen so that disabled people can live a "normal" life style.

By doing this, we can better utilize funds for those who require extra help.

NDIS should not mean personal servants to attend to every need like the rich and famous which is happening in some cases now.

Yet others who really do need 247 assistance don't get enough funding to last 6 months.

Very uneven funding ATM and needs urgent creation of funding guidelines for the staff to use.

 

[sptrawler]

Well the NDIS saga continues to unfold.

‘Growing sense of crisis’: Overhaul needed for NDIS or support will wane, review says

Without change, the cost of the NDIS will continue to grow at an unsustainable rate, undermining political support for the scheme, an expert says.

www.theage.com.au

The cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme is growing at an unsustainable rate and unless it has an overhaul, political support for the scheme is at risk, a global expert on disability support systems has warned.
Dr Simon Duffy said it was concerning that the NDIS seemed to keep growing as a share of GDP, with the scheme’s latest annual financial sustainability report projecting expenses to increase from 1.48 per cent of GDP in 2022-23 to 2.55 per cent in 2031-32.

In a report released on Tuesday, Duffy said that without urgent reform, the spiralling cost of the NDIS would almost certainly undermine political support for the scheme and put Australia’s commitment to disability rights at risk.
“Today, the considerable achievements of the NDIS are being overshadowed by a growing sense of crisis,” Duffy and co-author Dr Mark Brown, an NDIS participant and researcher at the Summer Foundation, say in the report.

The report was commissioned by Disability Advocacy Network Australia as part of its contribution to a government-commissioned independent review of the $35.1 billion NDIS.
“In our view, the NDIS is a world-leading development in disability rights; but it suffers from a significant design flaw, which we fear will make the NDIS unsustainable if it is not urgently addressed,” the report says.

It identifies five major problems, including that the overall budget for the NDIS is open-ended, which means when costs increase, they must be passed on to the taxpayers.

“This becomes a critical weakness if costs are not effectively controlled elsewhere,” the report says.

It says the NDIS creates uncertainty for people, with support packages determined using opaque rules and providing no long-term security.
“The built-in system of annual or two-yearly reviews (reviews which might radically reduce or remove your budget) is one of the most peculiar features of the NDIS, especially as the NDIS is defined as being for people with ‘permanent impairments’,” it says.
The report also says the National Disability Insurance Agency reduces funding if there are other forms of support available in the community, which has led to states and civil society organisations withdrawing support and helping people make successful claims against the NDIS instead.
“The poor experiences of people using the NDIS and the ever-growing costs of the NDIS are two sides of the same problem: a badly designed system that creates cost inflation and undermines responsible action at every level,” it says.
NDIS participants should have clear budgets, increased security of funding and much more flexibility in how they can use their budgets, according to the report.

“If people know that their funding is unlikely to radically change, unless there was a significant change in health or in level of need, then people could plan properly, take risks and explore what works best for themselves,” it says.
The authors say they hope Australians with disabilities can work with the government to agree on urgent changes necessary to ensure the sustainability of the NDIS, which could include reaching agreement on the overall level of funding needed.
Brown said the government had flagged that it was going to limit spending on the NDIS.
“The disability community has got to negotiate among themselves and with the government on behalf of taxpayers about the best way to make use of limited resources,” Brown said.
He called for a more consistent approach to allocating funding under the NDIS.
“As people with disabilities, we might be better off negotiating in a more collective way, rather than each person going into a planning meeting and justifying why them having a certain number of showers a week or a wheelchair is reasonable and necessary,” he said.
The review of the disability insurance scheme was announced by NDIS Minister Bill Shorten in October. A final report is expected by this October.
Disability Advocacy Network Australia said it had commissioned the report to obtain an international perspective on the NDIS and galvanise debate within the Australian disability community.
Chief executive Jeff Smith said all indications were that the NDIS review would lead to fundamental changes to the scheme, and the network wanted to help inform the debate.

“If there is going to be change, it’s people with disability who need to be sitting at the table making sure the change works for them,” he said.
Smith said the report had made it clear that while the purpose of the NDIS was world leading, design flaws undercut the sustainability and legitimacy of the scheme.
Disability rights lawyer Natalie Wade said she welcomed the report’s focus on redesigning the NDIS to fulfil the human rights of people with disabilities.
“The budget setting of the NDIS is tricky and it requires input from many levels of government, in a conversation led by people with disabilities,” Wade said.

 

[sptrawler]

Bill is getting the job done, I noticed the NDIS that opened around the corner, is now empty, had a coat of paint and up for lease.

Shorten flags autism changes, says NDIS ‘can’t be surrogate school system’

Federal and state governments are considering the findings of an independent review seeking to make the $40 billion scheme more sustainable.

www.smh.com.au

A diagnosis of autism is unlikely to be enough to guarantee future access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme as the government prepares to clarify that individualised packages were designed only for Australians with profound disabilities.

As federal and state governments this month consider the findings of an independent review seeking to make the $40 billion scheme more sustainable, Bill Shorten, the minister responsible for the scheme, gave a series of radio interviews flagging changes to the way children would access autism support once ministers worked through the review’s recommendations.

 

[sptrawler]

Bill is getting the job done, I noticed the NDIS that opened around the corner, is now empty, had a coat of paint and up for lease.

Shorten flags autism changes, says NDIS ‘can’t be surrogate school system’

Federal and state governments are considering the findings of an independent review seeking to make the $40 billion scheme more sustainable.

www.smh.com.au

A diagnosis of autism is unlikely to be enough to guarantee future access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme as the government prepares to clarify that individualised packages were designed only for Australians with profound disabilities.

As federal and state governments this month consider the findings of an independent review seeking to make the $40 billion scheme more sustainable, Bill Shorten, the minister responsible for the scheme, gave a series of radio interviews flagging changes to the way children would access autism support once ministers worked through the review’s recommendations.

And while on the one hand, they are trying to reign in costs, it pops out on another, for everyone that gets pulled off the teat another jumps on. This is the problem with an entitled society everyone eventually becomes entitled, except those who work.
They're just lucky they have a job and are able to pay for what they want, well it is getting harder, but I suppose they can get a third job.

Health department to consider funding gender-affirming surgery under Medicare

An application seeks to establish 21 items for procedures such as chest surgery and genital configuration, for people who experience gender incongruence.

www.smh.com.au

Gender-affirming procedures such as chest surgery and genital reconfiguration would be subsidised by Medicare under a push to improve mental health and quality of life for transgender people.
The federal health department will consider an application from the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons that seeks to establish 21 Medicare items for gender-affirming surgeries for people who have gender incongruence, in which a person’s experience of gender does not align with how they were born.

Oh what a mess.
What is the end game? When there is no point in going to work, because all you are doing is working to keep the sausage machine working and you after outgoings aren't getting ahead.
Interesting times.
This wont end well IMO.

 

[sptrawler]

NDIS review recommends changes to access through need, not diagnosis

Creating more services outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and hinging access on impairment instead of medical diagnosis are among the key recommendations from a long-awaited review.

www.abc.net.au

From the article:

Creating more services outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), including support for children with developmental delays, and hinging access on impairment instead of medical diagnosis, are among the key recommendations from a long-awaited review.

Today's 329-page report made 26 recommendations to be implemented over the next five years.

Australians would no longer have automatic access to the NDIS based on specified medical diagnoses, but would have to prove they had "significant functional impairment".

The review called for the removal of "access lists" which provide automatic entry to the scheme, including for conditions like autism diagnosed at level 2 under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Instead, it called for entry to be based on "significant functional impairment and need", which is the impact the disability has on a person's life.

Annual NDIS spending has grown to more than $35 billion, becoming the second-most expensive federal program after the aged pension.

The federal government plans to reduce the scheme's growth rate to 8 per cent, in an effort to bring down costs.

The current growth trajectory of 14 per cent would see spending on the scheme reach $97 billion by 2032-33.

 

[DB008]

NDIS is Pink Batts 4.0 on roids.

It's a scam.

I know several people who use it, and it's basically a bottomless pit of what you want, you can get. Need therapy for A or B, put a pool in. Get people to mow your laws etc etc.

 

[qldfrog]

NDIS is Pink Batts 4.0 on roids.

It's a scam.

I know several people who use it, and it's basically a bottomless pit of what you want, you can get. Need therapy for A or B, put a pool in. Get people to mow your laws etc etc.

This NDIS is an absolute disaster

And 22% higher than expected new participants..not aging boomers but kids..a bunch of declared r*****?, disabled thru polio ravage or Covid pseudovax? No....
So self declared dairy gluten and work intolerant?
Anyway no country and even less Australia can support these figures..worse than the subs...
The Olympics are pocket money...

 

[qldfrog]

This NDIS is an absolute disasterView attachment 169756
And 22% higher than expected new participants..not aging boomers but kids..a bunch of declared r*****?, disabled thru polio ravage or Covid pseudovax? No....
So self declared dairy gluten and work intolerant?
Anyway no country and even less Australia can support these figures..worse than the subs...
The Olympics are pocket money...

And from the article, the average cost per participant is 2.63m AUD..yeap..
So bringing $0 to the country but 3 of these spending more than my family in a lifetime.ffs.

 

[sptrawler]

This NDIS is an absolute disasaster

Well it was obvious from when it was announced that it was going to blow out, in the very beginning I said this will make the aged pension look like ash tray money, another well intended initiative that derails. Education, Apprenticeships, Teaching, Nursing, NBN, NDIS, great intentions, questionable outcomes.

 

[sptrawler]

Just when it looked like Bill had got on top of the hemorrhaging, it blows out of another artery.
At least the designers of the system, get to fine tune it, at last.

From an ABC article, I didn't post the link because it had a faulty headline.

Thousands more children are on the National Disability Insurance Scheme than was forecast just six months ago as families rush to secure funding ahead of major changes to how children with autism and developmental delays receive government support.

Data for the December quarter shows the cost of the NDIS – one of Labor’s biggest budget pressures – is continuing to blow out as demand from families surges. The scheme cost $20.4 billion over the past six months, 2 per cent above projections from June, as more Australians joined than expected and their support payments also grew above forecasts.

Children with developmental delay were the main drivers of growth as 9519 more children – or 11 per cent – were on the scheme than had been assumed. The average payment for those children over the six months, $14,000 per participant, was also 19 per cent more than expected in June.
The latest data underscores the urgency of last year’s national cabinet commitment between state and federal governments to establish a new system of so-called “foundational supports” so parents can find help for their children without joining the NDIS, which will cost $100 billion in a decade without change.

But it also demonstrates the enormity of the challenge facing NDIS Minister Bill Shorten – whose agency avoided scrutiny over the figures when it did not bring them to a Senate estimates hearing earlier this week – as he tries to temper growth rates so the scheme remains sustainable for Australians with the most significant disabilities.
More than 9 per cent of five to seven-year-old Australian children were NDIS participants as of December 31, with 12.4 per cent of boys and 5.5 per cent of girls that age accessing support. For NDIS participants under 18, the most prevalent disabilities are autism and developmental delay.

The scheme now serves 646,449 Australians, a 2 per cent increase from the previous quarter.

The report said the main challenges for the NDIS’s financial sustainability were high numbers of children with developmental delay entering the scheme, as well as growing numbers of adults with autism. Increasing average plan budgets – which grew at an annualised rate of 14.4 per cent between June and December – are the other pressure point.

Shorten said the jump in numbers late last year could have come from families rushing to join the scheme before changes took place.
“It’s always the case that when you say that we’re going to reform the scheme, that there’ll be a bit of nervousness and people might rush to try and get on the scheme before they think it shuts,” he said on ABC’s Radio National on Friday.
“I don’t begrudge a parent who wants to just get the best they can for their child. I don’t begrudge that at all.”
But he said the NDIS was not built to help all children with autism or developmental delays, and the new foundational support system would be crucial in offering “less intensive supports for kids whose needs aren’t as great, but do need support as they deal with a non-standard developmental journey”.

“I think once people realise that it’s not all or nothing, then I think everyone will be less anxious,” he said.
Loading
“All of our changes are about years, not months or weeks. And if we’re going to improve the rate of growth of the scheme, then we have to build supports outside the scheme. So, nothing happens overnight. The scheme under Labor’s plans will continue to grow. There’ll be more people on it and there’ll be more invested in it.”

 

[SirRumpole]

Just when it looked like Bill had got on top of the hemorrhaging, it blows out of another artery.
At least the designers of the system, get to fine tune it, at last.

From an ABC article, I didn't post the link because it had a faulty headline.

Thousands more children are on the National Disability Insurance Scheme than was forecast just six months ago as families rush to secure funding ahead of major changes to how children with autism and developmental delays receive government support.

Data for the December quarter shows the cost of the NDIS – one of Labor’s biggest budget pressures – is continuing to blow out as demand from families surges. The scheme cost $20.4 billion over the past six months, 2 per cent above projections from June, as more Australians joined than expected and their support payments also grew above forecasts.

Children with developmental delay were the main drivers of growth as 9519 more children – or 11 per cent – were on the scheme than had been assumed. The average payment for those children over the six months, $14,000 per participant, was also 19 per cent more than expected in June.
The latest data underscores the urgency of last year’s national cabinet commitment between state and federal governments to establish a new system of so-called “foundational supports” so parents can find help for their children without joining the NDIS, which will cost $100 billion in a decade without change.

But it also demonstrates the enormity of the challenge facing NDIS Minister Bill Shorten – whose agency avoided scrutiny over the figures when it did not bring them to a Senate estimates hearing earlier this week – as he tries to temper growth rates so the scheme remains sustainable for Australians with the most significant disabilities.
More than 9 per cent of five to seven-year-old Australian children were NDIS participants as of December 31, with 12.4 per cent of boys and 5.5 per cent of girls that age accessing support. For NDIS participants under 18, the most prevalent disabilities are autism and developmental delay.

The scheme now serves 646,449 Australians, a 2 per cent increase from the previous quarter.

The report said the main challenges for the NDIS’s financial sustainability were high numbers of children with developmental delay entering the scheme, as well as growing numbers of adults with autism. Increasing average plan budgets – which grew at an annualised rate of 14.4 per cent between June and December – are the other pressure point.

Shorten said the jump in numbers late last year could have come from families rushing to join the scheme before changes took place.
“It’s always the case that when you say that we’re going to reform the scheme, that there’ll be a bit of nervousness and people might rush to try and get on the scheme before they think it shuts,” he said on ABC’s Radio National on Friday.
“I don’t begrudge a parent who wants to just get the best they can for their child. I don’t begrudge that at all.”
But he said the NDIS was not built to help all children with autism or developmental delays, and the new foundational support system would be crucial in offering “less intensive supports for kids whose needs aren’t as great, but do need support as they deal with a non-standard developmental journey”.

“I think once people realise that it’s not all or nothing, then I think everyone will be less anxious,” he said.
Loading
“All of our changes are about years, not months or weeks. And if we’re going to improve the rate of growth of the scheme, then we have to build supports outside the scheme. So, nothing happens overnight. The scheme under Labor’s plans will continue to grow. There’ll be more people on it and there’ll be more invested in it.”

Its a tough plan to manage, but Labor let the genie out of the bottle and now they have to squeeze it back again.

 

[sptrawler]

Its a tough plan to manage, but Labor let the genie out of the bottle and now they have to squeeze it back again.

Spot on, it isn't easy to put the lid on the cookie jar, when people think the cookies are free.
The problem is someone has to pay for it, a lot of issues that were dealt with in the home, are now someone else's problem.
I'm not saying it isn't something that people shouldn't receive help and help was available, it is just as normal when the drum roll and money throwing turns up, so do the not so deserving.

 

[sptrawler]

Bill is doing a great job of sorting out the NDIS.

Government launches NDIS taskforce to crack down on providers overcharging participants

NDIS participants exploited by unfair price hikes can now report price gouging to a new taskforce.

www.abc.net.au

NDIS participants being exploited by unfair price hikes can now report price gouging to a new taskforce.

The federal government has launched a crack down on illegal overcharging, led by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which will be able to investigate providers who impose an "NDIS 'wedding tax'" and jack up prices just because someone is on the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten vowed to put "shonky" providers who extorted people with a disability out of business, saying some people had made themselves millionaires by rorting taxpayer funds for disability services.

 

[sptrawler]

Its a tough plan to manage, but Labor let the genie out of the bottle and now they have to squeeze it back again.

Yes, it looks like Bill is trying to squeeze it into the States bottles.
It was always going to huge, it will probably end up bigger than medicare, everyone has some sort of problem be it a gammy leg, a bad back, some result from an accident, the cost is starting to make everyone nervous.
At least Labor are in office, so changes can be made, otherwise the costs will become massive.

Premiers revolt over federal NDIS law, fearing cost time bomb

The premiers convened a sudden meeting on Monday night to urge a rethink on the controversial proposal to set up a new state-based disability system.

www.smh.com.au

State premiers are seeking urgent changes to a federal bid to overhaul the National Disability Insurance Scheme amid growing fears it will leave them with uncosted financial exposure to offset the soaring cost of the $42 billion scheme.

The push comes after the premiers convened a sudden meeting on Monday to present a united case to Canberra to rethink the controversial proposal to set up a new disability system in the states and territories for children and others who may not need to join the NDIS.

With the new disability plan to be put to federal parliament within days, the premiers want Government Services Minister Bill Shorten to amend or delay the draft law so all sides can be consulted on the full impact on an estimated 2.5 million Australians.

The extraordinary move comes after “red-hot anger” within state governments about the speed and scale of the federal changes, which aim to set up foundational services in locations such as schools and childcare centres for children to receive support without going on the NDIS.

“The amendments fundamentally change the nature of the NDIS and will increase pressure on other services,” it said.

The new state and territory disability system will be called “foundational supports” and is intended to service about 2.5 million Australians with a disability who need less intense support than the NDIS, which services 646,000 people.
In the December agreement, Albanese said the Commonwealth would cover half the costs of delivering new services through state systems, mainly health and education, while states and territories would pay the other half.

The aim is to ease demand on the NDIS by stepping up state and community-level services such as home support, aids and equipment, and psychosocial services for people with mental illness outside the scheme.
But it will have a particular focus on boosting help through schools for children with autism and developmental delay, who have been joining the scheme in rising numbers due to a lack of support in the mainstream education system.

More than 9 per cent of five- to seven-year-olds have joined the NDIS because they can’t get sufficient help outside it.
Children with developmental delay were the main drivers of the scheme’s growth last quarter, with 11 per cent more joining than had been forecast just months prior. The average payment for those children over the six months – $14,000 per participant – was also 19 per cent more than expected.

The proposed changes are central to the stated federal goal of limiting the annual growth in the NDIS to 8 per cent. The $42 billion scheme is one of the federal government’s fastest-growing budget pressures and is forecast to cost more than $100 billion in a decade unless the system is changed.

 

[mullokintyre]

Bill is doing a great job of sorting out the NDIS.

Government launches NDIS taskforce to crack down on providers overcharging participants

NDIS participants exploited by unfair price hikes can now report price gouging to a new taskforce.

www.abc.net.au

NDIS participants being exploited by unfair price hikes can now report price gouging to a new taskforce.

The federal government has launched a crack down on illegal overcharging, led by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which will be able to investigate providers who impose an "NDIS 'wedding tax'" and jack up prices just because someone is on the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten vowed to put "shonky" providers who extorted people with a disability out of business, saying some people had made themselves millionaires by rorting taxpayer funds for disability services.

If Bill is doing a great job of sorting out the NDIS, he has a funny way of doing it.
Mick

 

[sptrawler]

Well @mullokintyre I did say when it was first launched by Julia, it will become a bigger cost than the pension, at the time everyone was grizzling about the cost of the pension.

Everyone has a physical or mental problem of one sort or another, so the unknown is what the demand will be or how to set the bar to qualify for the NDIS, people getting old is a known amount, apart from the ones that don't make it.

Criminal Record Should Not Mean Access To NDIS Denied

Access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) should not be used as a means of ongoing punishment of people who have a criminal record

www.miragenews.com

 

[macca]

Well @mullokintyre I did say when it was first launched by Julia, it will become a bigger cost than the pension, at the time everyone was grizzling about the cost of the pension.

Everyone has a physical or mental problem of one sort or another, so the unknown is what the demand will be or how to set the bar to qualify for the NDIS, people getting old is a known amount, apart from the ones that don't make it.

Criminal Record Should Not Mean Access To NDIS Denied

Access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) should not be used as a means of ongoing punishment of people who have a criminal record

www.miragenews.com

As mentioned way back when it started as a trial in the Newcastle area there were No guidelines and No paperwork had been prepared to actually record day to day activities.

They did have forms to register and it was pot luck how much you got per annum

In short, it started as a dogs breakfast and went down hill from there

 

[sptrawler]

As mentioned way back when it started as a trial in the Newcastle area there were No guidelines and No paperwork had been prepared to actually record day to day activities.

They did have forms to register and it was pot luck how much you got per annum

In short, it started as a dogs breakfast and went down hill from there

Yes it isn't like the dissability pension, it is everyone with just about any kind of ailment, that requires assistance, be it mental or physical, it is always an ongoing project as new ailments become identified.

It is a great thing, but is an open ended cost, for example where we live many are getting gophers, the ongoing maintenance and depreciation of them will be an ongoing cost.

Deaf clients get things like doorbells with remote cameras, they are terrific but will require repair and replacement.

By its intention of assisting people with dissabilities to access available lifestyle improvement devices and services, it will be difficult to stop the cost growing, mental health issues and lifestyle induced illhealth problems are increasing.

Drawing a line on who is worthy and who is not, is a difficult and when things break down, ensuring the service provider isn't rorting is another thing that is hard to administrate.