By Melissa Meehan
IT WILL change lives.
It already has.
The Federal Government’s announcement of the launch of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, better known as the NDIS, has given hope to many disabled individuals and the families that care for them.
No longer will ageing parents pray that their disabled children pass before they do in fear they will slip through the cracks.
The NDIS will stop that.
No longer will young disabled people be forced to live in aged care homes, because the NDIS will allow them to afford a level of care in their own homes.
And Pakenham disability organisation Outlook CEO Tony Fitzgerald couldn’t be happier.
“We are over the moon,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
“It’s a credit to the government to get $1.1 billion in a very tight budget.
“The whole disability sector is delighted.”
Every Australian Counts Victorian campaign co-ordinator James O’Brien said people with disabilities, their families and carers could look forward to a brighter future under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
“The commitment to the NDIS by the Federal Government is a very good start and means that 20,000 people with serious disabilities, their families and carers will get a decent level of support that meets their individual needs by 2014,” he said.
“This is a good foundation on which to build the NDIS, which will help fix the current system condemned last year by the Productivity Commission as inequitable, underfunded, fragmented, and inefficient and gives people with a disability little choice.”
Mr O’Brien said the funding for the NDIS followed the staging of rallies around Australia last month where over 15,000 people demanded that our political leaders made the NDIS Real.
The Federal Government’s initial investment will cover the total administration and running costs for the first stage of an NDIS. States and territories that host the initial locations will also be required to contribute to the cost of personal care and support for people with disability.
It’s good news for McMillan MP Russell Broadbent, who has been pushing the importance of the NDIS for years.
“It was always going to be a long road, but we now have both sides committed to the process,” he said.
“We’ve come along way and a lot of that is thanks to the work of Outlook CEO Tony Fitzgerald and his team, their hard work should be commended.”
How it works
* The productivity commission found 410,000 Australians needed the support of a National Disability Scheme.
* This funding ($1.1 billion) will help 10,000 people in the first year, and another 20,000 in the next year over four sites across the country.
* Half of the funding will be used to create infrastructure for the scheme, and this includes setting up IT, training staff and other set up costs.
* A local example of this would see Outlook doubling the number of people they service in the community.
* They don’t have the staff, space or technology to deal with such an increase.
