Page 1427 - Week 05 - Thursday, 13 May 2021
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The consultation undertaken by the National Disability Insurance Agency on independent assessments has not been genuine. The announcements made on the successful assessment panel the day after the consultation round occurred did not reassure people with disability that this is a true and effective consultation. I note that the CEO of some of the parent and subsidiary companies with contracts to carry out independent assessments is a former CEO of the NDIA from around the time that independent assessments first began to be pursued as a policy idea. Contracts already awarded to roll out these independent assessments total $339 million.
The introduction of independent assessments must not be assumed to be inevitable or necessary. It is imperative to the future of the scheme that the NDIA and the commonwealth have more meaningful consultations and address the concerns and questions of people with disability as a priority. I will keep asking for that consultation at every opportunity I get, and I will do everything I can to demonstrate by example how the ACT government properly codesigns and consults with people with disabilities when we make legislative and program changes.
On 15 April of this year, disability ministers from across the country met at the disability reform ministers meeting and discussed the proposed changes to the NDIS. In that meeting I asked that the independent assessment pilot cease immediately. Instead, focus should be given to genuine consultation and codesign on the future of the NDIS, and the nature and extent of legislative and operational reforms. It is disappointing that this did not occur and that the concerns that I expressed on behalf of the ACT community were dismissed. I will continue to advocate loudly that people with disability remain at the centre of the NDIS and that the fundamental principles of choice and control are maintained. But beyond that, people with disability deserve continuity of service through providers and professionals.
The ACT government takes on roles within disability policy in areas that fall outside the jurisdiction of the NDIS or those that are consistently falling through the gaps. Programs like the ACT government’s integrated service response program are a government response to some of those gaps. The ISRP provides short-term case coordination and emergency funding to purchase interim supports and services from non-government providers for ISRP participants, including people who may not be eligible for the NDIS. The ISRP works with the National Disability Insurance Agency, ACT government directorates and ACT community service providers to resolve crises for ACT residents with disability whose complex support needs are not being met. Since the ISRP began in November 2018, 224 referrals have been received. ISRP case coordination and emergency funding have improved the outcomes for individuals and reduced the cost to the ACT government by providing cost-effective solutions that have diverted people from tertiary services such as out of home care and hospital admission.
The ACT government prepares and has input into a wide range of strategies in disability. The new National Disability Strategy is expected to be launched later this year, following agreement between commonwealth, state and territory governments. This new strategy, building upon the foundations of the previous National Disability Strategy, provides all governments with a significant opportunity to recommit to
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