Page 3625 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 24 November 2021
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An important issue in discussions about NDIS reforms is thin markets, in which there are not enough allied health professionals with certain skills to meet demands. There are significant allied health workforce issues related to delays in autism diagnosis in the ACT. Extending access to the service when there are not enough workers to meet demand increases wait times for assessment and reduces access to early intervention. As Minister for Disability, I am advocating strongly for the ACT in discussions with the commonwealth about these workforce issues within the NDIS.
We have a very engaged disability community in the ACT who clearly communicate their concerns and needs to my office. Overwhelmingly, I hear how difficult it is to access NDIS plans, that NDIS plans often do not adequately assess a person’s needs, and the difficulty in ensuring that a participant’s plan is not unnecessarily cut, especially if the participant requests a plan review. If Minister Reynolds’ amendments go through, the CEO of the NDIA will be able to do this even more easily and without the participant’s consent.
For people with autism who have complex needs or co-occurring disabilities, this process of navigating the NDIS and safeguarding support can be particularly difficult. In their 2021 submission to the NDIA’s proposed reforms to NDIS access and planning policies, the Australian Autism Alliance noted that the NDIS presents a particular challenge to people with autism, as autism is multifaceted, nuanced and highly variable in how it affects the functional capacity of each autistic person in each situation. As a scheme, the NDIS does not respond well to this level of nuance or need for flexibility.
For children, there is no national guideline on good-practice autism supports for children. Issues like this are at the heart of why the ACT is committed to ensuring that the NDIS returns to its intent of choice and control for people with disability. The NDIS frames everything in terms of financial cost. What the NDIS fails to do is value people.
The ACT government has repeatedly asked the National Disability Insurance Agency to undertake a codesign process with people with disability, to maintain the intent of the NDIS. This codesign project must involve people with autism to ensure that the agency better includes strengths-based approaches for people with autism. I will continue working with the commonwealth to achieve these goals.
In consulting with autism advocates this week, one stakeholder noted that, in only discussing diagnosis, there is a risk that we medicalise this issue and divert from the importance of the social model of disability. The social model of disability tells us that the idea of disability is socially constructed. As such, we do not need to change people with disability; we need to ensure that our society changes to enable the equal participation and genuine inclusion of people with disability.
The ACT has further work to do to realise this change for all people with disability, including autism. We have work to do to ensure that our attitudes, workplaces, built environment and community activities are inclusive and welcoming to people with autism, to become a community that celebrates and takes pride in neurodiversity.
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