Page 1767 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 4 June 2014
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model shift will entail individuals and families being able to make their own decisions about where to access their services and decide where they want their support to be allocated. Today’s motion is about the implementation of that shift in regard to early intervention services that are currently provided by the government through the Education and Training Directorate.
As we get closer and closer to the time when government will withdraw from providing services, understandably there is anxiety in the community from those people who are affected about how the change will impact on them. There is also anxiety about whether the new system will be up and running in time to ensure a smooth transition for their children. We must remember that planning a transition for a child with a disability is not always an easy thing. It can take weeks to settle a child into a new care environment at the best of times, let alone when that child has anxieties about changes to routine or has significant difficulty understanding what is happening.
There is no doubt that there have been some hold-ups with the implementation of the NDIS in the ACT and that some announcements have been late coming. For me, the delays in the agreement being reached with the federal government have certainly been of concern. And I have only just heard the update on it today, which Minister Burch has provided, about receiving a letter. Those sorts of things are part of trying to roll out a new system. Perhaps delays are excusable. I do not seek to come in here and label blame at anybody but we are having a discussion where there is a lot of blame being thrown around, and I am not sure that that is the most helpful approach to this.
When we last spoke about the implementation of the NDIS in this place I noted that with a better level of empowerment for those with a disability and better choice of service delivery models came a number of risks and challenges, particularly in regard to the commencement of the scheme, which is always going to be the most difficult time for parents, carers and providers. I noted those risks, and there were three main ones that I highlighted.
Firstly, people with a disability are not as informed as they could be and are not supported and empowered to make the decisions that they need to make. It seems reasonable that there is still a level of misunderstanding or lack of information about the scheme and how it will operate. The cycle of money is not fully understood. The government funds go to the NDIA, and are then allocated to the person with a disability, in their package, which then gets spent on services. To some people, this probably seems a little circular and a little confusing, but it is all about giving extra control to those with a disability about how that money is spent.
The second risk that I noted is that there are implications of accessing private services that participants have not realised, such as extra unanticipated costs, perhaps.
The third risk identified was that the service delivery agencies would not be up and running or that the options available inside the ACT are limited.
These are all issues that are very clearly there with the transition to the new model. And that is what is at the heart of this motion today. Parents of children currently in
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