ABC Radio Newcastle
Breakfast with Aaron Kearney
6 June 2014
7:20am
E & OE
Subject: National Disability Insurance Scheme
KEARNEY:
If you remember a time before the Federal Budget, a time before earn and learn? A time before university fees? A time before health care and education cuts? Back then, the national political agenda was absorbed in the carbon tax and the national broadband network rollout and the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Well it might not dominate the national agenda like it once did, but the National Disability Insurance scheme is creeping closer to a national reality and here in the Hunter, one of the trial sites for the program, the 2000th NDIS participant will join the scheme today.? It is a cause for celebration in the eyes of those involved, including Federal Assistant Minister for Social Services, Senator Mitch Fifield.? He’s in town to mark the occasion.? Good morning, welcome.
FIFIELD:
Good morning Aaron.
KEARNEY:
Are you pleased it’s drifted from the forefront of the national agenda somewhat? Does it let you get on with business?
FIFIELD:
Oh, look it’s always important to get on with the job but I think that today is a terrific opportunity to refocus on the fact that there are thousands of Australians with disability who are at long last getting the better deal that they deserve.? It’s been a long time coming but today we mark, as you said, the 2000th participant in the Hunter trial site and that’s cause for celebration.
KEARNEY:
One of the great things and one of the challenges about the NDIS is that there will be 2,000 very individual circumstances among those 2,000 so it’s hard to paint broad brushes, but what can you say about those 2,000?
FIFIELD:
Well, historically, right around the country, people who have significant disabilities have been on waiting lists. They’ve had to take their place in a queue. Take a number. And if the pot of money has run out before they get the supports that they need, well it’s been just too bad. And it could be something as simple as an 11 year old child who needs a wheelchair. In the past, they might have had to wait two years and by the time the chair arrives, they’ve outgrown it. So it’s some very practical things like that, but it also provides the opportunity for people with disability to get some of the daily living supports that they need so that they will be in a much better position to consider employment for those people for whom that’s an option.
KEARNEY:
And the reason, the key change is that they have the discretion over their own spending in a way that they didn’t before? That is to say, if the wheelchair is the most important thing in your life and you have x amount of funding for your disability this year, you get the opportunity to prioritise the wheelchair.? Is that a fair summary?
FIFIELD:
That’s exactly right. You’ve really got the individual at the centre and in charge.? Their needs are assessed. They’re given an entitlement to be directed to the service provider of their choice. And individuals have the option of managing their funds themselves or having the NDIS agency do it on their behalf. But it’s revolutionary because it puts the individual at the centre and in charge.?
KEARNEY:
This is a trial site, by definition therefore you are seeking data on what is working and what is not.? Let’s start with the negative, what is not?
FIFIELD:
Well, the experience has been pretty good on the whole. I think one of the lessons from the trial sites in the Hunter and around the nation is that the starting point for the NDIS agency has got to be to look at what are the natural supports in someone’s life and how can you reinforce those. Is there too much being asked of Mum or Dad or a sibling? What can be put in place to help reinforce those natural supports. Make sure that people are accessing the mainstream services that they’re entitled to. And then, look at funded supports, how you can help fill the gaps.?
KEARNEY:
There have been, all right, no, let’s go to the positive then.? What has been the most successful aspect of it, in your mind?
FIFIELD:
Oh, look I think for families, that they know that the community understands that they face extra challenges for reasons beyond their control and that the previous era of rationing is going to come to an end.? I guess the frustration for many people around the country is the fact that you can’t just flick a switch and have the NDIS everywhere in Australia on one day.? It will take time to roll the scheme out across the nation. But it’s very important that we’ve learned the lessons from the trial sites, like in the Hunter, to make sure that we make any necessary adjustments before we move to a full national rollout.
KEARNEY:
Like any area of spending, it is not immune to scrutiny but this is Greenfields in terms of funding.? How do you know that you are getting the spending levels right?
FIFIELD:
Well, the beauty of the NDIS is that every assessment is individually based. And when someone’s plan is worked out, it’s not set in concrete forever.?The plan can be adjusted as someone’s circumstances change. So someone’s plan may have some additional things put into it, or if someone is tracking well, it might be adjusted to a different level. So that’s the beauty of the scheme.
KEARNEY:
But the grand pot remains the same?
FIFIELD:
The grand pot remains the same, so at full rollout, this will be a $22 billion scheme. About half the money from the states, half the money from the Commonwealth. And in the Budget, the full funding allocation is still there in the forward estimates. We made that commitment in Opposition, that we would deliver the NDIS in full and the Budget demonstrates we are going to.
KEARNEY:
I speak to a lot of people who are involved in disability services across the Hunter and I’m paraphrasing a number of conversations.? Because we are a trial site they are being hesitant to go over the top but there is a genuine concern that in setting up the competitive environment that you are, by empowering the individual to then go and seek the services, that there are concerns that the services themselves are going to be sustainably funded.? You understand what I’m talking about?
FIFIELD:
Oh, I do.? At the moment, in the rest of Australia beyond the Hunter and the other trial sites, a lot of disability organisations receive block funding from state governments. And this is a significant change in approach, giving the money to the individual to direct as they choose. And understandably, that is a challenge for organisations. But I think the important thing is that we keep sight of the fact that this is about the individual and they’re in the best circumstance, with their families, to know what are the services that they need. But I’m very aware, and I know Minister Ajaka is very aware, that for disability organisations, this is a period of change and we want to help them through that.
KEARNEY:
Very interesting to speak with you this morning and I appreciate you being in town to mark the 2000th and to engage on a couple of the issues around the NDIS.? Federal Assistant Minister for Social Services, Senator Mitch Fifield, who is in the Hunter today. And it is a real person, the 2000th person and you will have the opportunity to meet him later in the day.
ENDS
Media contact: Lydia Bevege | 0409 792 081 | Lydia.bevege@dss.gov.au