A lot has been said and reported about the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), about its progress and current failings. The media has run hot with stories focussing on the creation of an NDID fraud taskforce, and the furore about funding decisions affecting families and individuals. The autism community was recently shocked to learn of government plans to limit the number of autistic children with access to the NDIS. Cost cutting is uppermost in the mind of this government when it comes to managing the programs associated with this scheme. What was originally designed as a life changer for hundreds of thousands of Australians living with disability is fast becoming something far less promising. This sounds eerily similar to what the coalition did to the National Broadband Network.
Government Rapidly Restructuring the NDIS to Reduce Spending
The NDIS fraud taskforce has been established to crack down on fraud, seemingly, before it even happens. This sounds like some futuristic movie script with Tom Cruise in it. Organised crime will attempt to feast on the estimated $22 billion budget of the scheme, according to social services minister, Dan Tehan. The fact is that a lot of the therapies for conditions like autism are newly developed and unknown to many in the wider community. I sense a pervasive suspicion about what is regarded as therapeutic and that there will be ongoing problems on this basis. You have a government hell bent on cutting costs and they will do whatever they can to limit the scope of the NDIS’s purse strings.
Poor Service & Suspicious attitudes Poisoning Scheme
The ABC has reported on NDIS reviews leaving disabled people waiting for up to nine months to get problems sorted out. Poor service and suspicious attitudes are poisoning a scheme, which should be the greatest thing this country has ever done for this section of the community. The fact that the NDIS was not a coalition government initiative lurks in the background, as possible motivation for their failure to implement the scheme well. One only hopes that a change of heart or a change of government occurs in time to save this worthy national program.