The budget of a nation that ‘does what’s right’

The Federal Government handed down its Budget on Tuesday 14 May. In it Treasurer Wayne Swan outlined the Government’s plan to fully fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

See below the response from the Every Australian Counts team:

Media Release: THE BUDGET OF A NATION THAT ‘DOES WHAT’S RIGHT’ 

John Della Bosca, Every Australian Counts Campaign Director, said:

“The Budget rights a wrong that has existed for decades. Australia has failed people with a disability and those who care for them. Tonight’s Budget demonstrates that we are a nation that does what is right.

“Tonight’s Budget makes the dream of the NDIS a certainty.”

In 2019-20, the first year of full implementation, the NDIS is projected to cost $22.2 billion and provide support to 460,000 people with significant and permanent disability. The Commonwealth Government will contribute 53% of this cost.

John Della Bosca continued, “I have followed the Commonwealth Budget for decades. In some years you needed a microscope to find disability mentioned at all. Supporting people with a disability is at the core of tonight’s budget.

“The NDIS will mean people with a disability and their family and carers get the support they need when they need it. It will end the waiting lists, fund necessary equipment and improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians.

“Tonight’s budget is a win for people who believe in justice for people with disability. The NDIS is a budget measure that appeals to the heart and the head.

“In 2011 people with disability, their families, carers and the organisations who support them got together – and a campaign was born. We knew it wouldn’t be easy, and that it would take time.

“So the disability community knocked on the doors of our politicians from all parties hundreds of times. We rallied around Australia in our thousands, out on the street, or around a cup of tea. We told our stories over and over again. We made them listen to our call for the NDIS – and we refused to give up.”

John Della Bosca concluded: “Tonight Every Australian with a disability knows that their fellow Australians are committed to them, and to making sure they have the same chances, choices and opportunities that most Australians take for granted. Tonight Every Australian Counts.”

NDIS Update: a summary of John Della Bosca’s Facebook Q and A

On Tuesday, 6 May the Every Australia Counts Campaign Director John Della Bosca held a Q and A on our Facebook page to answer supporters’ questions about recent developments in the campaign and what it will mean for people on the ground.

Some great questions were asked and we hope that everyone who participated got a lot out of the session.

However, we know that some supporters couldn’t attend the Q and A and some are not on Facebook, so we’ve created the below resource share with everyone.  

What is the NDIS all about?
Who is the NDIS for?
Will the NDIS be means tested?
Will people with disability over the age of 65 be covered?
What supports will be available under the NDIS?
Is there funding for capital items such as equipment or buildings?
How long after the launch sites begin would we expect to see the NDIS roll out to other areas?
How will funding be allocated and distributed?
Is the planner’s role different from the role of the local area coordinator (lac)?
Will the roll out of the NDIS affect the Disability Support Pension?
Will there be more funding for job training for people with disability?
How does an organisation become a registered provider of supports?
What are the long term arrangements for ensuring quality service providers?

Continue reading »

Queensland signs up to the NDIS

Fantastic news! 

Last week Premier Campbell Newman said Queensland was ready to move to full implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Today he has signed an agreement with the Federal Government on the dotted line.

QLD Every Australian Counts campaigner Fiona Anderson and her son will be celebrating this latest development in the campaign for an NDIS and you should too!

What a week! 3 more governments sign up to NDIS

Disability campaigners today hailed the great leap forward with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (renamed DisabilityCare Australia), as three more agreements were signed off between the federal government and the ACT, the Northern Territory and South Australia.

Every Australian Counts national campaign director John Della Bosca says the surge in NDIS agreements shows that all levels of government and both major political parties accept they must commit to the NDIS and ensure people with disability and their families are finally able to get the support they need to participate fully in the community.

“There can be no doubt now that all the leaders and members of Parliament from every political party have got the message: hundreds of thousands of NDIS campaigners – people with disability and their families and carers – will not tolerate the NDIS being put on the back burner. The NDIS is underway.”

Mr Della Bosca was adamant that campaigners would not rest until every Australian in need was guaranteed access to the NDIS.

“The Every Australian Counts campaign calls on the remaining state and territory governments and the federal government to show their good faith and sign agreements to ensure the full NDIS operates across the country, as recommended by the Productivity Commission.”

This week’s agreements build on last year’s historic start to the NDIS, when the Coalition New South Wales government became the first state to reach agreement with the ALP federal government for full NDIS implementation beyond its launch site in the Hunter Valley region.

The ACT government today agreed to full implementation of the scheme by 2016-17, covering 5000 people with disability. The Northern Territory government signed up to a first stage NDIS launch site covering 100 people with disability in the Barkly region, with a mix of remote, regional and urban communities.

The South Australian government yesterday reached agreement with the federal government to roll out the full NDIS to 33,000 people with disability, following on from its State-wide launch of the scheme targeting children up to 14 years

The NDIS will provide funds for person-centred support to people with permanent significant disability, to improve their opportunities for social and economic participation and greater independence.  Each person will be individually assessed and will develop a plan linking NDIS supports to outcomes, with a focus on individual and family choice and control over the types of supports which best meet their needs.

MEDIA RELEASE : South Australia joins New South Wales in full National Disability Insurance Scheme roll-out

South Australian disability reform campaigners are celebrating the state’s announcement today that it will join New South Wales to sign up to the full National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), renamed DisabilityCare Australia.

South Australia’s decisive agreement with the federal government to ensure full implementation of the NDIS from 2018 takes South Australia beyond its first stage NDIS launch site role focusing on children under 14 years.

The sign-up to the full scheme will benefit about 33,000 South Australians with a disability by the end of 2018-19.

Every Australian Counts campaign director, John Della Bosca said

“The state-federal NDIS funding agreement announced today by the South Australian government means there is no turning back now from the NDIS”.

“The NDIS is transformational disability reform described just yesterday by former Victorian Premier, Jeff Kennett as “the defining social change of the 21st century.”

“Every Australian Counts NDIS campaigners applaud the South Australian government for joining the New South Wales government to ensure the full strength and support of the NDIS will be made available to all eligible people with disability in their states.”

“However the campaign warns that it will not stop until every state and territory has signed up to the full NDIS, which has strong support federally from both the ALP and the LNP”.

“Federal MPs across the country are already receiving an avalanche of phone calls wanting to know when the NDIS will be rolled out in their state, and demanding full funding commitment in the May Budget” Mr Della Bosca emphasised.

The joint investment in the NDIS by the South Australian and Federal government will rise to $1.4 billion by 2018.

Honour for NDIS advocate Trisha Malowney

Champion for the rights of people with disabilities and NDIS supporter Trisha Malowney has joined the Victorian Honour Roll of Women for her work advocating for women with disability.

Congratulations Trisha!

Since contracting polio at the age of four months Trisha has been a strong advocate for women with disability, and has been very involved in the Every Australian Counts campaign, giving a stirring speech at the Melbourne Make it Real rally in 2012.

She says the NDIS needs to change the way people with disability in Australia are treated – and we couldn’t agree more.

Read more about Trisha’s work here.

Community Cabinet coming up in Vic

Community Cabinet is an opportunity to bring your concerns directly to the Government.

Every Australian Counts supporters took their opportunity in WA last week to ask what the Federal Government was doing to reach an agreement with the state government to ensure the NDIS is rolled out in WA.

Victorians will have their chance next with one scheduled for Wednesday 17 April in Ringwood.

Unfortunately registration to attend the Community Cabinet has already reached capacity but you can still send your questions in here.

Details for the meeting are:

Date: Wednesday 17 April 2013
Location: Norwood Secondary College, Byron Street, Ringwood, VIC
Time: Ministerial Meetings: 4.30 – 5.30 pm (AEST), From 5:30 (AEST): Gates open for the Public Forum, Public Forum : 6.00 – 7.00 pm (AEST)

Two campaign champions recognised in the same week for their advocacy and community work in the sector

In a week that saw joy at the NDIS Bill passed in the House of Representatives and many celebrations held for International Women’s Day, two Victorian’s in particular were recognised for their dedication and hard work within their communities.

The Every Australian Counts campaign would like to acknowledge and congratulate both Tricia Malowney, inducted onto the honour roll of Victorian women by Premier Napthine and Milly Parker, acknowledged as an Inspirational Woman by Hobsons Bay City Council. Continue reading »

A letter to Premier Napthine: Nick’s story

More than 1,200 Victorians have sent a message to new Premier Denis Napthine calling on him to implement the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Many supporters have shared their personal stories with the Premiers, urging him to lock in the NDIS. Here is one from Nick:

Dear Premier Napthine,

Congratulations on your recent appointment as Premier of Victoria. 

You now have the ability to make a decision to do something that is really important to me, the full implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

I have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and Bi-Polar which finally stopped me working around 3 years ago. This began my contact with the current disability system. I wish to give my impressions of the new NDIS which we are all waiting for with bated breath. 

One of the many frustrations which my wife and I have learnt are now part of our lives are offers of financial support to help with safety and mobility equipment, primely though the SWEP “State Wide Equipment Program”. But with the co-payments required often out of the reach for those on limited incomes this funding is so often not used, with no reason to believe it will ever be used. With the labyrinth of programs both State and Federal that are available, you need to be a career public servant to locate and take advantage of all that is on offer.

However my wife and I are looking forward to the future. A future where we will live with a fully-fledged NDIS. Have a single set of forms. Common assessment tools set up for my type of condition with a single point of contact. The chance to use the funding on offer in ways that will best suit me and my family. We live in the Dandenong Mountains, our priorities are obviously different to those of someone living in the inner city.

I’m particularly looking forward to a future were my health doesn’t dictate my family’s future. Where it isn’t assumed my wife will give up full time work to care for me. A future where my daughters don’t give up their free time to shuttle me around and fill the gaps my wife’s crowded schedule leaves uncovered. 

I don’t see the biggest impact of the NDIS being on my life at all. It’s the other lives that have been dragged into this system with me. I see the NDIS will have an impact far wider than just equipment and aid with daily living. I see it giving back, at least part of my old life. A chance to be part of the work force a bread winner, someone who is productive, as I was for 20 years.

Best wishes, and thank you for your support.

Nick

Send your own message to Premier Napthine.

MEDIA RELEASE: NEW VICTORIAN PREMIER AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOCK IN THE NDIS IN VICTORIA FOR GOOD

Media Release: 7 March 2013

The Every Australian Counts campaign today welcomed the appointment of Dr Denis Napthine as the new Premier of Victoria.

The change of Premier is an opportunity for Victoria to come to an agreement with the Commonwealth Government on the full roll out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) right across Victoria beyond the already committed to Barwon launch site.

The Every Australian Counts campaign will shortly be calling on our more than 40,000 supporters across Victoria to email the new Premier asking him to show leadership on disability policy and sign up to the full roll out of the NDIS.

John Della Bosca, Every Australian Counts Campaign Director said,

“Mr Napthine has been a strong supporter of the need for the NDIS. He was Community Services Minister in the previous Kennett Government and in that time helped drive some of the early reforms which saw Victoria become a national leader in disability policy.”

“Unfortunately over the last few years Victoria has fallen behind. Now New South Wales is leading the way both on increasing funding to people with disability and in being the first state to sign up to the full roll out of the NDIS.”

“The change in Premier in Victoria marks an opportunity to shift from policy nit picking and never ending bureaucratic negotiations around the NDIS to real action”.

“Premier Napthine has a deep understanding of disability policy and should lead the negotiations on the full roll out of the scheme in Victoria.”

“The disability community wants to see the new Victorian Premier follow his NSW counterpart Premier O’Farrell’s  and directly negotiate with Prime Minister Gillard to sign up to the full roll out of the NDIS.”

Recently more than five hundred Victorian Every Australian Counts campaign supporters sent in submissions to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the NDIS. These submissions highlight the crisis in Victoria’s disability system.

One of the submissions read:

“Good services are almost impossible to get, and then you feel almost privileged to be funded for something, even if it is not exactly what you need or would choose. You are never free to have services that are completely tailored to what you actually need. There are year long waiting lists for services and accommodation. The sector is crisis driven and services are ad hoc. DHS [Department of Human Services, Victoria] offer caravan parks as suitable housing for people with intellectual disability. People with disability’s legal rights are not upheld and abuse of all sorts is rife.”

John Della Bosca concluded, “The Every Australian Counts campaign supporters will be emailing the new Victorian Premier over the next week. I am confident he will listen and act. More than 100,000 Victorians desperately need the NDIS. We are counting on Premier Napthine to be our champion and sign up to the full roll out of the scheme.”

For comment email:

info@everyaustraliancounts.com.au