NDIS at the fringe – equity of access for all?
A central aim of the NDIS is to provide equity of access to disability support. The terrible inequities of the past where access to disability support was based on rationing and queues should be banished. However, does the scheme as so far designed ensure equity of access for all people with disability or only for those people who have the awareness and understanding to seek out the NDIS or have family advocates to support them with this? Many people with disability are not in this position.
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Our iconic places set accessibility example
It’s great to see some of our cultural icons and natural places finally getting on board and taking accessibility more seriously. Here are two examples we’ve seen lately.
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You’ve just got to give it a go
Willow’s mum Janelle wasn’t sure her daughter would be eligible for the NDIS. She decided to give it a go, applied to the Scheme, and now the family is seeing real benefits.
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Click here for your chance to make a better life
We all want the NDIS to succeed. Thousands of lives are already being improved at the trial sites, and we know eventually the NDIS will make a huge difference for nearly half a million Australians. But to ensure the NDIS works well for everybody, we need people to feel safe and confident using it.
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NDIS: on budget
The latest quarterly report from the National Disability Insurance Agency is out and it shows growing numbers of people are benefiting from the NDIS.
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Changes proposed for disability support payments to encourage people into work.
In 2013 the Federal Government commissioned a review of Australia’s welfare sector and the final report was released today.
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NSW confirms bi-partisan approach to NDIS
Bipartisan political support for the continuing roll out of the NDIS was strongly in evidence at the recent NSW conference of non-government support providers, National Disability Services.
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She’ll be right says COAG but housing crisis remains
If the communiqué released this week from meeting of the COAG Disability Reform Council is anything to go by, Australia is all systems go for the NDIS. But the supply of affordable and liveable housing remains a key question.
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Home Sweet Home: the housing crisis for people with disability.
Home, sweet home. Three simple words that say so much about our happiness, our dreams and goals in life.
Many Australians take those words for granted. But some people, including people with disabilities, may never be able to utter those three simple words, and all because of a lack of suitable housing.
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Housing: the big sleeper
Anyone with a disability will tell you that finding affordable, accessible housing is next to impossible. There are huge wait lists, too many young people in nursing homes and growing numbers of older parents despairing what will happen to their children when they can’t care for them anymore.
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Expanding my horizon
It’s taking Stephen a while to get his head around being able to do things now that previously would have been impossible without the NDIS.
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A scorecard on the NDIS trials
As we near two years since the start of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) we are beginning to get a handle on how this complex reform is living up to its promise to improve the lives of people with disability through choice, control and person centred support within an insurance approach.
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Attitude is the biggest barrier
Despite great leaps towards inclusion for all, our society still seems to have a fairly limited awareness of the need to or even how to make our communities accessible to all citizens.
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RecruitAbility? Just give us a job!
The Australian Public Service has launched a new scheme, RecruitAbility in an effort to raise the woefully low number of people with a disability they employ.
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NDIS Step 1: Think and Prepare
The NDIS is coming. Admittedly not fast enough for many of us but the fact that it will be rolled out across Australia in the next few years means now is a good time to start thinking about how to prepare.
Every Australian Counts has talked to lots of people in the trial sites and asked them what they think people with disability need to do to get ready for the NDIS.
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Ready for work but is work ready for me?
Fresh from participating in the Special Olympics Torch Run through Melbourne, Pippa Swanwick is gleeful about being interviewed on the Channel 7 news about her role in the Special Olympics Opening Ceremony.
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Up, up and away with fairer service
Thanks to some great work by the Public Interest Advocacy Group and the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW, people with a disability flying with a carer can now access discount online fares with Virgin Australia.
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Disability support and the NDIS: why doing nothing isn’t an option
Recently there have been some murmurings in the media, questioning the cost of the NDIS and where Australia will find the money to pay for it. Yet what is often missed in the budget debate is the cost to Australia of NOT introducing the NDIS.
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How will the NDIS talk to a quarter of the disability population?
The Every Australian Counts Campaign is the largest disability related campaign I’ve seen in Australia and the promise is no less than a revolution.
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Life’s never been better really
Siobhan is 14 years old. She loves music, boccia and Facebook and her life has been transformed by the NDIS.
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10,000 in – 450,000 to go
In a significant milestone for the NDIS, the National Disability Insurance Agency’s CEO, David Bowen, has confirmed that more than 10,000 people with disability now have an approved NDIS plan.
That’s a sizeable number of people in trial sites across the country that are now more in control of their own care and supports and are well on the way to living a life of their choosing.
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7 issues we can’t afford to let slip
2015 is going to be a big year for the roll out of the NDIS. There are a number of important decisions that the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and the governments will need to make before the full roll out commences. The State of the Sector report that was released by NDS lists their seven top issues that need to be addressed this year. Here are the issues that National Disability Services (NDS) wants action on.
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Ally blossoms under the NDIS
It’s the simple things. Simple, everyday things like going out to the mall and ordering a hot chocolate and paying for it with her own EFTPOS card. Simple things like using a mobile phone and texting. Simple things like dressing the way she wants to dress.
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Leigh – a voice for the voiceless
Leigh has Down Syndrome and works as a peer mentor. His work gives a voice to people with disabilities, especially people with Down Syndrome.
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