Campaign to Reform NDIS: Become Involved

Fulfilling the Promise to Revolutionise Disability Services

NDIS was launched in July 2013 with a promise to Revolutionise Disability Services. It’s brief was to fund the supports and services needed by people with disabilities to:

• achieve individual goals
• become as independent as possible
• develop skills for day-to-day living
• participate in the community
• work and earn money

Four and a half years later, it is apparent that NDIS requires significant reform if it is to achieve its stated goals. To date it’s implementation has been characterised by:

• Excessive bureaucracy and red-tape and insufficient flexibility
• Top-down centralised approaches to preparation of individual plans
• Lack of person-controlled technology to assist participants to self-direct
• Disregard for family carers as the primary unit of care
• Fears that Local Area Coordination will repeat the old supply-side fragmentation
• Too little financial transparency in the pricing/costs of the scheme
• Concerns that small support organisations are disadvantaged in relation to big providers
• Insufficient recognition of peer and mutual supports and networks
• Concerns that provider-centred cultures are reappearing
• Doubts over the financial viability of an uncapped scheme and fears of service rationing

Below is a package of 15 measures for reform of NDIS that have arisen from the deliberations of people with disabilities, families and friends, support organisations, researchers and policy makers over the past two years, facilitated by Civil Society Australia.

NDIS is in grave danger of becoming a bigger, more expensive version of the old provider-centred, disempowering disability industry.

This package of reforms can prevent NDIS from becoming a re-badged version of the old provider-centred disability industry.

However, governments will only reform the present course if they realise that people with disabilities, families and friends, and our support organisations want a different direction. Because governments usually only listen to service providers, they will ignore everyone else unless our public voice is too loud to ignore.

Our Grassroots Campaign

Our campaign to reform NDIS in 2018 will be based on active groups in each of the 152 federal electorates in Australia. Our aim is to influence each politician in Canberra to press for implementation of our 15 reforms. Those that do will receive our backing in the 2019 federal election. We will campaign against those that oppose our reforms or resist their introduction.

CLICK HERE to become involved. A campaign coordinator in each electorate will work with participants to influence their local MP’s actions over the next 18 months.

CLICK HERE to join the Campaign Steering Committee.

Our 15 reforms to NDIS:

1      Participants’ Plans
 2      Participant-Controlled Information Tool
3      Local Area Circles and Networks
 4      Registered Providers of Supports
 5      Register of Profiteering Providers
 6      Monitoring and Protection of Self-Direction
 7      NDIS Board and Advisory Council
 8      Election of 50% of NDIS Board by Participants
 9      Control of Superannuation Costs
10    Control of NDIS Mission Creep
11    Participant-Driven Employment Assistance
12    Small /Micro-Business Development Grant
13    Family Support Entitlement
 14    Peak Body Voucher for every Participant & Family
 15    Dropping the Pretence to being an ‘Insurance Scheme’

A full description of these 15 measures and their rationale is available here.

CLICK HERE to comment on the reforms.

People with disabilities, families, friends, support organisations, community groups, services and policy makers are invited to participate in this grassroots campaign to ensure NDIS delivers on the promise to Revolutionise Disability Services.

CLICK HERE to become involved.

This Campaign is auspiced by Civil Society Australia.

CLICK HERE for Civil Society Australia website.