Mary McGuiness

Family member of a person with disability

I am a parent of a person with disability and I am currently trying to work my way through the horrible maze of the NDIS. THis whole process has been confusing to say the least. I am a single mother trying to provide for my disabled child and I have had to spend dozens of hours trying to do what is necessary so my daughter doesn’t miss out on finding.. again.
I am one of the lucky ones who has an Advocate who is vastly overworked due to low level of funding that this Advocate agency has been awarded. The Advocacy group ,Action for Disability, has been funded up until June 2018 and this needs to be extended indefinitely especially while the rollout of the NDIS is happening. They need more funding to provide extra staff because the need is so great.

Just this week we were contacted by the NDIS as I believe this government agency is starting to panic as to the time frame of this rollout. Without our advocates knowledge under no circumstances would I be able to understand what is needed for my daughter. Whether intentional or not, the government is sabotaging the people with disabilities by making this process so confusing and not providing adequate staff to roll it out as promised.
Strong Advocacy needs to be readily available for all potential clients of the NDIS which unfortunately is not the case at the moment. The government must make sure that advocacy training is continued in the light of the NDIS so that every individual advocate has the skills to advise careers & parents. This is a very important essential part of this funding.
I truly believe that Advocacy is an essential part of the whole package and should be an integral section of the NDIS. Parents and carers do not have the necessary skills and knowledge to cope with all that is needed. We are stressed enough with the extraordinary amount of work required to develop these plans. We need the help of advocates.
If the government is serious about doing this properly, then provide adequate time and resources.