10527 – Individual submission

1. I greatly support the NDIS for me and others who need it. I urge the government and Australians to support it.

2. I support participant service guarantees. There are participant service guarantees in the original NDIS legislation and they have often not been honoured. However, I consider that talk of service guarantees now is camouflage. You don’t need to change the NDIS legislation to introduce and to implement participant service guarantees. You put them in guideline/s and then do them.

3. I consider that the point of this proposal is not about implementing participants’ service guarantees as claimed. It is about softening up the community for further legislative changes. Further changes which could greatly harm existing and potential participants, reducing their supports below what is needed and what is affordable.

4. Attachment C: COAG agreed amendments from the 2015 NDIS Act Review appear reasonable but are not urgent. What is urgent is committing to and implementing the NDIS as legislated and developing and implementing service guarantees with community agreements.

5. I therefore call for rejection of this proposal for legislative change at this time.

6. I have benefited from the NDIS and suffered from the NDIA.

7. Most of the public criticism I’ve seen is from disgruntled claimants. I suspect the lack of wider criticism is in fear of things getting worse. I think worse is here now and even worse is in the planning.

8. It seems to me that our government does not believe in the NDIS and is slowly pushing it to extinction, mostly behind-the-scenes. They should not encourage staff inside the agency and outside of the agency to leave their decency at home to act unfairly and meanly, as seems to be happening.

9. I think Australians do believe in a vibrant NDIS: in fair rules, proper funding and good administration. Let’s all let our government know this.

10. All possible changes should be honestly debated and accepted by the community before imposition by guidelines or legislative changes.”