Anonymous

Which of the following statements best describes you?

• I’m a parent / guardian or other family member of a person with disability

Question 1:
During the first stage of consultations we heard that the vision and the six outcome areas under the current Strategy are still the right ones. Do you have any comments on the vision and outcome areas being proposed for the new Strategy?

Learning and support is a big one for us at the moment. We get plenty of funding for therapy and support socially and in-home, but the schools are lacking funding for teacher aids and teachers qualified in disability.

Question 2:
What do you think about the guiding principles proposed here?

Training with service providers needs to be offered at no cost or be made compulsory.
For instance, Support Coordinators are encouraged to do a training course with NDIS for $550 out of pocket. Why do they have to pay?, why can’t they do the training and we then feel confident with the Support Coordinators or other service providers we are allowing to work in this sector.

Question 3:
What is your view on the proposal for the new Strategy to have a stronger emphasis on improving community attitudes across all outcome areas?

Community attitudes are improved by education and removing stigma. Develop programs or teams to go into schools and talk to students from Kinder up to Grade 12 about disability – this should be for private and public schools!

Question 4:
How do you think that clearly outlining what each government is responsible for could make it easier for people with disability to access the supports and services they need?

Clear outlines will be helpful, at the moment, participants can barely figure out how to use their funds let alone who is responsible for them!

Question 5:
How do you think the Strategy should represent the role that the non-government sector plays in improving outcomes for people with disability?

Training, awareness ??

Question 6:
What kind of information on the Strategy’s progress should governments make available to the public and how often should this information be made available?

The reporting part of the NDIS and the disability world is probably the most stressful.

Question 7:
What do you think of the proposal to have Targeted Action Plans that focus on making improvements in specific areas within a defined period of time (for example within one, two or three years)?

Two years would maybe be an appropriate time frame.

Question 8:
How could the proposed Engagement Plan ensure people with disability, and the disability community, are involved in the delivery and monitoring of the next Strategy?

Build an extensive team of people living with disability to have their input regularly.

Question 9:
Is there anything else you would like to share about the ideas and proposals in the position paper?

Nil input.