Means testing the NDIS

is not the answer to trying to rein in the exploding cost.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme was not intended to be means tested. It was intended to provide assistance to people who face extra costs because of their disabilities. Those costs can be high, very high. I have known parents working two or even three jobs in an attempt to cover the extra costs. There are too many families where the relationships break down because of the financial stress, where siblings go without in order to provide the essentials. How do you means test all this fairly?

The problem with the NDIS is entirely different. Put simply there are far too many who are receiving funding who should not be receiving any. There are also far too many who are receiving funding for things the NDIS was never intended to cover. Add these things to the number of people who "run NDIS services" and you have costs which have blown out far in excess of what they should have been allowed to do.

The "he's on the spectrum" disability (and boys far outnumber the girls) has added immensely to the cost of the scheme. I know people will argue with me but I am personally aware of individuals who are getting funding so they can play sport. This has included transport there and back, the clothing and footwear, the membership fees and more. Yes, sport is important and participating in it has benefits but it is not what the NDIS was intended to cover.

Funding for holidays has occasionally been mentioned. I know there are people who say, "Oh that doesn't really happen." It does happen. I personally know one family who went on holiday at taxpayer expense. They had a week in another state and visits to a marine park and an entertainment park were included. The NDIS was never intended to cover this sort of thing. It was not intended to cover "sex workers" or visits to the pub either. Yes, it happens.

Those who run the NDIS also see it as an endless stream of money flowing in their direction too. If you need a gardener to mow your tiny lawn then NDIS will organise it. They will charge you at least twice the rate you could get it done for if you organised it yourself and they will charge you for the full hour even if it takes just fifteen minutes. No, you cannot organise it yourself. This is part of your "package" and this is how it has to be done. No, you do not have to believe me but this is actually what happens to my friend J... The neighbour puts her bins out for her and often has to pick up after the gardener has gone. The charge is more than twice the rate usually charged but the person mowing the lawn will not be seeing anything more than a basic wage.

Another NDIS recipient needs help getting ready for work in the mornings. He works from home as an accountant. Recently he had the embarrassment of having to attend a meeting by zoom still in his pajama top and without . The NDIS worker had not turned up. Nobody else was available. His neighbour had rushed in and helped him to the bathroom and made him a hot drink before heading off to work himself.  The service was not provided that day but he still had to pay for it because it was "the package you pay for".  How do I know? I was at the same meeting. T... is doing his best to work and be independent and the NDIS should be working for him but it comes at the cost of constant stress.

The entire NDIS needs to be reviewed. We need to review who is being funded. We need to know why they are being funded, whether they are getting the services they need and how much they are being charged. 

The Minister's reaction to these concerns has been to suggest that the NDIS needs to be means tested. His party blocked an inquiry into the NDIS, told us it had been done, brought in yet another scheme to support children with autism and seems to think the job has been done. No, it has not. Things need to change.