Budget: Disability Organisations Welcome Funds for NDIS

Disability organisation have welcomed the strong commitment made in the Budget to kickstart a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

They says the allocation of $1billion over 4 years will go towards the building blocks of a revolutionary new scheme, which will eventually replace the current broken, unfair and underfunded system across the country.

"The fact that up to 10,000 people with disability will be supported in up to four areas across Australia from July 2013, one year ahead of the Productivity Commission recommended, is an exciting prospect," said Lesley Hall, President of the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO).

"The budget appears to have provided enough funding for individuals with disability to be able to choose and control their supports, For many people with disability, this will be the first time they have had a say in how they choose to live their lives,” said Michael Bleasdale, an Executive Director of and People with Disability Australia (PWDA)

This commitment to a new approach to disability support now needs to be backed up by new laws, new policies and a real commitment from states and territories.

"This is a great beginning, and a great step forward to see disability take centre stage in a Federal budget," Bleasdale said. "But we're not there yet."

"We are waiting to find out what the government will do to make sure people with disability and their advocates are fully prepared for the scheme and able to participate in it so it succeeds," Hall said.

"Governments across the country need to keep people with disability at the centre of this scheme, and that means giving them the right skills and giving them a real voice."

The Every Australian Counts campaign described the $1Billion Budget allocation as "historic".

The Budget allocation includes $342.5 million over three years for individualised packages for people with a disability and their families.

Every Australian Counts National Campaign Director John Della Bosca said:  “the Commonwealth has laid some strong foundations to make the NDIS real.”

“The scheme is being launched sooner than we expected. For 20,000 people with a disability around the nation help is finally on its way,” Della Bosca said.

“In a tight fiscal environment, committing $1 billion to disability reform represents an historic improvement and a positive change for Australians living with disability.

“The plan outlined (in the Budget) relies heavily on cooperation between the Federal, State and Territory governments. I know that State Ministers around the country support the NDIS. They want to see it become a reality. So we look forward to everyone sitting around the table and working out how to make the NDIS a reality.

“Our Every Australian Counts campaign supporters have built a strong disability movement. Our supporters have worked tirelessly to put the NDIS on the political agenda and to keep it there.

“The Budget announcement is a tribute to their hard work.”

National Disability and Carer Alliance Executive Director, Kirsten Deane, said the historic announcement would bring relief to thousands of people with a disability, their families and carers. The Alliance was instrumental in establishing the Every Australian Counts campaign for an NDIS.

The Budget Papers breakdown of the NDIS funding includes:

• $240.3 million over four years from 2012?13 to build and operate the information technology system required to collect and analyse data to monitor client outcomes and measure the performance of the new arrangements;
• $154.8 million over three years from 2013?14 to employ Local Area Coordinators to provide a more individually focused approach to delivering assistance to people with a disability;
• $122.6 million over four years from 2012?13 to prepare the disability sector for the new way of delivering disability services with a focus on launch locations;
• $58.6 million over three years from 2013?14 to conduct assessments of people with a disability in launch locations to determine their eligibility and the appropriate level of individual care and support;
• $53.0 million over four years from 2012?13 to establish a new National Disability Transition Agency to coordinate the implementation and manage the delivery of care and support to people with a disability in the launch locations from 2013?14;
• $18.3 million over four years from 2012?13 to continue the Commonwealth Taskforce responsible for providing policy advice to the government on the design, governance and funding of an NDIS;
• $11.7 million over four years from 2012?13 to undertake research into early interventions to improve support for people with a disability and to support the implementation of an NDIS, and provide training of Local Area Coordinators; and
• $5.2 million over three years from 2013?14 to evaluate the outcomes being achieved in launch locations to inform further decision making.

Budget Papers: http://www.budget.gov.au/2012-13/content/bp2/html/bp2_expense-09.htm

Read all our coverage of the 2012 Budget here. 

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