National Disability Insurance Scheme
General Information
It is time to cement a fully funded no-fault National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) at the heart of the National Disability Strategy. Ranking alongside Medicare and compulsory superannuation, the scheme would be a visionary economic and social reform for the benefit of all Australians.
This issue affects every Australian, today and in the future. We are each at risk of experiencing a disability in our lifetime and the numbers of Australians with a disability are increasing.
We need to plan ahead before the current unmet and under-met needs become overwhelming. The projected increase in the proportion of the population with disabilities, combined with the declining informal support through unpaid carers, will lead to very large increases in the costs of disability. Under present arrangements this would add to government outlays.
The situation is similar to the problem identified in the 1980s that led to the development of compulsory superannuation. It was recognised that an ageing population dependent on old age pensions would place an extreme burden on taxpayers.
Key features
Key features of the scheme would be the universality of eligibility and the benefits to the individual with a disability through the funding of essential services including:
- case management to facilitate independence, maximise potential and plan transitions over the life course
- early intervention as a top priority in the areas of therapy, education and accommodation support
- aids, technology and equipment and home modification needs met on a timely basis
- training, development and access to work to build self-esteem and reduce long term costs.
A new and fairer way of disability funding for everyone
There's a reason why many people with disabilities and their families can be some of the most marginalised, cash-strapped and stressed individuals in our community today - but it needn't be that way. And we're not just talking about people born with disabilities; we're talking about those who have acquired a disability due to road or recreational accidents, drug or alcohol abuse, health problems or the ageing process.
We only have to look at the plight of young people with disabilities left in nursing homes; the scarcity of supported residential accommodation, carers aged in their 80s and 90s who are desperately concerned about their adult disabled children when they die; children being relinquished to Yooralla's respite services by parents because they are at breaking point and insufficient early childhood services despite overwhelming evidence that intervention leads to better and lower cost outcomes in the long term.
These are all symptoms of a much larger problem that our society faces in the twenty first century, particularly as our population continues to age and, as it does so, reduces the number of people able and willing to provide informal care when formal care is unavailable.
The answer? Undertake a major shift away from the current crisis-driven welfare approach to a planned and fully funded National Disability Insurance Scheme, which would provide the necessary funds to meet the needs of all people with disabilities and their families.
It could work in exactly the same way as the already existing fully funded, no-fault insurance schemes set up to meet the needs of people injured in the workplace or in car accidents in varying states throughout Australia.
The cost for taking this approach could also be modest. By way of example, an additional third party car insurance premium of $20 per year could cover all people who are catastrophically injured in Victoria each year.
But more importantly, a National Disability Insurance Scheme would enable people with disabilities and their families to make choices, be in control, and to plan their lives with confidence just like anyone else.
So where to from here? We must lobby our politicians to plan ahead and not just bandaid problems as they arise. We need our governments to come together and be leaders of change by embracing new, efficient and effective solutions to growing problems in our community.
In the meantime, Yooralla, like other community service organisations, must continue to ask the wider community to make donations so it can maintain and grow its services for the many in desperate need.
For further Information Please visit the National Disability Insurance Scheme Website.
Click here for Bruce Bonyhady's speech at the NDS Disability Summit on 1st July 2009 [PDF 100 Kb]
Click here for Bruce Bonyhady's presentation: "Why Australia needs a National Disability Insurance Scheme (16/03/2010) [PDF 362 Kb]