Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

) ( ): I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges:

(a) 3 December 2019 is International Day of People with Disability; and

(b) the Human Rights Commission estimates the number of Australians with a disability to be around four million;

(2) respects the rights of all:

(a) people with disability in Australia, including having access to services and freedom from discrimination;

(b) persons with a disability to be welcomed as equal and positive contributors to Australian society; and

(c) people with disability to have choice and control in relation to any support services they receive; and

(3) encourages all:

(a) persons with disability as their own self-advocates;

(b) groups and individuals that advocate on behalf of people with disabilities; and

(c) Australians to respect the basic rights of all persons with disabilities.

Tomorrow, 3 December, will be International Day of People with Disability. It is an important day to remember, congratulate and celebrate the achievements of all Australians with a disability and the care and support that their families, friends and professional workers give to them.

Yet one of the most concerning and saddening parts of my job is meeting and assisting my constituents with issues that they are having with the NDIS. In a rich and wonderful country like ours there should be a safety net for people with disabilities. In 1974, Gough Whitlam first brought to the policy table the idea of a national insurance scheme to help people with a disability, and today is the 45th anniversary of his election to this place.

This was not a flash in the pan for Prime Minister Whitlam but a love for our country and a care for those who need it most, yet Mr Whitlam was, in short, provided with a choice: Medibank, which we now know as Medicare, or a disability insurance scheme. While we know the outcome of that choice, Mr Whitlam had identified a need and a policy solution for Australians with disabilities. After the Fraser government amended Medibank, Prime Minister Hawke made Medicare work.

Thirty-nine years on, Prime Minister Gillard introduced the legislation that would establish the National Disability Insurance Scheme. To quote then Prime Minister Gillard, 'This is a reform whose time has come, a reform that will deliver significant benefits to the people with disabilities, their carers, their families and the wider Australian community.' It was an idea that would be set in motion—a sweeping reform that would give Australians with a disability the choice of support and the product they need to have every opportunity of success. It had the support of all in this House. At the heart of the scheme was the empowerment of recipients—that they would retain choice. No more would there be a one-size-fits-all policy. After all, individuals know their lives, their struggles and their successes and should be able to make their own choices accordingly.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme encourages people with disability real success and real change, and it comes from real policy and real action. Success and change will not occur by short-changing those people to the tune of $4.6 billion to prop up the Liberals' bottom line. Success and change will not occur when there is no national disability strategy in place to ensure that support services are coordinated. Success and change will not occur by removing funding for the places that people with disability go to for independent advice on assistive technology, which will be no more by July 2020.

The NDIS has been a success for some of my constituents, but it has been a fraught process for far too many. The NDIS is a safety net. It is a structure that means to support and empower people. I acknowledge the hardworking staff of the NDIA, especially those who support my office and provide advice. But the processes and systems seem to make it impossible for them to consistently provide decisions and funding in a timely manner for those who need it. The modus operandi of this government is to strip, cut and slash funding and services that people need, and this is having a real impact on Australians with disabilities.

The slashes are also having a real and detrimental impact on my electorate of Werriwa. Constituents are consistently complaining there is too much paperwork, reviews are taking far too long and people for whom English is a second language are having extreme difficulty with the NDIS. In fact, one of my constituents came to see me last week. He's a double amputee, and I have spoken about this gentleman previously in his place. He hasn't yet been approved by the NDIS for assistive technology and he is stuck in limbo—and the terrible part is that it's been going on for three years, almost as long as I have been in this place.

This government needs to step up to the plate and make sure the NDIS and its agency have the appropriate resources to deliver the services and support that 4.4 million Australians need. Every Australian, especially on a day celebrating people with a disability, deserves that support. They deserve an NDIA and an NDIS that are properly funded and have processes that work for everyone so that all people with a disability have every opportunity to succeed like every one of their fellow Australians.

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