Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes:

(a) National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) providers and participants will be significantly impacted and hold grave concern regarding changes to the transport allowance arrangements that have been announced in the recent annual price review, at very short notice without consultation by the Government; and

(b) the feasibility for NDIS providers and participants to make the necessary adjustments to service delivery arrangements in such a short time period is not achievable and will be at the detriment of the participant;

(2) condemns the Government for failing to consult with the NDIS sector and failing to understand the needs of participants and providers; and

(3) calls on the Government to:

(a) defer these changes for at least three months to allow for consultation and planning around the changes to service delivery that may result from these changes; and

(b) explain how it expects community-based service providers in particular to adapt to these new pricing arrangements.

There is nothing more important that we can do in this place as parliamentarians than to look after our most vulnerable—to make sure that they are supported and have the services they need to live their best life.

As a member of the coalition, I sit with two minds when I talk about the NDIS, one being that it definitely needs reform—absolutely. I also sit with a heavy heart and great anxiety, because my daughter Emery, five years old, is on the NDIS. She has level 3 autism, and changes that get made quickly, changes that get made without consultation or with minimal consultation, terrify me as a father—terrify me for my daughter's future. And I'm not the only person in this parliament or this country that is looking at the changes to the NDIS with lots of fear.

I know that reform is needed. I get that. I understand it. But it must be done in a way where participants aren't waking up in the morning to find that things have changed; with providers being told, 'You have 10 working days to change your whole model because there will be a change to your pricing' due to the annual pricing review; with people in the regions not knowing if their services are going to be able to continue; and with travel being cut in half. What about for places like Magnetic Island, where you have to travel by boat to get there, or Palm Island? Regional Australia is going to feel this more than anywhere else.

The minister said that no-one will fall through the cracks and that there won't be any changes to people's services or their funding and support through the NDIS. Well, that hasn't been the case, because places like AEIOU, which provides support for children with autism, has seen closures, and Autism Queensland has had a reduction in hours. People who were diagnosed by a paediatrician or doctor as needing more support from the NDIS have had their packages and supports reduced. Those are significant changes.

In Townsville just recently I was speaking to a woman who shared with me that her daughter, born without enough muscle strength to move and play, relies on constant physiotherapy to grow. This young girl has been receiving physio support since birth, and it's her lifeline to getting stronger. She's learning to move, walk and play, like every child should. When changes happened through the annual pricing review, they slashed funding for her local physio provider. There are a few alternatives, but there shouldn't need to be an alternative to where this family gets the support that they need. Her mother is worried sick that her progress is going to end. It pains me, pains me to my heart, that families feel like their children are an inconvenient dollar figure on a government's budget bottom line.

We must do things differently. We must do things better. We need reform, but we have to work with the participants and with the providers, to ensure that no-one fall through the cracks. I understand why the government is making changes, but I can't understand that in regional Australia, such as in Townsville, participants are waking up in the morning to find that things have changed, and providers are being given only 10 working days to provide any sort of response. This risks our participants losing the support they need, and, without early interventions and without interventions now, they will not be able to live their best lives into the future. That's why it's so important that we bring on this debate and speak about our most vulnerable.

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