Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before my comments were interrupted by other parliamentary business in the last session I was speaking about Britney and how after her school graduation last year she and her mother became in need of additional further support after school. Her mother works as a nurse and she needs more support hours so that she can look after Britney and provide for the rest of the family. Most of that support comes from the state, but it does highlight the need for the Prime Minister to stop her politically driven fights with the states and seek bilateral agreements as everyone needs to be on board to drive change and deliver for all those with disabilities such as Britney, Mitchell and their families.

Throughout this debate, the government has repeatedly suggested that they are the party of the NDIS because the NDIS represents Labor values. But I remind the parliament that abandoning those in need is not the policy of any political party. The coalition supported the work of the Productivity Commission. We supported the $1 billion in the last budget and the five launch sites, and the agreement for the New South Wales rollout, and we support this legislation. The Leader of the Opposition has also demonstrated his personal commitment to those with disabilities by dedicating the 2012 Pollie Pedal charity bike ride to Carers Australia; $540,000 was raised.

An economy well managed by the federal government can deliver the NDIS in the time frame, but not this government. They talk about their values with the usual sanctimony, but in the end their spending decisions have damaged the ability of this nation to have an NDIS on time, and they must be held to account. Talk is cheap; the NDIS is not, and it will fall to a better government to deliver—and that better government, I hope, will be delivered soon when the Australian people reject the Labor Party.

I thank those constituents of mine who have come forward to tell me of their circumstances and to impress upon me their needs. What I would say is that under Tony Abbott we want to deliver the change required, but because of the wasteful spending of this government there is now more spending on interest payments each year than would be required to fully fund the NDIS. This Labor government has spent beyond the means of this country, and their recklessness is now holding back a comprehensive and effective NDIS. To cover up their inability to fund this worthwhile and necessary NDIS, they have picked fights with state governments to develop a smokescreen and deceive the people of this country. Australians should choose a Tony Abbott led government at the election to get this job done.

Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012 and the positive benefits it will have for the people of Macarthur. I believe this is one of the most important pieces of legislation that has ever been and that ever will be spoken about in this parliament.

Since becoming the member for Macarthur I have fought hard to support the charity groups and organisations in my electorate who support those living with a disability and their families. These families should have access to the funding and support services they need to ensure the best quality of life possible for their loved ones. The NDIS will provide this much-needed support by providing the funding and support services they need. We hope this will in turn help them join the workforce and become active members of our communities.

The NDIS will empower individuals and reduce red tape for people living with a disability and their carers. It will provide funding to individuals and organisations to help people with a disability participate more fully in our communities through things like aids, equipment, supported accommodation and personal care. It is my strong belief that the financial support and assistance for these people living with a disability should not be the responsibility of the parents and carers, who already provide hands-on support to their loved ones 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The added pressure of fundraising for equipment and fighting for more services and financial support should not be left to these families who have so much on their plates already. The sad truth is that the lack of funding and support can put even more pressure and stress on these families and sometimes pull them apart. The NDIS will provide funding in the form of individual support packages for people living with a disability and the possibility of some block funding for different groups or organisations to support these Australians and their families. In my electorate the cracks are definitely showing. It is very obvious that our current system of support for people living with a disability in this country is not working. In Macarthur, people living with a disability and their families are relying heavily on the support of several charities, community groups and organisations who work hard to continually raise money to provide this vital support.

Many times in this place I have mentioned these groups and the fantastic work they do in my community to help those in need. These include KU Starting Points, an educational support organisation that offers a range of early intervention programs for children with disabilities and their families; the Right Start Foundation, a group of local parents who raise money and awareness to provide support for local families living with Down syndrome; the Kids of Macarthur Health Foundation, an organisation dedicated to improving health care for every child living in Macarthur by raising money and advocating for children's health services and research across the region; Society 389, an organisation that provides financial support and assistance for families of children with disabilities and special needs; Macarthur Disability Services, a not-for-profit organisation that provides support for people living with a disability, people with a mental illness, the aged, families and carers in the Macarthur region; Macarthur Temporary Family Care, an organisation that provides support and high-quality care programs for children of families in crisis and respite care for children and adults who have a physical or intellectual disability; NOVA Employment, offering specialist job-seeking assistance and post-placement support for people living with a disability; and Northcott Disability Services, one of New South Wales's leading service providers for people living with a disability, providing support and services direct to their clients as well as carers and family members.

All of these groups provide vital support to residents in my community and rely heavily on community fundraisers, state and federal government grants and hardworking volunteers to do the great work they do in my electorate. Many of these groups have played an active role in the Every Australian Counts campaign to raise awareness of the NDIS in Macarthur. I have attended many of these events and heard firsthand from those families who believe the NDIS would have a huge impact on their lives. While speaking about these groups in parliament I have also shared the stories of many children and families in my electorate who have relied on their support. One of these children was Brittney McKenna, who was born with the heartbreaking disease spinal muscular atrophy. Sadly, Brittney passed away in 2008 at just nine years of age. When I met with Brittney's parents last year they mentioned the lack of funding and respite for families living with SMA and the added stress this caused to their family. There was limited support offered to Brittney's family and no respite because she was classified as 'too high medical support'. Brittney's mum was proficient in all her medical needs including her IV medications. In between all the years spent in hospital, the 41 surgeries and the 24-hour intensive care for their daughter, Debbie and Andrew also had to do their own fundraising for equipment and home modifications to support Brittney. They told me that life by the hospital bed included a constant struggle with red tape, bureaucracy, budgets and politics in an attempt to get some support. My hope for the NDIS is that no family in Macarthur or anywhere else in Australia should ever have to experience what this family went through whilst trying to care for a sick child. Brittney's longest single admission in hospital was 21 months. Her dad, Andrew, was working interstate to support the family financially and her mum, Debbie, was by her hospital bed 24 hours a day. Their son Liam was passed around family and friends to give him some stability and routine. With the help of the community the family raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to give Brittney the life she deserved. It is no wonder they were left financially, physically and emotionally exhausted.

In recent years I have become very close to many families in my electorate who love and support someone with a disability. That is why this issue is very close to my heart. It is no secret that I am a big supporter of the Right Start Foundation, a charity group that supports local families living with Down syndrome. The foundation was started by a group of mums who have children living with Down syndrome. These women continually fight for funding and support and are now raising money to establish Australia's first Down syndrome specific centre in Macarthur to ensure children and families receive all the therapy and support they need for the right start in life. These parents really are an inspirational group of people. Not only do they provide so much love and support for their own children; they work hard to raise awareness and to fundraise to support others living with Down syndrome. My hope is that the NDIS will give these children the support they deserve and greater opportunities to support themselves as they grow older.

Another reason the NDIS is very close to my heart is that one of my very own staff members has a son with a disability. Ben Upfill was born with one of the most severe forms of Angelman syndrome, a rare neurogenetic disorder which causes severe intellectual disability, speech impediment, sleep disturbance, unstable jerky movements of the limbs and seizures. Ben's Mum, Carla, his dad, Dave, and siblings, Joel and Olivia, give Ben all the love and support they can as a family to make sure he has the best quality of life possible. Unless you have a child with a severe disability it is hard to imagine what it is like to provide such intensive care to a child at home whilst working to pay the bills and provide for your disabled child and the rest of your family. Just a few years ago the Macarthur charity Society 389 could see the family was in need of a new car to help them transport Ben in his wheelchair. Through a charity night more than $45,000 was raised to buy the family a car to make life a little easier for them.

My point is that families, like this one, who are caring for a child with a disability, are very lucky to have the support of many charities made up of volunteers to help them raise money to support their children. For some the support of these charities is a godsend, because without them these families would be forced to make a choice between supporting their disabled child and paying the bills and putting food on the table. Unfortunately the resources of these charities and organisations can become quite stretched, with so many people in my community needing their support. That is why the National Disability Insurance Scheme is so important and why it is so important that we get it right.

We need a new system of support based on need. The person living with the disability and their family or carers need to be at the centre of the scheme and in charge, able to choose the support, aid, equipment, and service providers of their choice. This is the vision of the National Disability Insurance Scheme which I wholeheartedly support. The coalition supports the National Disability Insurance Scheme because we know that the current system of support for Australians living with a disability is not working. This is why the concept of the NDIS has gained momentum over the past five years. In my own electorate, groups like Macarthur Disability Services, Northcott Disability Services, Macarthur District Temporary Family Care, Campbelltown, Camden and Wollondilly councils, Sunnyfield Independence, the Macarthur Disability Network and Macarthur Diversity Services have all worked together to raise public awareness about the importance of the scheme and show Macarthur's support for its successful implementation.

In October last year I attended the Macarthur NDIS Big DisabiliTEA to hear from these groups and show my support for the NDIS. It was a great day with many families from across my electorate there to share their stories and show their support. Events like this one are very important. Not only did it raise awareness for the scheme but it was to me like a cry for help from these Macarthur families who love their children so much and want to see them given the support they need now and into the future. So many of the parents I spoke to fear what will happen to their children once mum and dad are no longer around to look after them. Yes, many of them have siblings who love them and will take on the role of carer when it is their turn, but it is important that these siblings are given the support they need to carry on this role.

I believe that the NDIS will give many parents peace of mind that even when they are no longer around to provide for their children the Australian government will ensure they have access to the support services and funding they need. And of course it is not just Macarthur residents who will benefit from the scheme. It is estimated that 7,500 young Australians who require full-time care are currently living in aged-care facilities and more than 700,000 young Australians are being cared for at home by their loved ones.

There are so many young people and so many Australian families who need our help. It is our job to make sure that they do not slip through the cracks. Perfecting the NDIS gives us an opportunity to do just that. This is why the coalition has supported the initial work by the Productivity Commission, which confirmed that our current system of support simply is not good enough. We support the National Disability Insurance Scheme and believe it requires bipartisan support from both sides of government.

While we supported the $1 billion promised in last year's budget, it was disappointing that this figure fell short of what the Productivity Commission estimated would be needed in the first four years of the scheme by $3 billion. I would hope to see the Treasurer account for this shortfall in his coming budget. The coalition has also supported the five launch sites for the NDIS and the agreement between the Commonwealth and the New South Wales governments for a full statewide rollout after the launch in the Hunter.

We believe that the NDIS can be delivered within the time frame recommended by the Productivity Commission by a sensible government that manages it well. We are ready to work with the government to see an NDIS delivered as soon as possible and we believe that we must get this right the first time around, with a very high level of consultation and attention to the detail from now until its full implementation.

So far we have heard very little in regard to how each individual will be assessed and who will be eligible for the scheme. I would like to know if the NDIS is going to extend to those who might look healthy from the outside but are struggling with a terminal illness. For example, in Macarthur there are more than 80 people living with cystic fibrosis, a genetic condition that effects more than 3,000 people in Australia. The condition is life threatening, and daily physio treatment, regular hospital stays and life-threatening lung infections can limit a person suffering from CF and their carers from leading a full and productive life.

Cystic Fibrosis Australia has put forward a submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee in regard to the NDIS. In the submission the organisation has asked that the NDIS framework include people living with cystic fibrosis. It has asked that the scheme provide the full range of equipment used by people with CF, including parts and servicing for nebulisers, oxygen saturation machines, mouthpieces and inhalers. They would also like to see the inclusion of non-PBS medicines, both dietary and other supplements, as well as travel and accommodation allowances to attend specialist clinics. The submission pushes for a needs assessment and support service for carers and the inclusion of preventative services such as exercise programs and equipment for CF sufferers. These are just some of the things needed by people living with cystic fibrosis that could be provided under the NDIS.

I am also concerned about the eligibility for residents in my electorate who are over 65 years of age. Will they be eligible to benefit from the NDIS? There are many unanswered questions that must be worked through properly. This is why the coalition has called for the establishment of a joint parliamentary committee to be chaired by both sides of politics to oversee the establishment and implementation of the NDIS. This would lock in all parties and allow us to work through the design and eligibility together.

I find it disappointing that the government has knocked back the coalition's call for bipartisanship on so many occasions. I believe that the implementation of the NDIS should be placed above politics. I think that this is a time when we must come together to ensure that we get it right for all people living with a disability in our electorates. There is no reason for one side of politics to take on such an important piece of legislation on its own.

I believe that if we work together we can implement one of the best disability policies in the world, one that ensures no person living with a disability falls through the cracks. If the scheme is to succeed it will need the support of all levels of government in all states and territories across this country. If it is well-implemented, the scheme will ensure people with a disability have the support they need today and into the future.

I spend a lot of time with families in my electorate who have children living with a disability. I am continuously inspired by their positive attitude and their dedication to breaking down barriers and raising awareness of their child's condition. But no matter how amazing the parent or the child might be, raising a child with additional needs can be extremely challenging and isolating. That is why I believe that it is imperative that we work together on this one, because I want nothing more than the best for my community and those Macarthur families who will benefit from this scheme. I wholeheartedly support a National Disability Insurance Scheme for the people of Macarthur and the people of Australia. I hope that as a parliament we can work together to ensure the scheme is rolled out as effectively and as soon as possible.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In addressing the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012, let me begin by giving my wholehearted support to the bill and to the broader underlying principle. I want to speak briefly today across three fronts: the humanity behind the bill; the principles to be enshrined in the bill; and the issue of supported accommodation, which, for those living in the Hastings area as well as across the electorate of Flinders and across Australia, is a critical element of care and treatment for those who have some of the most challenging disabilities that we face in our country.

I want to begin by looking at the humanity, with people that I know. There is a young fellow, Tom McGann, whom I have known for over a decade. His situation is that has had:

… a neuromuscular disability since birth which means I have never walked and have been in a motorised wheelchair from age 4.

He is now a young adult. He went through mainstream schooling at Mount Martha Primary School and then secondary school. He is a joy to be with and he is an absolute source of pride to his parents. These days, he is studying IT at TAFE and his goal is to have a career in the field. He has been involved with Boccia, a Paralympic sport, and with Channel 31, where he has an on-camera role.

He has also been involved with Beyond Disability. Beyond Disability is a local self-help group created to assist those with disabilities to have access to the appropriate technology. It was started by a magnificent local constituent, Richard Stubbs, who was a very successful banker. He developed a severe neuromuscular condition and lost much of his mobility. His response was not to feel sorry for himself but to establish a practical self-help group named Beyond Disability. I have watched as their charitable work has grown and expanded. It has provided a window to the world, an avenue and means of communication, self-respect, creativity and fulfilment.

Out of that process has come Tom McGann. Tom has been determined to live the best life he can lead. He is really a shining example to me of a life well lived. So it is a real honour to have known him since he was such a young age and to have watched him develop through primary and secondary school and then enter tertiary education as a fine young Australian. His story is powerful because it is an example of what we can be and how we can overcome challenges and be our best selves. He has done that despite great difficulties, with the support of stunningly helpful and committed parents. In many cases, family circumstances just do not allow these steps forward. That is why we come to the issue of a national disability insurance scheme.

I saw another example only a couple of weekends ago, when the Disabled Surfers Association of Australia held a disabled surf event at Point Leo on the Mornington Peninsula. My understanding is that there were over 50 participants. I was there in a wetsuit as one of the support crew—

Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Healthcare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Shameless!

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes! I gave my little bit. There were 50-plus participants who have disability, and they had the time of their lives. Some were a little bit frightened, but you could see their fear being overcome as something new came into their lives. You could see the joy—they were just thrilled to be in the water. By my count, there were over 200 volunteers there. It was one of the most uplifting events you could ever witness. It was Australians supporting Australians, locals supporting locals and families supporting families, in the best of all possible ways.

Many of these people and their families have endured extraordinary challenges and difficulties. Whether it is Tom McGann or the crew at the Disabled Surfers Association of Australia or the people for whom they are caring; whether it is Richard Stubbs or another local constituent, Alan Lachman, who, in order to give his daughter, Francesca, the best support he could, helped establish the Insight school for those with visual challenges, blindness and other forms of eyesight disability; whether it is those working in the autism space—and we have pledged to work with Senator Mitch Fifield, our shadow minister responsible, towards a national autism summit; whether it is any of those or the many other areas in which challenges abound, it is time for a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The principle behind this is that, if you were designing a budget from scratch—if you had a blank sheet of paper—supporting those with disabilities in the best possible way would be right at the top of the list of measures because it is an expression of our humanity, an expression of decency and an expression of what we do. But, as we have developed in different ways over different times, we come to the point where we are today, with a different budgetary position.

So what we have to do now, I think, is adopt two fundamental principles: firstly, flexibility of delivery and, secondly, a non-bureaucratic model. The critical principle of flexibility of delivery is that we find the right solution for the right person. Each person's needs will be different. That may mean that for some it is about respite, for others it is about ongoing care and for others it is about material assistance such as customisation of a car or other vehicle or provision of computer equipment. Our approach should be flexibility, and that is what I think is critical—a flexible approach.

That leads to the non-bureaucratic model. I am very heartened by what I have seen come out of Western Australia. I think the Barnett model of flexibility is non-bureaucratic and an extremely important way forward. I think we should all look to the way in which Western Australia has provided a model. At the end of the day, we want to achieve a simple, flexible, non-bureaucratic model which is not about employing lots and lots of public servants but about giving individual families, carers and those suffering from disabilities the ability to meet their most significant needs.

That leads me to my third and final point, which is about supported accommodation. The Hastings model, as it is sometimes called, of small supported accommodation started just across the road from my office. Families such as Norm and Dizzy Carlyon, Joy and David Jarman, and Karl and Marie Hell—Karl has now passed on—came together to say that we needed a small, local supported accommodation centre. That was funded and it is largely built, but I have to say, with great respect to the Commonwealth, that nothing has happened in the best part of 18 months. The buildings have been frozen and the Commonwealth has not intervened to ensure that a building issue is resolved. I would respectfully say to the minister: now is the time to intervene, bring together the different parties and make sure that this building dispute is ended. It is a great model and one which I would like to see as part of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, but this case in Hastings can and should be resolved so we can get young people into supported accommodation. They are waiting; they are desperate; their families have visited. So I say to the minister: please intervene. This is an early example of the positive things that can be done by a national scheme. It is a pilot, an exemplar and a model. I ask for your help.

Having said that, when I think of Tom McGann, disabled surf Australia, Richard Stubbs, the work that Alan Lachman has done and those parents of children with autism, for whom we did our walk two years ago, they need and, above all else deserve, our support. As a parliament, we can be our best selves by supporting them. I commend the notion of a joint parliamentary committee. We will, as a parliament—as a unified group of people—continue to work towards a model which ultimately is not about bureaucracy nor tight rules; it is about finding the right solution to the needs of each family with a significant disability so that those families and those with the disability can be their best selves.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to give my whole hearted support to the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012. It is an important bill. It shows that, as a country, we can be compassionate and fair, and we can look after those who are less fortunate—who, due to circumstances out of their control, have had things happen to them that mean that they will need assistance and help throughout their lives. As a society, we can recognise that and do what needs to be done.

As a young boy growing up, my parents every year took me along to support the Mansfield Autism Centre. They held a ball every year. It was put on to raise money for that centre, and as a young boy I came across the parents, the carers and the children who were in the centre, and I got an understanding of all the issues that they were dealing with. It has meant that as I have gone through life I have had a great deal of compassion and sympathy, but above all else I have had a great deal of admiration for everyone who works in the disability sector and for all those people with disabilities as they go about their lives.

As a parliament we have a real opportunity to make a difference with this bill, and that is what we should do. Only three or four months ago I was reminded of the time that I spent as a young boy trying to help and support the Mansfield Autism Centre, when I met with the Ararat Disability Parent Support Group. I went along to talk to the Ararat Disability Parent Support Group but also, more importantly, to listen. While I was there—I was there for a couple of hours—I heard some of the most compelling testimony that you would hear in your life as to why we need a national disability insurance scheme.

One lady in particular read out a four-page letter about the difficulties that she had had getting respite for her child. It was an incredibly moving letter. I do not think anyone in the room—and there were 30 or 40 of us—had a dry eye by the time she has finished. The sad thing about her letter was that it showed clearly the difficulties that people face in this area. More often than not it is not because anyone sets out to deliberately cause problems or issues; it is just that the system is broken. It is having a huge personal toll on those who are dealing with this system. That is why we need to implement this bill. We need to implement the trials that are part of this bill and we need to get on with making sure that the National Disability Insurance Scheme becomes a reality.

I would like to take the time to thank the opposition shadow minister for disabilities, carers and the voluntary sector for the time that he has spent in my electorate explaining what the scheme would mean to our local communities. He has visited Portland, Warrnambool, Avoca and Maryborough. I am sure—he has said so—he would more than willing to come back and meet with other groups to explain how important this NDIS scheme is. I have met with more groups across the electorate, and everywhere I go all I can think is that the case is even more compelling for this scheme.

I would like to congratulate those who have campaigned for the NDIS. I had a meeting on 8 September 2011 with Jacqui Pearce and Lynn Foreman, who came to my office to promote the NDIS. Lynn Foreman in particular went beyond the call of duty to ensure that she got to that meeting and was able, once again, to make me aware of the need for the NDIS. She tried to get down by train. In the end she could not, and ended up having to come in a taxi—which shows once again the difficulties people with disabilities face on a daily basis. But, once again, they were able to put an extremely compelling case—and that has been done across the nation, to all MPs and to all senators, to both state and federal parliamentarians, because we are going to require the cooperation of those two levels of government to ensure that the NDIS is rolled out and rolled out properly.

I would also like to take this opportunity to mention Bill Shorten because, in his previous role as the parliamentary secretary for disabilities, he spent a lot of time publicising the need for the NDIS. In a show of bipartisanship I would like to recognise the contribution that Bill Shorten has made.

I would also like to recognise the contribution that the Productivity Commission has made. It is not easy getting the parameters right around implementing such a thing as the NDIS. This is serious reform and it needs to be done in a way that we know will work. There are people whose hopes are dependant on the NDIS and its successful rollout, and the Productivity Commission to date has done an outstanding job in setting the framework as to how that should take place.

When we talk about bipartisanship I think we should note—and this will be as important on our side, if we win the next election, as it is currently to the government—that we need to do everything we can as a parliament to make this a bipartisan step. This is something that all sides of this House should be able to get together and work on, to make sure that what we get is an excellent product. Neither side of this place has the wherewithal and the brains to ensure that every single element of this is rolled out to perfection. What we need to do is to make sure that we cooperate, that we work together, that we ensure that by putting our minds together collectively we do the best we can—and I think it is beholden to the government to look at what it can do to ensure that the NDIS is a bipartisan initiative, as much as it will be on this side if we win the next election. That is something that I will be extremely keen to see in the months and years ahead, as we continue to roll out the scheme.

There are going to be important aspects of the scheme that we are going to have to make sure we get right. The previous speaker, Mr Hunt, expressed some of these aspects. There are two in particular that I would like to pick up on; one is that we are going to have to make sure that there is flexibility of delivery. There cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach to this, because it will not work—across disabilities there are unique circumstances. When it comes to how this is rolled out, and the services delivered between metropolitan, regional and rural communities, a one-size-fits-all approach will not work. So we have to ensure that there is proper flexibility in the system. If we do not do that, then once again we will see people battling the system, and they have been doing that for too long. That is what the NDIS is all about: trying to prevent the bureaucracy and the red tape from sucking the life out of people as they try to get help for their loved ones. We have to make sure that the system we put in place is flexible across disabilities, but it must also be flexible across communities, whether they are metropolitan, regional or rural.

We also have to ensure as best we can that red tape is minimised, because nothing strangles more than red tape. For people who are emotionally dealing with incredibly difficult circumstances, the last thing they need is having that emotion added to by having constant battles with red tape. Often the red tape is well-intentioned. It is put there to ensure that delivery occurs according to how the system is legislated, but we have to make sure that, in putting this system in place, what we want to see occur is very clear and we have to make sure it allows people to get on with caring for their loved ones.

The time has come for this piece of legislation. It is something we need to see as quickly as possible. When I have met with groups across my electorate, there has been one uniform and compelling thing that they have said to me, and that is that they want to see compassion from their government—they call it 'their government', and they should call it 'their government'. They want to see an understanding, they want to see that people are listening and, above all else, they want to see a government which is prepared to step in and help them deal with the issues that they are dealing with on a daily basis. That is what this piece of legislation will enable. We still have a long way to go. We have to make sure that the trials are done properly; we have to make sure that we learn lessons from the trials; we have to make sure that the feedback from the trials will feed into the final NDIS; and we have to make sure that the establishment of the NDIS is done in such a way that we can continue to have bipartisan support for the model. These are going to be the challenges that we are all going to have to meet as we go forward.

I would like to say this: failure on this piece of legislation is not an option. Once you have met with community groups, once you have met with disability carers groups and once you have seen what these people are currently going through, you have to keep in the back of your mind that failure is not an option. They are doing wonderful work. They are dealing with things that we have to make sure we comprehend. We have to compassionately show that we understand and want to lend a hand. If we do not do that as a national parliament, we will fail. I do not want that resting upon my shoulders, as I am sure no-one else in this parliament wants it resting on theirs. I give my wholehearted support to this piece of legislation. We still have a lot of hard work to do, but we have to make sure that we do it and we get it right.

Tony Crook (O'Connor, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also welcome the opportunity to speak on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012. I agree with many statements made by members of this House, on both sides of politics, and I would particularly like to endorse the comments of the member for Wannon. I have enjoyed the non-politicised, passionate words from members such as the member for Gippsland and my friend the member for Denison. As members are all too aware, the current disability support system is unfair, underfunded and disjointed. The current system fails to give people with a disability proper choice about their future and gives no guarantee of access to appropriate support.

Australia is a fortunate, wealthy country where most Australians enjoy freedom of choice and boundless opportunities. However, one of the largest minority groups, people living with a disability, are not afforded basic rights and are not protected by the social safety net that protects most Australians. In many cases Australia has failed to provide people living with a disability with the very basic commitments of fairness and human rights. It is sad to hear that by most empirical measurements Australians living with disabilities and their carers are among the most disadvantaged groups in Australia. All Australians deserve a fair go. In this respect, these changes are long overdue. I believe we will look back at this time as an important crossroad in our nation.

There have been many times in this 43rd Parliament when I have been embarrassed about the politicking, infighting and obsession with party room antics that occur at the expense of our constituents, but today I am proud. I am proud to be a member of this parliament when both sides of politics are working together to improve the lives of Australians and to give people with a disability a right to realise their potential—a right that should be afforded to all Australians.

In such an important debate, I feel it is important to stop and make some acknowledgements. As members have done before me, I take this opportunity to acknowledge the carers of people with disabilities—to all the O'Connor electorate carers who I have had the pleasure of meeting and all those who I am yet to meet and, indeed, all carers in Australia. I acknowledge the enduring love and lifelong commitment that carers give to their disabled family members and friends. I acknowledge the huge amount of work that carers undertake and their willingness to participate in vital, unpaid work that benefits the entire community. I acknowledge the integral role that carers play in the Australian health system and in the Australian economy. I acknowledge and congratulate many of those carers who have done so much work to put this debate on the national agenda for those who cannot.

I also acknowledge the professional staff who work in the O'Connor electorate and I acknowledge the professional staff who work in high-care facilities, nursing homes and schools throughout Australia. Thank you for your tireless work. It not only improves the lives of many individuals and their families but contributes to the social fabric of our regional communities.

Finally, I acknowledge all of those people living with a disability in the O'Connor electorate. I acknowledge all those who joined me for a morning tea in Kalgoorlie and to all those who joined Wendy Duncan, at the time the member of the Legislative Council in Western Australia, for a DisabiliTEA in Esperance. In particular, I acknowledge the special people from my electorate who have taken the time to share their stories with me and to contribute to this debate.

Throughout 2012 I heard from many constituents on this issue—some with disabilities, some carers, some support service professionals, and many community members who thought that people with a disability deserved a fairer go. As members have done before me, I would like to share a couple of stories. It is most important to remember that these stories reflect what it is like every single day for many Australians. One such story that sticks in my mind is from Kathy and Greg Jones in Narrogin in regional Western Australia. Kathy and Greg are 60-year-old parents of a son with cerebral palsy. Their son is in a wheelchair and is fully reliant on his parents for everything. He is unable to walk or talk. Kathy and Greg, like many committed parents with a disabled child, often wonder, 'What happens when we are unable to care for our child? Once we pass away, where will our child live? How will he be looked after?' Without the NDIS, the answer to these questions and to many more is too difficult to contemplate by any parent. Kathy and Greg have commented that, once they know that the NDIS is on the way, they may begin to sleep at night again.

Another example is Jill, a tireless worker in disability support services in the city of Albany on the south-west coast of my electorate. Jill has described the astonishing amount of stress that families are put under when they are unable to access proper support for their disabled child. Under the current system, families have to bare their souls and participate in a very crisis-driven application process for support. Jill knows of families that simply cannot cope with the stress of not having support for their child. Some families have ended up with mental illnesses and within the mental health system from the stress. This, in fact, compounds the problem because, as we all know, mental health has its issues around funding and service delivery, particularly in regional and remote Australia.

Other families have considered handing their child back to the Department of Child Protection. This a notion that, to most, is incomprehensible and a decision that must be devastating. These levels of stress are echoed by participants in the Productivity Commission inquiry who noted that parents regularly contemplate suicide as they have been unable to find adequate support for their child.

My next story is of a very special Goldfields woman who gave me information about the NDIS in 2010 at my campaign launch in Kalgoorlie prior to being an elected member of this House. I have known Jo Russell for many, many years. For Jo the NDIS has been a very long time coming. Jo is the mother of three children and her eldest and youngest, Daniel and Megan, both have autism. Jo has dealt with disability service providers for over 20 years and I trust her when she says that the problem with disability care is that the system was not created and modelled by those who actually use it. I cannot summarise some of the information Jo has provided to me, so will read Jo's comments. She stated:

Too often, we have to repeat our stories over and over, only to be told we are not 'eligible' or that funding is insufficient for our needs. We have to create and recreate our stories of stress, misery, financial insufficiency and difficulties. Absolutely humiliating and hardly uplifting.

We are sick to the back teeth of service providers and organisations 'assessing' us, and determining what they feel is best for us.

Truthfully, it makes me want to vomit—so tired of the emphasis of service providers on doing things for and 'to' people, rather than 'with' people.

Disability assistance is seen more as a charity model—the terms used in disability language is revolting—we are known as 'clients'—actually we are PEOPLE, thank you!

Jo continued:

THEIR words include things like victim, support, care, crisis, assimilation, programmes, behaviours.

But the language of disability should include words like empowerment, rights and participation, choice, control, and self-determination, dignity, and assurance.

It is critical that we have a system that supports people to make their own decisions, chart their own course, call the shots, but needs to be accompanied by appropriate checks and balances on outcomes. And that system is the NDIS.

Jo added:

So that people with disabilities and their carers have the RIGHT to build the best life THEY can, through their own design and choice, with the help that is needed to get there. This is the NDIS.

Jo, I could not have put that any better myself and I am proud today to stand in this House and read your words. Jo is a strong advocate for not only her own children but also every other family or individual touched by disability in the Goldfields region. Keep up the amazing work you do, Jo. I am totally bewildered by how you do it all on two hours sleep a day.

On a personal note I have a niece with Down syndrome and have seen firsthand the unexpected difficulties that can arise for families including my own. Tess is a twin and she and Emma are now both 11 years old. My wife and I babysit Tess from time to time, and getting her out of the pool is like pulling teeth. Tess does not let me watch the footy when the Dockers are playing because her mum and dad have brainwashed her into only watching the Eagles. That is something that really bemuses me. Tess attends a wonderful school in Kalgoorlie which can cater for her needs and that of her classmates. Again I touch on the amazing work that carers and teachers offer our young students with disabilities. Tess is a great kid, with so much energy, enthusiasm and love to give. However, I know the NDIS will give her just that much more support for her to continue to grow as the gorgeous young lady she already is.

These stories fill me with mixed emotions. The first is to do with the love that families have within them. The second is disappointment that the current system has failed so many Australians. However, the strongest emotion must be the one of hope in all of us for the change that the NDIS promises to so many families and hope that this place can work to support people with disabilities. As politicians, as leaders, as community members, as members of families, we have a responsibility to work together to ensure the implementation of this program without letting politics get in the way. This cannot and must not be politicised.

The unavoidable truth is that this program needs both sides of politics to work together. Although the key players from government and the opposition should be congratulated on bringing this issue to the floor, the success of the NDIS will require ongoing collaboration, non-partisan commitment and funding security. The NDIS will require funding from this government and from future governments, even in a tight fiscal environment. The NDIS will require commitment to its implementation from this government and from future governments. For this reason alone, the amendment moved by the opposition leader should be absolutely endorsed. The most important issue in this debate in my view is that we must not raise the hopes of these very special people in our community only to fail them at the very last hurdle. In this respect, I support the bill and encourage all members to truly put aside party politics on this issue. We must keep politics out of the debate. We need to do what is owed to these families affected by disability. For these reasons, I support the bill. Thank you.

Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to speak on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012. We on this side of the House stand ready to work with the government to ensure that a successful and working NDIS is delivered as soon as possible for all those in need. It is an increasingly rare event for parliaments across the country to consider a piece of legislation so universally supported. That is because the NDIS is all about a fair go for those Australians who need help and support structures to ensure that they can more fully participate in our community. It was Winston Churchill who once said that you measure the degree of civilisation of a society by how it treats it weakest members. It is a statement that I believe most members in this place would agree with.

Providing adequate care for people with a disability is absolutely core government business. I make this point at a time when government is larger, more intrusive and more bloated than ever before. I am reminded by the whole debate leading up to this bill why we are actually here: we are here to protect and improve the lives of all Australians, including disabled Australians.

Last year alone, there more than 250 pieces of legislation passed through this parliament. In many cases, those bills had the effect of increasing regulations and limiting freedom. The pursuit of freedom is something that many opposite place a lower degree of importance on than we on this side of the House. But that pursuit of freedom, both in a personal and community sense, is ingrained in the DNA of the opposition. The bill before us today is unusual in that it will increase the size of government, and most certainly increase expenditure but, at its core, will have the effect of dramatically increasing the freedom of so many people in this country who suffer from a disability—and, in fact, it will dramatically increase the freedom of their carers.

This is no small thing. In 2009, 3.5 million Australians were reported as having a specific limitations or restriction. About 1.3 million people had a profound or severe core activity limitation. There is a huge section of our society whose daily freedoms are restricted through no fault of their own. If there is anything that we as national legislators can do to improve the daily lives and increase the freedoms of a large portion of our society then we should do whatever we can in order to achieve this.

I want to briefly go over some statistics that help paint a picture of disability in Australia. These figures were presented in a PricewaterhouseCoopers report a little over a year ago. The report notes that people with a disability in this country are some 50 per cent less likely to be employed than those without a disability. Beyond that simple fact, a lack of employment obviously leads to financial stress and has an impact on a person's freedom, their confidence, their living standard and their ability to pursue other life objectives. For someone who has recently acquired a disability, the loss of employment often has a more dramatic result. In that instance we often see a rapid downward spiral. It is imperative that we do everything that we in this place can to enhance the opportunities of people with a disability to seek, gain and retain employment.

The next statistic is shocking, particularly when you compare the figure with those from other comparable and, relatively speaking, wealthy nations. When you know that 45 per cent of Australians with a disability live in poverty you realise how grim things are. This is more than 2.5 times the rate of poverty experienced in the general population and more than twice the OECD average, which is 22 per cent. On this issue, we rank a lowly 21st out of 29 OECD countries. When we look at other OECD figures, we see that the OECD average for relative poverty risk is approximately 1.6, which means that those with a disability have a poverty risk 1.6 times higher than those without a disability. Australia has a relative poverty risk of 2.7, making us by far the worst performer in the OECD. These figures are grim and should give all of us reason to pause and think.

It would be naive to suggest that the NDIS will be the answer to all our problems. It will not be. It is important that we do not present this program as some type of magical cure or panacea. Indeed, one of the authors of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report that I referred to earlier said that the NDIS could help drive greater workforce and community participation for those with disabilities but only if it was accompanied by a broader cultural shift. He went on to say: 'Without other things happening, an NDIS won't deliver its full potential. If kids with disability can't get into education or access transport to get to a job, we'll continue to fall further behind, even with an NDIS.'

The PricewaterhouseCoopers report suggested that the implementation of an NDIS could support an additional 370,000 people with disabilities into the workforce by 2050. An additional 80,000 carers could also enter the workforce as they were freed from their daily caring responsibilities. This would be terrific. But let us not forget that if there are around 4.5 million Australians who suffer from a form of disability and if a large proportion of those people are already living below the poverty line then we cannot expect an NDIS to make all problems in this space go away—and certainly not overnight—through some miraculous stroke of the pen. This is a very important scheme, but it would be foolish of us to raise expectations where the point that the inevitable reaction of the Australian community is one of disappointment.

Having said all of that, the coalition obviously approaches this bill in the most constructive spirit possible. We supported the initial work by the Productivity Commission, we supported the $1 billion in the budget last year and we supported the five launch sites. We support this legislation because we want the NDIS to be a success. Also, we will support measures in the months ahead to ensure that we get a robust and workable NDIS that services our community.

I want to thank all of the parents in my electorate who took the time over the last few years to come and see me and relate their very personal stories, very painfully and very emotionally at times, to me. I know that many of their fellow carers have done the same with my colleagues on this side of the House and with members of the government. They need to be given particular credit. They take time out from their very important commitments to care for family members. Without their persistence and perseverance—they give the issue of disability care and disability services a very real and human aspect—I suspect we may not have reached this point at this particular time. I want to thank them and acknowledge their contribution in standing up and demanding of government what they need, what their families need and what any civilised society ought to provide in order to give those in our community with disabilities, and their carers, the freedom to more fully participate in our society.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I begin where my friend and colleague the member for Indi finished, speaking about the sacrifices that so many parents and families make supporting loved ones, especially children, with disabilities. It is long overdue that we are debating a national disability insurance scheme and that we are on the verge of seeing a national disability insurance scheme actually realised in Australia. It is a testament to the significance of this reform that we have seen so many members from both sides of this chamber add their voices to this debate. As the Leader of the Opposition has said, this truly is an idea whose time has come, and the coalition are strongly committed to an NDIS and have been since we supported the government's referral to the Productivity Commission of an inquiry into a national disability insurance scheme, in 2009. That report was released in 2011 and it confirmed that our current system of support for people with a disability was utterly inadequate, a finding that, while disheartening, we recognised and acknowledged called for action from governments at both the federal and the state level. Australia's funding and support system for those most in need is clearly broken, and this National Disability Insurance Scheme has been a long time coming.

I am proud to say that along with all the other members of the coalition—and I note in particular the advocacy work of Senator Mitch Fifield—I support this proposal to support people with disabilities and their families. It should be a thoroughly core government business. A federally funded scheme that will provide people with a disability, and their carers and families, with regular care and support and with the therapy and equipment they need to live a dignified and fulfilled life is a challenge that faces us all, but it is one that we must all confront to ensure that parliament turns this dream—apparently a bipartisan dream—into a fully functioning and fully funded policy.

It is very important that the government, through this debate, stop trying to represent the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the NDIS, as being a Labor reform. It is not a Labor reform; it is a reform that has the wholehearted support of all sides of politics and it is one that will be more compelling and more likely to come to realisation if it is seen as being one of those causes, those political or social reforms, that is not the property of one side of politics or another. There are some issues and causes in this House that are very much the property of one side of politics—some that the government holds dear to but we would disown, and vice versa. But this is one that we should all stand united upon because it is a huge challenge. It is huge in the scale of its complexity, dealing with so many people, each with individual needs and each with thoroughly unique needs. The scale of the resources needed is formidable. An increase in funding from $6 billion to $12 billion towards disability services is not a trifling amount of money. I might say that it underlines the need for prudent economic management, for prudent use of government resources and to ensure that we have a strong and growing economy that will generate the government revenues that will be needed to meet the requirements of this scheme.

The concept, as the Productivity Commission has recommended, would see all Australians contributing to and, should they need it, having access to a well-funded individualised scheme for their own care where individuals needing support would receive vouchers they would be able to spend on service providers, who, over time, would start to provide competitively the service that individuals need. This system will be one where support is based on need, where the individual has more control over the support services, aid and equipment they need in order to live their life to the full and to be able to rise above their disabilities.

As I noted earlier, the coalition supported the initial reference to the Productivity Commission, we supported the $1 billion allocated in the last federal budget, and we have supported the five launch sites as well as the agreement between the Commonwealth and the New South Wales government to extend the trial to a full state-wide rollout following the Hunter region launch. It has been encouraging, too, to see this concept of a national disability insurance scheme endorsed at COAG.

Many of my own constituents in the electorate of Wentworth have raised this matter with me directly. Whether it is principal Ian Gallan from the Wairoa School in Bondi, or Dr Chris Blackwell, one of our local clinicians, or the many other parents with stories as heartrending as they are profound, they have supported this important initiative. I am a proud patron of SailorswithdisABILITIES, which is a not-for-profit organisation in my electorate of Wentworth that is committed to changing not only the way those with disabilities view themselves but also society's perception of those with a disability. SailorswithdisABILITIES helps over 4,000 disabled children and adults annually through their sailing programs and has an extensive network of volunteers from the local community offering their support.

As a thoroughly able-bodied seaman I know just how difficult sailing can be, certainly in some conditions. It is wonderful to see SailorswithdisABILITIES not only build the confidence of those living with a disability by demonstrating just what they can achieve, but also developing the skills and showing the benefits of working in a team. The founder of SailorswithdisABILITIES, David Pescud, said that he could never accept being written-off because of his disability. He said, 'I was always more interested in what you can do rather than what you cannot do.' That goes to the heart of what an NDIS should be all about. It is about enabling those with a disability to fully participate in all aspects of life. It is about giving those living with a disability the opportunity to maximise their potential, to give them the dignity, the lifestyle and the independence they deserve.

Last year the SailorswithdisABILITIES crew completed the Sydney to Hobart race, crossing the finishing line after three days, 20 hours, four minutes and two seconds at sea. Their crew of disabled sailors beat 50 other boats in the international blue water race, led by the organisation's founder, David Pescud, and president, David Leslie, both of whom are sailors with disabilities. Brett Pearce, a member and volunteer, said of the organisation, 'Being part of SailorswithdisABILITIES is about being part of an organisation that empowers disabled people to achieve more than they thought capable.' Of a National Disability Insurance Scheme David Pescud said the benefits for the members to have the decision-making power to decide who, how and where they choose to spend their funds for their services that they require 'empowers people to make decisions for themselves and the opportunity of the governance of their own lives'.

Another institution in my electorate, which provides education and other services to students with intellectual and physical disabilities from four to 18, is the Wairoa Special School at Bondi. Every year, at our annual Christmas party, we raise money for that school—and it receives support from many other generous people in the community. As Wairoa school and its supporters, families and teachers will be all too aware, it is absolutely vital that those living with a disability get the proper care and education early, before those difficulties multiply—and this is the fantastic service that Wairoa offers, by providing the physical environment which specifically addresses the varying needs of their many students and fosters a culture of support both at school and at home.

For Wairoa, one of the biggest issues is ensuring children are properly assessed. Those who are better-off financially often have more opportunity to have their child assessed properly; and then, if they are assessed as acute, they can receive the maximum level of care. At Wairoa, 50 per cent of the children cared for have autism—and yet their needs differ greatly. Wairoa's experience is that determining the level of care that is required for a child with mild autism or acute autism is like comparing chalk and cheese, as often the children are not assessed properly, because their symptoms are all so different—and, as I said earlier, early assessment is absolutely critical. What Wairoa hopes for in an NDIS is to have a more structured assessment process and a more structured level of assistance to parents so there will be surety and equity of care. One of the main concerns for Dominic Sweeney, a teacher at Wairoa, is the level of care the children receive once they leave the school—the support they get there is fantastic, yet there is a failure at every level, he says, to provide adequate care for them once they move on. An NDIS should be able to address this.

Windgap, another organisation, just outside of my electorate in Eastlakes, knows just how important education and support for those with disabilities are to ensure they reach their full potential and raise community awareness to their needs and aspirations.

Another institution in my community that would have a remarkable difference made to it by an NDIS is Jewish Care, which runs a disability support program for 140 members of the Jewish community with an intellectual disability and provides support for 180 more with a mental illness. The clients of Jewish Care rely almost entirely on the community-raised income for their support. Claire Vernon, of Jewish Care, tells me of a 61-year-old woman living in Department of Housing and Community Services accommodation and attending Print-35, a fantastic initiative established by Jewish Care, which I visited, which employs people with disabilities to produce quality printing while contributing to their personal development and sense of worth. However, to enable this lady to manage in the community, Jewish Care provides a case manager and 16 hours of drop-in support every week—of which eight hours are contributed by the New South Wales government. She is like many with a disability: as they age their needs become more complex. Providing individuals with the funding to enable them to continue to live independently in the community, to direct support to the services they need the most, would, in Jewish Care's opinion, be a wonderful initiative. The need for flexibility and a person-centred approach is something that Jewish Care has recognised and acted on through its flexible funding program which provides $3,000 to $5,000 to families to purchase therapy and respite support.

As Jewish Care knows all too well, for too long families have had to negotiate the maze of services and the lottery of gaining a spot in a program or service. The great virtue of a NDIS is that funding is linked to the needs of each individual and the maximum autonomy and independence is accorded to that individual as their care plans and services are identified.

While there are clearly great prospects and great needs for a NDIS, many concerns remain. So much of how the scheme operates will depend on the rules that are still being finalised and on establishing the long-term funding arrangements to guarantee lifetime support. Above all—and I emphasise this not in any sense of partisanship—the prudent economic management of the government of the Commonwealth is absolutely critical. All of our compassion, all of our concern, for people with disabilities, all of our aspirations for an NDIS, will be only so much warm thoughts and warm words if we cannot afford to pay for them. It has often been said that a vision without resources is nothing more than a hallucination. We cannot afford to fool ourselves about a reform of this scale.

This will be one of the great social reforms of our time—indeed, of any time. It has the coalition's utmost support. We are committed to it and we are, above all, committed to ensuring that if we are returned to government later this year the economy, the business of government, of this nation will be managed in a way that we can well afford to show in real terms—in financial terms—the backing that our compassion calls us to provide.

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I congratulate the member for Wentworth on his very well-chosen words in relation to the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012. We have heard many eloquent and heartfelt speeches from both sides of the House attesting to the wide support for a national disability insurance scheme.

There is clearly wide acknowledgement in the community and in this parliament that we need a scheme such as the NDIS. That support is visible wherever you go. Everyone in this chamber will have spoken with people in their own electorates, as I have, who can attest to the fact that the current support system for people with a disability does not work. There are people in our local communities who are carers or who need support, but there can be no one rule that applies to everyone and that works with the same level of effectiveness—disabilities are so varied; families are so varied; the pressures on families are so varied; and the ability of families to deal with a child or children with a disability are varied. A lot of it equates to time; a lot of it equates to money; and some of it even equates to the ability to actually deal with the issue itself.

The level of support a person with a disability receives can therefore depend on a number of factors, both within the family and outside it. Some of those factors include where they live. Are they are on a rural property 60, 70 or 100 kilometres from the nearest town? Are they in a small town, perhaps in western Queensland or eastern Western Australia or some other isolated place where the level of support simply is not available? Is the disability congenital or was it acquired and, if so, when was it acquired? What was the person's position in terms of economic security when it was acquired? There is a whole range of factors. Of course, if the disability is the result of an accident there may be support mechanisms through workers compensation and motor vehicle insurance in some states.

So, again, the issue is not just the disability but how the disability occurred and whether or not the disability occurred as a result of an accident. Particularly if you acquire a disability later in life, the handling of the whole issue is much more difficult—you have to contend with the extra issues of queues and waiting lists. This results in many people with a disability being left without the assistance that they need. There is no doubt we need a new system of support based on need, rather than rationing of an entitlement for support spread across the disabled community. We need to ensure that we deal with this area better. The individual needs to be at the centre of the support. The individual needs to be in charge—to be able to pick the support, aids, equipment and service providers of their choice. This is the vision of the Productivity Commission's landmark report into the long-term care and support for people with disabilities. This is the vision of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

I grew up with a disabled brother. He has achieved far more in this world, because of the assistance and support he was able to get, than anyone probably thought possible when they looked at that five-year-old with cerebral palsy and wondered if he would ever be able to speak in a way which people could understand, to walk, and to be a productive member of the community. So when I talk about disability insurance and the need to support people with disabilities I think of my brother Neil. He has achieved an extraordinary amount in his life, for many reasons. The first is that he is one of the most determined and stubborn people I have ever met. When he was old enough to understand, he made up his mind that he would overcome his disabilities as best he could. He was able to do so because he was given the support he needed. Obviously, a great deal of that support came from the family. We are a determined family in our own way—I know people would be shocked to hear that!—and when we set our minds on achieving something we usually achieve it. The family has certainly been a great support to him, but, in the end, what really made the difference was the support and services that he got.

He was, of course, supported in another age—the age of institutions. They are out of favour these days—I think sometimes they are unfairly. The Spastic Centre has, in the past, achieved some phenomenal results, but sending children away to a centre like that is now not seen as socially acceptable, and that makes me wonder just how many people like Neil are currently missing out on the opportunities that he was given. The Spastic Centre at New Farm in Brisbane, with the support of our family and the determination of Neil, were able to produce an individual, an adult, who I taught to drive. He ended up getting married and having a child. He worked for most of his life as a public servant. Before that he was even more productive as a farmer. He is now retired. He has achieved a great deal. But, in all honesty, I have to say that Neil is the exception rather than the rule in terms of people with severe disabilities. When we look at people like my brother and what they have achieved, we also have to realise that we are a family who had the wherewithal to do what was needed, and that was in his favour.

The reason we need to look at what can be implemented in an NDIS is that, in the end, we need to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to achieve their maximum possible outcome in regard to their disability and their potential. So we need a scheme that, as I say, is individual in the way it operates—that is, not a one-size-fits-all scheme.

The coalition are committed to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. As the Leader of the Opposition said at the National Press Club recently:

The Coalition is so committed to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, for instance, that we've offered to co-chair a bi-partisan parliamentary committee so that support for it doesn't flag across the three terms of parliament and among the nine different governments needed to make it work.

Really, this is about being totally bipartisan. If this issue becomes political—if this becomes an issue which people try to gain votes or political points on—it will simply bogged down. The reality is that the government should accept our offer of a parliamentary oversight committee. The coalition intend to give the government, the Greens and the Independents an opportunity to accept our hand of cooperation by moving an amendment to this bill to establish a nonpartisan oversight committee. That offer should be accepted.

It is so important to note that every government in Australia and every opposition in Australia supports the NDIS, so the issue is not whether we should have an NDIS but whether we should make it happen now rather than haggle over the political issues and not see it happen anytime soon. People in our communities and community organisations are of that view as well. When I talk to the people in Toowoomba who run the Endeavour foundation or to the many other groups that deal with the enormous challenges faced in providing opportunity, care, therapy and treatment for people with disabilities, they are not interested in things that need to be argued about, detailed and sorted out; they just want to see it happen. Parents come to see me and talk about their children, some of whom are, literally, 55 or 60 years old. These parents wonder how their children will be looked after when they, the parents, are no longer around. They are not interested in the politics that often surrounds this place; they just want to see it happen.

Again I refer to my own experience and say that we were lucky in that we were able to do something, but parents with disabled children carry an enormous burden for the whole life of that disabled child. Things are different in a family with a disabled child. No matter how you adjust—and we adjusted pretty well—there are things that need to be done for that child which put pressure and strain on every member of that family, be they child or parent. We need to address this issue and soon. Parents are carrying an enormous weight out there. As I say, our family was fortunate. We banded together. Neil was determined and he has led a relatively normal life. I see families whose every waking moment, almost 24 hours a day, is spent caring for a disabled child. That is why it is imperative that we resolve this issue. That is why it is imperative that we get ourselves into a position where this scheme is affordable.

The member for Wentworth mentioned, and I support him 100 per cent, that the real issue here is that we move forward with our support for an NDIS and work out the implementation passage, but also that we have a government that can govern and provide the money to support the scheme. In the end, with all the intentions, good wishes and cooperation in the world, this will boil down to money and a serious amount of it. We need a government that can manage its budget, and that is part of the issue we are facing: no matter how well-intentioned we are in this House and no matter how much we agree, we are going to have to pay for this. And the problem we have at the moment is that this government is broke—absolutely stone motherless broke. It is broke to the point that it has borrowed hundreds of billions of dollars. So part of the challenge in making sure that this scheme comes about is getting a government that can run a budget in surplus.

As we look at the period ahead, let's hope that we do get that government, but in the meantime we all need to focus on ensuring that we continue to take this path to implement an NDIS. It will require cooperation, and the coalition has offered that. It will require bipartisanship, and the coalition has offered that. It will require that we all sit down around a table and, as we say, co-chair a committee to make this happen. The challenge for the government is to accept that and join with us in making this happen.

Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Healthcare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012. This is a momentous overhaul of disability funding across Australia and represents a once-in-a-generation reform. The bill establishes the framework for the NDIS and the framework for the NDIS Launch Transition Agency. On average, every 30 minutes someone in Australia is diagnosed with a significant disability. There are 410,000 people across Australia who have a permanent disability that significantly affects their communication, mobility, self-care or self-management.

The current system of support for Australians living with a disability is not working. The level of support a person with a disability receives in Australia depends on a number of factors: what state they live in, what disability they have and how that disability was attained. While workplace and motor vehicle accidents are covered by accident insurance, those who are born with a disability or who acquire one later in life can be left without the assistance they need or be faced with waiting lists and queues.

The Productivity Commission found that, while there are pockets of successfully managed disability services in some states, no disability support services are working well across the board. I have seen, in my 17 years as a federal member, that families are often frustrated by the lack of support that they receive from state government disability services and by the fact that this support is rationed. We need a new system of support for those with disabilities that is based on need, rather than the current system of rationing on a budget allocation. The individual needs to be in control. The individual needs to be at the centre and able to pick the support, aid, equipment and service providers of their choice. This is the vision of the Productivity Commission report and it is the vision of the NDIS. It will work in a similar way to Medicare, a successful social insurance scheme.

The coalition has been an enthusiastic supporter of the NDIS at every step. We supported the Productivity Commission work, we supported the $1 billion in the last budget, we supported the five launch sites and we are supporting this legislation. We believe the NDIS can be delivered in the time frame recommended by the Productivity Commission. As evidence of our goodwill, we are willing to work with the government to see the NDIS delivered as soon as possible. This historic reform will develop over the life of several parliaments and needs to be the property of the parliament rather than of any one political party. That is why the coalition has called for the establishment of a joint parliamentary committee, to be chaired by both sides of politics, to oversee the establishment and implementation of the NDIS. This would provide a non-partisan environment where issues of design and eligibility could be worked through cooperatively. Unfortunately, those opposite have refused this by voting down Senator Fifield's motion in the Senate with the support of the Greens.

The bill establishes the framework for the NDIS and the NDIS Launch Transition Agency. The agency will be set up as an independent body separate from government to deliver and manage the NDIS. This will allow the scheme to be launched in five sites across Australia from July 2013. The first site is designed to benefit over 20,000 people with disabilities, their families and carers. The five launch sites are South Australia, the ACT, Tasmania, Hunter in the New South Wales and Barwon in Victoria.

An NDIS looks beyond just the immediate need of a person with disabilities and focuses on what that person will require across their lifetime. The scheme provides funding to help people with a disability to participate more fully in economic and social life by providing an entitlement that will allow them to organise aids, equipment, supported accommodation or personal attendant care. The NDIS, when fully implemented, will be available to all Australians who have a permanent disability that significantly affects their communication, mobility, self-care or self-management.

In my own electorate of Boothby there are many important sites where there are a number of people with a disability who will benefit from an NDIS. Bedford Industries, based at Panorama in Boothby since 1949 and originally founded in 1920, is an employment and training provider for people with a disability. It has an excellent reputation across the nation. Bedford supports almost 4,000 people with a disability or disadvantage. It employs 800 people with disabilities across South Australia in its furniture, horticulture, hospitality, packaging and other areas. Bedford provides living arrangements for almost 200 people up at its Balyana residences.

Minda, established in 1898, is South Australia's largest disability service provider. It offers support and opportunity to over 1,500 people in accommodation, supported employment, lifestyle services and respite. Minda has already received $30,000 in funding to prepare themselves for the NDIS through the NDIS Readiness Fund. The Suneden School, founded in 1943 and located in Mitchell Park, is a private school catering for children with intellectual and multiple disabilities aged between five and 21 years old. My electorate office has a number of artworks from the students of Suneden School, and their art show every year is always a highlight of the local community's calendar.    Suneden has close links with a number of external agencies to assist with their provision of programs, including Disability SA, Autism SA, Novita, Minda, Respite Services and various workplace providers, including Bedford Industries, Orana and Phoenix.

In conclusion, this is an important change that will help support those around Australia with disabilities. The coalition supports this bill, and we stand ready with the government to make the NDIS a reality.

Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At short notice I come into this chamber to talk about a very important subject: the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012. The following might be of interest to the member of Boothby, because in closing his remarks he talked about the Suneden School in Mitchell Park. I can inform him that my sister, who was mentally retarded, went to Suneden. She was there for quite a while. It was certainly a very important part of her life to visit Suneden. I know they use different terms these days than the one I use, but I grew up with my sister, who was about 20 months older than myself. She was the seventh-born in the family, and I was the eighth. My mother likes to dine out on the story that when I came along at least one person thought I was perfect; the doctor wanted to reassure my mother that I did not have any intellectual disabilities—although I am sure some people might disagree with that now!

But this is a very important subject, and there is no doubt in my mind that it is a very worthy one. I may speak later about some of the problems that may exist. There are some people who may not be covered who think that they will be covered. In fact, I had an email and a phone call only last week from constituents who were concerned, in one case, that once they reached 65 there would not be any coverage—and they were actually thinking about their son—and, in another case, whether blindness was actually covered by this. And I suppose that is the concern of some people: they might think they are being covered when in actual fact they will not be covered.

The concept of a national disability insurance scheme has gained momentum over the past few years. Whenever it has been brought up in this parliament I have been a very strong supporter. One of the reasons it has gained momentum is due to a very strong grassroots campaign by carers, Australians with disabilities and the organisations that support them. More recently, the Every Australian Counts campaign, chaired by John Della Bosca, has certainly made sure we have strong support in this chamber. It has certainly kept the National Disability Insurance Scheme in the public mind on behalf of all those disability organisations.

The NDIS concept was conceived by John Walsh AM and progressed by Bruce Bonyhady AM, President of Philanthropy Australia. It was first canvassed at the 2020 Summit in 2008. It is probably the only decent thing that came out of that 2020 Summit in 2008. In 2009—so we are talking about four years ago—the federal coalition supported the government's referral to the Productivity Commission for an inquiry into a national disability insurance scheme. A final report of the Productivity Commission inquiry was released on 10 August 2011. Anyone who has looked at that final report would be encouraged by the support given by the Productivity Commission and would confirm that the current system of support for people with disability is—in their language—'broken'. This conclusion was endorsed by the federal coalition in all of its jurisdictions. We are not playing politics with this. We totally support it and any suggestion otherwise is bunkum.

Agreement has been reached with five states and territories, including my own home state of South Australia, the ACT, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Launch sites will commence in the states in July this year and in the ACT in July next year. In December 2012 the New South Wales state government and the Commonwealth government concluded an intergovernmental agreement for a full state-wide rollout of the NDIS beyond the Hunter launch site. Further expansion of the NDIS will be dependent on the Commonwealth negotiating and concluding further bilateral agreements with each jurisdiction. Queensland and Western Australia are not hosting launch sites but both have submitted proposals to the Commonwealth to be part of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and they are certainly part of the support.

The Labor government has sought to claim the NDIS as its own, rejecting bipartisanship on a number of occasions. That is pretty sad. This is too important to play politics with. This has the support of the whole parliament and it is not just them or us; we all support it. Our only concern is where the money is coming from. We are committed to finding that money. We certainly want to show that it does have very strong cross-party support at both federal and state levels.

This bill provides for the establishment of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Some people might ask: why has this taken so long? To be fair to the government and to everyone, this is a big decision by government and a big decision by this parliament. It will need a pilot scheme. The last thing we want is money just thrown at something without some sort of sensible pilot scheme to make sure that it works. It is important that we do this properly. That probably means we are going a bit slower than some people would like, but if we do it properly we will end up with a well-thought-out scheme.

The agency may provide general support for people with disability who are not participants in the NDIS, through information, coordination and referral activities. While most funding for NDIS participants will be in the form of individual support packages, the agency may block fund some entities that support people with disability. That is a bit like what we do with block funding in private schools: as a government, we do not get down to the nitty-gritty and saying, 'You do it this way.' For example, in my electorate, where the Lutheran school system is very strong, they get block funding and organise it themselves. In some ways I think that is more efficient than government bureaucracies trying to run it. We support that.

The eligibility provisions described in the scheme require that a person's impairment results in substantially reduced functional capacity affecting their communication, social interaction, learning, mobility, self-care or self-management. Eligibility includes early intervention to mitigate, alleviate or prevent the deterioration of a person's functional capacity.

As I mentioned earlier, people over 65 years of age at the time they request NDIS support will not be eligible. However, future participants can choose to continue with the NDIS once they turn 65. The assessment method will be in the NDIS rules. It is important that we have personal planning provisions which emphasise a person-centred and self-directed approach. A plan must include a statement of participant goals and aspirations prepared by the participant in the statement of participant supports to be approved by the agency.

I digress for a short period of time. Very early in my career as a member of this parliament, I was approached by four mothers in my electorate. I remember the meeting very well. They were concerned not so much about themselves and the work that they do as carers—they saw that as their duty and that was not a problem—but about what happens when they die. You hear that time and time again: 'Who is going to look after my children?' Obviously they will have grown up a bit more, but who will look after them when both parents are deceased? That was a real concern for them because they want to ensure that their offspring get the proper care that they need. I have heard that very often when other members speak on this bill.

Coming back to the bill itself, the plans will specify general support—and that is not purchased with individualised funding—and reasonable and necessary support. Of course, when we talk about 'reasonable', that is always a bit of a moot point: what is reasonable? Some people will want more than others think is reasonable, but in the end we will do our best, whether we are in government or in opposition, to make sure that they get that support. There will also be a review date and it will describe how the funds and other aspects of the plan will be managed. Managing the funding for supports under a plan can be done by a registered plan management provider, a nominee, the agency or participants themselves. Plan management involves purchasing supports, and receiving, managing and acquitting the funds.

Details about the process to become a registered provider of supports or a plan manager will be outlined in the NDIS rules. The agency may compel prospective participants to take action to obtain compensation for personal injury, and the agency is entitled to recover relevant portions of any compensation awarded to participants. These provisions are designed to protect the NDIS from cost-shifting.

There will have to be review processes. Information on review rights must be given to participants when reviewable decisions are made. Reviewable decisions cover eligibility support plans, provider registration, and nominee determinations. And, like many parts of legislation from this parliament, the legislation provides a further avenue of review to the all-important Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

Governance will also be important. The agency will have a board consisting of a chair and eight members who collectively will possess an appropriate balance of skills, experience or knowledge in the following fields: provisional use of disability services, operation of insurance, compensation or long-term liability schemes, financial management or corporate governance. The Commonwealth minister will appoint the chair and must obtain the approval of a majority of jurisdictions before those members are appointed.

The legislation also establishes an independent advisory council that will include at least four people with disabilities; at least two carers; at least one person with skills, experience or knowledge in the supply of equipment or provision of services; and up to five more members. The legislation provides for an independent review of the act after two years.

I pay credit to my elder sister who was a nun with the Josephites. She set up the first lance society in Australia. She was awarded an Order of Australia medal for her work there. Our family experience was of a child with a mental disability and it has certainly been a very strong part of my family's upbringing. (Time expired)

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012. There are not many in this House that do not have some understanding of the hardship families experience in caring for those with a disability. My electorate of Wright is quite remote. It starts at the top of the Toowoomba Range and borders Robina on the Gold Coast. In an area like that we do not have an enormous amount of infrastructure to help or support families. As a rural and regional community we rely heavily on neighbours, friends and family to support those people in their hours of need.

We will not be opposing the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I remind the House that we support this bill, as we do 83 per cent of legislation when we come into the House. This government would have you believe there is a relentless negativity from the opposition. That is factually not true. Public documents from the Parliamentary Library state that we have supported over 83 per cent of bills that have come before this House. What may not be known to those in the gallery today is that the coalition has requested a bipartisan committee to be formed on the National Disability Insurance Scheme so that we can move forward collectively with this. But no—as we move through, they will continue to take the single headline, the single grab, that 'the coalition are opposed to this' and that it is only Labor that will provide and deliver an NDIS. I say to you, Madam Speaker and those in the gallery, that nothing could be further from the truth. There are no lows to which this government will not go to hide the truth when it comes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

I also take the opportunity to acknowledge where the pilot projects are being rolled out at the moment, in Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT—

Ms Anna Burke (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It being 2 pm, the debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 97.