Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remain very concerned about the way the NDIS is operating under this Morrison government. Under this government, the NDIS is not delivering for people with disability, their families and their carers as it should. Even while the government says it's scrapped its plan for independent assessments—and I very much hope that we can trust the government on that—we know that participants and families at the moment remain fearful about reviews. They remain fearful about decisions that they don't understand and that are inconsistent. I hear far too many stories from my constituents of long battles with people trying to have their plans reviewed or people trying to get support that is reasonable and necessary. Individuals and families come to my office and they're worn out. They're worn out from some kind of bureaucratic battle, where they can't get to the bottom of why they're not getting the support that they should get. Of course, I do what I can to fight for better outcomes for those people. But until we get a Labor government in place, a government that understands the values and that backs the NDIS, we are not going to get the support that people with disability, their families and their communities deserve to help them to live a good and decent life.

Jagajaga local Anne-Marie reached out to my office after she experienced a delay in a response from the NDIS regarding a new wheelchair that she really needed. Anne-Marie suffers from myasthenia gravis, a chronic complex autoimmune disorder in which antibodies destroy neuromuscular connections. She also has around 15 spinal compression fractures. My office asked the NDIA what was going on with her wheelchair request and the reason for the delay. This is the response we got: 'The updated quote provided by Anne-Marie couldn't be considered at the time as there was an active internal review which limits the planner from making updates to the plan. I understand Anne-Marie withdrew the internal review, but it appears the planner was not aware this had occurred.'

What does that even mean? This is a wheelchair that is essential for someone's way of life, and that's how they're being dealt with. It's a disgrace. According to Anne-Marie, the lifting mechanism on this wheelchair would help her immensely. It would help her to transfer from the chair to bed, to the car, to the shower et cetera. Shortly after I made a representation on Anne-Marie's behalf, she was given an outcome: she was given the wheelchair, as reasonable and necessary, but she was not given this lift component that would allow her to use the chair for all those purposes. It does not make sense. The NDIS under this government is not operating as it should. This is just one example of many that have come to my office, and I know other examples have come to many of my colleagues' offices. We are doing all we can to fix these problems for individual cases, but what we need is a system that works for all these people. We need a scheme that works for all these people and a government that will back the NDIS.