My last blog needs to be explored and questioned more. I suggested that the NDIS review was not of great value and the people who were collecting the data did not always collect the right information or have the same passion as the people with disability on the ground that they were collecting the data from had. After some reflection and a number of conversations that I have had with individuals in the many networks in which I work I have really questioned my own thoughts on the NDIS review and what has actually happened after the Incredible work that we all put into this process. The problem is not what has happened with the review or the review process or the absolute dedication of the people involved with the review, the problem is what has happened after the review. How has it been used? What are the responses from the government to the massive task that was the NDIS review? I have really begun to believe that we were all absolutely on the same page with gathering the data and realising the many issues that were happening with the NDIS across Australia. There have been so many amazing life changing stories that emerged as the review took place. There were also very scary issues of fraud and money being misspent as well. We all want the scheme to continue and we know that we must have sustainability so people with high level disability can continue to live lives that allow them to have choice and control and they can stay safe.
The individuals at the heart of the NDIS review were passionate and collected data and stories and information that they put together in order to educate the government about what was happening and how things could be changed to make the scheme work even better. People with disability were consulted and spent many hours considering how to share information about their lives – this is what I was alluding to when I said within the blog that really the review didn’t seem to help make things better. The process was very emotional for all persons involved and now what we have in front of us seems way more scary than what we were dealing with when we looked at the problems that were happening in the actual scheme through the review process. However the problem is not with the NDIS review the problem is the fact that the government has still not responded to the review and so people with disability and the people in charge of the review are left without a real response. Is this fair to people with disability? I know myself I have been wondering why have we not heard back from the government? The review was designed to collect those problems and look at how we can create solutions. We wanted to work together with the government to help create new ways to do things better and build on the great scheme that we already had.
I am very sorry if I gave the impression that I felt that the people who were conducting the review did not do a good job. I think they did an amazing job putting together what they actually did. They had to explore the scheme from every different angle and they had to interview and document many very difficult situations. As one of the persons who was consulted across many different groups I think I was just feeling a little let down by the whole process. I actually had not stopped to think about how the people who were actually tasked with conducting the review felt. The hours they put into travelling across Australia to meet with people – to hear their story, sometimes good sometimes bad and the emotional toll overall would have been very difficult. I want to give the people who were involved at the top of this process a shout out and say thank you for putting together such a good comprehensive review. However you guys must be feeling pretty let down, as people with disability do by the government who is still not even come back and given us the response to the review.
They have however put forward the Bill which does not take into consideration the many different areas that were explored in the NDIS review and it also has not kept the integrity of the NDIS as it was. There are a number of things that are quite conflicting in the bill and at this time we really need to focus on what can make the NDIS even stronger and more amazing.
We cannot waste the hours and hours of collected data and the lived experience of people with disability that forms the NDIS review. We cannot waste the effort that was put into the process from the individual who were collecting the data and the participants and carers who participated in the process.
We deserve the response from government. We deserved for that to have been given before this Bill was put forward to Parliament. This obviously did not happen – so we need to work together to make sure that we as a collective of people with disability and those who work with us, get the best outcomes for a scheme that makes an incredible difference to people’s lives across Australia and can so it can continue based on the principles of choice and control and with the built-in safety and freedom that is reflected in a truly inclusive society.
Thank you to the people who works so hard across the NDIS review process. We cannot let this massive body of work and combined efforts of so many people go to waste and be not used in the best way possible. We need to be proud of the NDIS. It is a fantastic ship scheme and it has been developed to change people’s lives for the better. We need to ensure that any changes are just going to build on these great things into the future. If there are things that are needing to change we need to co design these together to ensure that the NDIS is sustainable into the future for the good of all Australians.