The latest Coronavirus and NDIS news - without the spin or jargon
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Hi Supporter,
We hope you are staying safe and well. While restrictions may have eased a little in some places around the country, we know many people with disability and their families are still doing it tough. And that this is still a stressful and anxious time. We are still trying to do all we can to bring you the info you need and push for the changes you want.
Our check in survey
In case you missed it, we’ve launched a survey to check in with you to see how things are going.
There’s been a lot of changes with the NDIS over the last few weeks and we want to know if they’re working for you. And if they are not – what else needs to be done?
We want to know what you need to keep you and your loved ones safe during this time.
You can tell us as much or as little as you feel comfortable with.
We also have an Easy Read version of the survey on our website [[link removed]] or you can download it directly here [[link removed]].
Take the survey [[link removed]] What do you do when the coronavirus hits?
What happens when your flatmate is potentially exposed to COVID-19 if you are at risk?
That’s what happened to our good friend Ricky Buchanan recently.
Luckily for Ricky she had already done some emergency planning – and things worked out OK in the end. With the help of the NDIS, her flatmate went to a hotel to isolate and Ricky was able to rearrange her support.
Ricky has written about what happened – and has some great advice for others who might be facing the same situation.
In short – it’s not too late to plan for emergencies and there are some great resources out there to help you. You can find links to them on our website.
Read Ricky's story [[link removed]] Checking up on the NDIS
This week, two reports were released that tell us a lot about how things are tracking with the NDIS.
First, the Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS released their report into Supported Independent Living (SIL) this week [[link removed]]. Unsurprisingly, the committee was very critical of how complicated and confusing the whole process was – and just how little had changed over the last few years.
They made a bunch of really sensible and practical recommendations – including making things simpler, easier and faster. And giving people more support so they can genuinely explore alternatives.
Importantly, the committee also recommended more funding for advocacy so that people have support to make choices for themselves about where they live, who they live with and how they want to live their lives.
Now we need to keep up the pressure to make sure these recommendations become a reality.
And earlier in the week the NDIA released their latest Quarterly Report.
The report shows that the NDIA have been cracking on with clearing some of the big backlogs – particularly when it comes to bringing kids into the scheme faster.
But there are still delays in between gaining access and getting your first plan.
The figures also show that people are still having trouble getting the support they need – most people in the scheme are only using about 60 per cent of their funding.
We know that with everything going on at the moment, no one has time to wade through pages and pages of government speak. So we’ve got two short summaries of both reports on our website to make it easier to stay on top of what’s going on.
NDIS Quarterly Report summary [[link removed]] Joint Standing Committee SIL report summary [[link removed]]
That's it from us. If you haven’t already please join us over on Facebook [[link removed]] or Twitter [[link removed]] where we are able to bring you all the news as it happens.
And thank you for all that you do.
Kirsten and the EAC team
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