The Impact of NDIS Funding Cuts on Primary Carers
The NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) was set-up by the Australian Government to fund the costs associated with someone who has a permanent or significant disability.
The funding not only impacts the person being cared for but also the carer(s). Families and primary carers are a vital support for people with a disability. Carers can bear some or all the responsibility regarding funding for support services and often it is difficult for them to navigate the transition of the person with a disability to NDIS.
The changes the NDIS have made and continue to make to available funding for participants not only affects the participant but also their carer who is being forced to get more creative in the way they provide care for a person with disability.
The reliance on data during the peak of COVID-19 lockdowns is hardly fair data to rely on as participants were using less services from the plans not because they didn’t want or need them, they weren’t able to access them due to lockdowns. Even when lockdowns lifted there was still limited access and, in some instances, services have ceased altogether because of not being able to survive through these turbulent times.
This is often still in play even today. Building a consistent team around and individual and family who live with disability, is one of the major problems of the sector. With a largely casual workforce in play, it brings with it uncertainty, and inconsistency of care.
Karen McKenzie told ABC that her son Jarrod who is Autistic, has severe intellectual disabilities and needs assistance dressing, eating, and using the bathroom that his NDIS funding that paid for cares was being cut by more than half.
Jarrod was essentially being told that the NDIS payments which he requires so he can go about basic daily functions was not “value for money”.
Read more about Jarrod’s story here: https://tinyurl.com/2f2hmn5v
Pricing Update 2022
From 1 July 2022 the NDIS are increasing price limits for services delivered by disability support workers by 9%. They are doing this to cover the rising costs of services participants need.
This means that there will be further reductions in services covered under the participants plan because the costs are coming out of their funding.
Find out more here about the changes in pricing: https://tinyurl.com/5e9c6cn7
The Truth
The truth of the matter is that often when funding is cut to participants, it means that they will be isolated from society for most of that time as they won’t have enough money for sufficient care. It often means that some participants will no longer be able to live independently in their own home. Once again, it is the primary carer who bares the brunt of the changes and cutbacks and will need to find a suitable solution.
The NDIS scheme is expensive, yes. But it is there to help those affected with a disability to lead a life as close as possible, to what the rest of us do. And rightly, everyone agrees that funding packages need to be reviewed from time to time. But it is very hard to make sense of the latest round of cutbacks
