00:00Look, the current legislation gives people the right to appeal decisions made about whether
00:09they have access to the scheme, whether the supports they're asking for and the amount
00:15of money they're receiving is meeting their needs.
00:18Some of those are not there anymore.
00:21The actual access assessment that the government is going to require you to do so that you
00:28can become a participant in the scheme is not going to be paid for.
00:32And in the state and territory agreement today, one of the inbuilt protections was that there
00:38had to be unanimous agreement between the states and territories for a change to this
00:44bill.
00:45So that was an inbuilt protection for disabled people, because if a number of states decided
00:50to hold the line to uphold people's human rights, they could, but it's now no longer
00:57a unanimous thing.
00:59In addition, the government, both state, territory and federal, have put out a statement today,
01:07but it doesn't talk about something new that this bill relies on called foundational supports.
01:15That's going to be support that's not just for NDIS participants, it could be anyone
01:20who is watching this tonight.
01:22If you broke your leg, your foot, you're going through cancer treatment and you need a bit
01:26of help around the house.
01:28And the people who aren't part of the 600,000 who are NDIS participants, that's where the
01:34support's coming from.
01:36But there's no definition of what that is, how it's going to work.
01:40And it's a big concern to think about people getting sent to a system that doesn't exist.
01:45And hasn't been tried, hasn't been tested.
01:49OK, if I can talk to you about some of the other issues that were announced today, that
01:55was agreed to by the states and territories, I mean, there were some changes around the
01:59time frame for approving rules, dispute resolution, and a move from absolute support to majority
02:06to support, which is something that we spoke to with Naz Campanella earlier.
02:10Do you welcome any of those changes?
02:14Look, it's a real shame that the changes that have been brought forward by independent
02:22senators and minor parties such as the Greens haven't been given consideration because they
02:28worked hard and in good faith with the disability community to get those amendments up as well.
02:34So while we oppose this bill in its current amended form, if it had to pass, the amendments
02:42that each different disability organisation had been advocating for were intended to make
02:48it better.
02:50We know that the minister outlined these changes in an attempt to reduce growth by $14 billion
02:56over the next four years.
03:00In doing that, some of the reforms give the minister and the NDIA, the organisation that
03:05runs the NDIA, powers to determine what supports can be accessed with the funding.
03:12Will that help stop any of the waste in the system at the moment?
03:18That's a really interesting thing.
03:19The way it's being presented is that it will, but in reality, a lot of the waste in this
03:25system is coming from the layers of bureaucracy, having to spend thousands of dollars on a
03:31report for a several hundred dollar item, only to have it not read, for example.
03:37And that's nothing to do with this legislation.
03:40This legislation changes what participants can access and our rights under the scheme.
03:48There is already in place, a week before this bill was announced, a new fraud squad and
03:54task force that have the power to go after the big providers who are doing the majority
04:00of those huge, huge rorts that none of us as a community think is a reasonable use of
04:06taxpayers' dollars.
04:07But really quibbling over whether somebody who has no arms should be able to buy a robotic
04:13vacuum cleaner that could also mop the floor or pay for a cleaner every week for the rest
04:21of their life.
04:22Under the current rules, they would be able to decide, well, does this meet my disability
04:27needs to buy this piece of equipment?
04:30Yes.
04:31Is it the most cost effective option?
04:32Yes, because we save so much money over a lifetime.
04:37But now white goods are, for example, on a black and white banned list, yes and no.
04:44And there's only been two weeks of consultation time.
04:47Most of this bill is like a book that has chapter headings without the information.
04:53And that's why advocates are concerned.
04:55So if you had a chance to rewrite the book then, Mareika, what are some of the key issues
05:00that you would like to have addressed that would give you comfort and then ultimately
05:05support for the bill?
05:09All of the national peaks representing disabled people have actually said they don't support
05:16the bill in its current form.
05:17And one of the major things is because it wasn't co-designed by us and for us.
05:23And that's not about our pride.
05:26It's because we're the experts in our lives and we can see where the wastage in the system
05:31is, how the system can be improved.
05:34We live in it every single day.
05:36So I would start from scratch with a group of disabled people around the table.
05:41And this bill called getting the NDIS back on track asked the question, how did it get
05:46off track and how do we fix it?
05:48And you're not just sitting at the table, but you have an equal voice.
05:52And that is how we actually fix the NDIS long term.
05:56It took 10 years to roll the NDIS version one out around the country because it was
06:03tested and tweaked as it went.
06:05To talk about now doing this within 28 days because 28 days after a bill passes, it becomes
06:12law is just something unfathomable given the amount of blanks that are in it and need to
06:19be co-designed, which has been promised, but it's going to take time.
06:23I would do that after implementing the NDIS review, which we've spent two years of people
06:30with disability giving time and energy and taxpayers money on.
06:35And rather than reading that and responding first and then changing the legislation, we
06:40would look at how about we look at implementing that and see if legislative changes even needed
06:46first.
06:47So calling for the senators to don't pass this tonight.
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