Canberrans with disability fear NDIS changes will cut vital support

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The ACT government says ensuring people don't fall through the cracks, as a result of changes to the NDIS, won't necessarily mean added costs for providing support services. But with cost of living pressures being felt in a city considered among the most expensive in Australia to live in - some Canberrans with disabilities say the announcement just adds to anxiety and uncertainty.

Transcript

00:02Kaleen resident Ellie Kedershin lives with autism and has received in-home support through the NDIS since she was a

00:09teenager.

00:10It's really really important because I wouldn't be able to live independently or do things that everyone else does without

00:19it.

00:19She's concerned the changes mean she'll lose her funding to participate in sports.

00:24Being in the community is really good for your mental health as well as your physical health

00:28and it just makes you feel like a normal part of society rather than just kind of othered away just

00:34having to stay at home.

00:36Christina Ryan likens living with a disability to dealing with Canberra's recent roadworks.

00:41How do I cross this street? Can I cross it where I crossed it yesterday or do I have to

00:44go another block that way?

00:46We need to know what the rules are. That said, if something isn't working we need to do a bit

00:51to fix it, to tweak it.

00:52The ACT Government is working out how to fill any newly created gaps.

00:56It might be a case of reprioritising a program, it might be a case of expanding a program, refocusing a

01:01program.

01:02It might be a case of standing up a whole new program.

01:04The Territory Government is committed to rolling out the Thriving Kids Program from October

01:08which replaces some supports for children aged up to eight.

01:12The Finance Minister says the changes are worth the effort and costs.

01:17If you have a child who has some support needs but not, you know, not significant but you're needing help,

01:23at the moment it's a one-way ticket to the NDIS.

01:26I've felt that as a parent. I've been referred there about ten times when I'm going,

01:31well I don't actually need the NDIS but I do need some help.

01:34And that system, unless you've got a capacity to pay in the private sector for all of the, you know,

01:41different interventions, that doesn't exist.

01:42Uncertainty for the promise of stability.

01:45Uncertainty.

01:46Uncertainty.

01:48Uncertainty.

01:49Uncertainty.

01:50Uncertainty.

01:50You

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