00:01Let's go!
00:03Cleaning, taking out the rubbish and lunch orders.
00:08It's all in a day's work for Sebastian Britos.
00:12Thanks to funding from the NDIS, the 20-year-old
00:16who lives with Down Syndrome has been supported to find a job
00:19and build independence.
00:23Sebastian lived the first half of his life under the old disability system
00:28run by the states and territories. Mum Sabrina Worre's
00:32plans to cut the NDIS and push more responsibilities back to
00:36the states will see families struggle to get supports like they did.
00:40What we had before wasn't adequate. We were very
00:44concerned about his skill development because we weren't getting any input into his
00:48individual needs. With the NDIS now costing $50 billion
00:51the Federal Government has announced major cuts. It's aiming to reduce the
00:56number of participants on the scheme to 600,000 by the end of the decade
01:00primarily by moving them to supports run by states and territories
01:03yet to be set up. Advocates say the previous state's systems
01:08bred abuse and neglect and the mistakes of the past can't be repeated.
01:13For so many people, seeking out the supports they needed was just
01:18going into a maze with dead end after dead end after dead end.
01:24Jim Simpson has 30 years experience in the disability sector.
01:28Lots of beds, so close together.
01:31Before the NDIS, he saw some of the most vulnerable people go without basic care.
01:37All too often people only got access to services when they got into absolute crisis.
01:44People who are often living in places like public housing
01:49or fairly bleak boarding houses or being homeless or on the streets.
01:55To look at this, you'd think they'd built a prison.
01:59In the 1980s, Professor Keith McPhilly helped move people out of institutions such as this one,
02:05Willow Court in Hobart.
02:07The old state-based systems were collapsing under an ever-increasing need to provide services and supports
02:15for people with incredibly complex needs.
02:18The old dispensary.
02:19He says the state systems had some positives, such as more multidisciplinary therapy teams working together.
02:25But those were dismantled when the NDIS began.
02:29We need this rebuild now.
02:31In reality, it's going to take quite a number of years to achieve.
02:38The fight for the NDIS was led by people with disability and their families.
02:44One of the scheme's biggest political champions was former New South Wales Minister John Della Bosca.
02:50He says the states were never supposed to shut their disability services.
02:55It was one of the artefacts of the rushed, incomplete policy work that was done in the lead up to
03:01the implementation of the NDIS.
03:04This week's federal budget allocated $6 billion over 10 years for setting up those new supports.
03:11But how and when the states will spend it remains to be seen.
03:15Mr Della Bosca understands all governments are worried about their own budgets,
03:19but they need to find a way to make things work.
03:23We don't want to rush it again.
03:24We will have done the whole exercise for nothing if we end up going back to a system that's rigid
03:29and doesn't treat people as individuals.
03:32The NDIS's focus on individuals has been critical for Sebastian Britos.
03:39If Seb didn't have access to the NDIS, I think he'd be spending a lot of time in his room
03:43watching television
03:44and not doing very much.
03:45And another hug.
03:47We don't mind who provides the supports.
03:50We just want those supports to be available and of good quality.
03:54We don't mind who provides them as well as well as the NDIS.
04:01We don't want men who are happy.
04:01You
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