00:03Five years ago, Indigenous artist Paula Dover was fit and healthy running her own business.
00:09I had played agro basketball for 38 years and participated in lots of sports, walking every day.
00:17Then five years ago I got very unwell.
00:20Sudden heart failure made a condition called lymphedema much worse.
00:24Last year I ended up calling the ambulance 31 times.
00:27Family and friends took time off work to care for the Gold Coast mum, but she was knocked back from
00:32the NDIS four times.
00:35On appeal, she was finally granted access.
00:38I saved my life having the funding.
00:41Data from the Administrative Review Tribunal, which hears these cases, shows thousands of NDIS decisions have been changed on appeal
00:50in the past two years.
00:52We know that currently the NDIA are making decisions that are wrong about who should and shouldn't be in the
00:59scheme.
00:59NDIS appeals at the Tribunal were already skyrocketing before the Federal Government announced plans to slash participant numbers to save
01:08billions.
01:09Lawyers say some appeal rights would also narrow.
01:13Our team is completely overwhelmed.
01:16This will certainly lead to more appeals.
01:20It's unclear exactly what support will be offered to those removed from the NDIS, but anxiety is high.
01:28There's every possibility people could die waiting for their appeals.
01:32The NDIA says the rise in appeals is to be expected given the scheme's growth.
01:37It says it self-assesses the outcome of tribunal cases and believes the majority are favourable to its position.
01:45The NDIS minister said $4 billion will be invested in disability supports outside the NDIS by state and federal governments.
01:53Elyse Kinsella, ABC News.
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