00:02Nikki Carson's husband died a few months ago, and she's been finding that art therapy helps with grief.
00:09The Canberra woman has several autoimmune conditions, including cerratic arthritis.
00:14I have pain every day, every day, all day.
00:17On top of these day-to-day worries is her growing fear the support she relies on through the NDIS
00:22could be caught up in the proposed cuts to the scheme.
00:25Fight, fight, fight for everything. It's never been easy.
00:29The federal government expects about 300,000 people to be either kicked off or prevented from accessing the now $50
00:36billion scheme,
00:37and many of those removed to be served instead by yet-to-be-created state-run programs.
00:43Cuts to the NDIS programs focused on social and community participation are expected to account for about a third of
00:50the projected savings over four years.
00:52Nikki Carson says if the cuts come from that part of her plan, there's a lot she won't be able
00:57to do.
00:58People think that that is, like, fun. Oh yeah, fun, go into the community. And yes, it is that too,
01:05but it is also go to hydrotherapy, go to a doctor appointment.
01:09Those concerns are shared by Green Senator Jordan Steelejohn, who lives with a disability himself.
01:15Often in politics when we talk about government policy, it can seem far away and far off, but this is
01:23about the day-to-day for disabled people and our families.
01:26The cuts would save more than $30 billion.
01:30There is a really important problem that needs to be tackled, and that's provider fraud.
01:35Like, we do have a situation right now where if you are a large provider, it is so easy to
01:43commit fraud against a disabled person.
01:45The ACT Government's Disability Advisory Council has warned of the cuts having unintended consequences.
01:52We think reform is a good thing. We're just concerned, I think, that so far we've experienced a lack of
01:58consultation.
01:58The Disability Advisory Council has welcomed the Federal Government's decision to extend its inquiry into the cuts.
02:04That came after a backdoor deal with the Greens to pass the Labor Government's tax changes.
02:10With the final report into the cuts now weeks away, Nikki Carlson says the community feels like a scapegoat for
02:17anger about the cost of living.
02:18I keep seeing people lately who are angry and saying, oh, you know, half the people on the NDIS are
02:24fakers.
02:25And I'm like, please point them out to me, because how did they get on if they're faking?
02:29Because it is incredibly hard to get on the NDIS.
02:32Hard to get on, but being forced to get off it could be even harder.
02:36...
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