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In our previous article, we highlighted and explained proposed changes to the NDIS that the Australian Government has planned. These changes will affect current and future participants, specifically how they access the NDIS.
Amaze is concerned about the proposed changes and in this article, we will address our areas of concern.
We disagree with autistic participants being made to undergo a mandatory assessment by a stranger, particularly if the person making the assessment is not experienced in working with autistic people.
Participants should be able to choose which therapist undertakes the assessment, as they will have a clearer understanding of the participant and their functional capacity.
We acknowledge that fairness and consistency are important and support the use of the standardised tools that the Government has suggested. Because the tools are standardised, we are confident that they will be accurate and fair when used by a participant’s therapist of choice.
We are worried that people will not be able to challenge the outcome of the independent assessment. This disempowers the participant and their family and means that the companies doing the assessment are potentially less accountable than we would like.
For people living in rural and regional areas where there are already challenges getting appointments with allied health practitioners, the introduction of independent assessments may mean that there are even fewer occupational therapists and allied health practitioners to deliver actual NDIS supports. This is an important point, as there are many people outside of capital cities and the bigger regional centres who already find it hard to spend their full budget due to there being not enough local therapists.
The most important thing to understand is that these changes are not finalised. There are several ways to tell the Government what you think about the proposed changes and how they will affect you or the NDIS participants in your life.
Amaze and the Australian Autism Alliance have published a statement of concern about the mandatory assessment proposal. We have been using this as the foundation of advocacy with Victorian and Federal Members of Parliament, including the Minister for the NDIS. The statement is published here and we encourage our community to access it, share it and use it to inform themselves about the proposed changes.
Our good friends at Every Australian Counts are leading a community campaign that is connecting people with their local MPs. If you have concerns about the proposed changes that you would like to communicate to your MP, this is a good place to start.
The NDIA is conducting a formal consultation on some of the changes. Amaze and the Australian Autism Alliance will be preparing submissions to these consultations, but the scope of the consultation is limited.
The design of the reforms is not up for discussion however, there are important points about accessibility for autistic participants that we feel should be made and we will be making those points to the NDIA. We will be asking our community for contributions to inform these submissions, so please stay tuned.
The formal consultation ends on 23 February 2021 and the discussion papers can be accessed via the NDIA. Easy-read versions are also available here.
The Australian Parliament’s oversight committee – the Joint Standing Committee for the NDIS – has also announced it will be running an inquiry into mandatory assessments. We will be making a submission to this inquiry and making our positions clearly known to the Parliament. The deadline for submissions to the Committee is 31 March 2021.
The ECEI pathway is undergoing a reset. The changes proposed are substantial and some are directly relevant to autistic children and the supports they receive.
In our next article, we will take you through these changes.
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