Rick Morton

The purge of management at the $22 billion National Disability ­Insurance Scheme has begun following years of blunders and scandals, with federal minister Christian Porter finalising a list of corporate heavyweights to be brought in to replace the board.

Media Release: 19 October 2016

“NDIS Board Recruiter must be replaced after failing to offer up a single candidate with either a disclosed disability or lived experience of disability.” said Trevor Carroll, President of Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) and spokesperson for Disability Australia.

Disability advocacy organisations across the country have united to call on the state and federal governments to work together to reverse the “shutdown” of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in the ACT.

The move comes after it emerged more than 1,000 people with a disability in the ACT are at risk of missing out on the scheme after the National Disability Insurance Agency stated there would be no new participants in the territory.

Last Friday on Drive ACT (ABC 666 Canberra) Disability advocacy groups expressed concerns about new applicants that are eligible for NDIS support being turned away.

Today (17/10/2016), Adam Shirley spoke with Federal Assistant Social Services Minister Jane Prentice, who sought to assure those who needed the NDIS services would have access.

Autism CRC is very excited Awards for Achievement in Autism Spectrum Research. The first award is for best inclusive research practice and the second for best translation of autism research.

Winners of the awards will demonstrate a commitment to high quality research practices and outcomes that will truly benefit people on the spectrum.

A family of four, including two children with "significant disabilities", were found dead in a home in Sydney's northern beaches, in what police have described as a "tragic" and "horrific" event.

Colombian born Maria Claudia Lutz and her husband Fernando Manrique were found dead in their home in the suburb of Davidson, in an apparent murder-suicide.

Also dead were their two children, 11-year old Elisa and 10-year old Martin.

Both suffered from autism.

• Daniel Burdon

More than 1000 Canberrans with a disability are at risk of missing out on National Disability Insurance Scheme support as the Territory and federal governments argue over which government should fund more places after a target of 5075 people was reached last month.

While the scheme was originally promised to be delivered to all Australians with a permanent and severe disability, it seems funding for places was capped at the 5075 "target" built into the original deal between the ACT and federal governments; a figure reached at the end of last month.