NDIS and the AAT - is this a game changer?

By convenor |

Does your NDIS plan fall short? This article may help understand NDIS strategies and tactics ... and how you (and others) might combat them.

Sam Paior - NDIS News

Budget pressures are mounting, staffing for the NDIA and its LAC partners is becoming more and more difficult, and dissatisfaction with the Scheme is growing, as the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) made a big, pointy, important decision last week.

Section 34 of the NDIS Act, the “Reasonable and Necessary” definition, is among the most important, and contentious, frameworks of the NDIS. It is used to determine what supports and services will be funded in an NDIS plan. However, its interpretation varies, almost on a day to day basis, with the NDIS trying desperately to protect its budgets. The AAT’s ruling last week on the case of young LNMT (name redacted to protect her privacy) has set a precedent that is indeed, a game changer.

How the justice system is letting down disabled offenders

By bobb |

By Adam Cooper

Ryan was destined for a life of disadvantage. Mum's drinking while pregnant caused fetal alcohol syndrome, and he was born with an intellectual disability into a dysfunctional family in a rural town.

Well behind from the first seconds of life, Ryan was exposed to physical and possibly sexual abuse as a child, was in state care from 11 and using alcohol and drugs in his teens. Now 21, he has been diagnosed with ADHD and has the literacy skills of a prep.

Concerns over AAT processes for NDIS reviews [DLM=For-Official-Use-Only]

By convenor |

Thank you.

Bob Buckley

Mr Buckley,

I have referred your feedback to management for consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Kate Lynch

Executive Officer

Administrative Appeals Tribunal

Principal Registry

Dear Ms Lynch

Thank you for your interest. However, I am concerned that ongoing reviews of decisions relating to young children who need early intervention are delayed indefinitely in the AAT process.

Should this neighbour have complained about an autistic boy?

By bobb |

Madeleine Ryan

Expressing our emotional needs can be a tricky business. I’m autistic, and I know that it can take a lot of work. And, as Brisbane mother and full-time carer Magenta Quinn learned late last month, a neighbour demanding peace and quiet can be harder to help than a child on the autism spectrum.

Ms Quinn’s neighbour, who "wished to remain anonymous to avoid any conflict", threatened to call the council if something wasn't done about her autistic son, who hums, moans and yelps to soothe himself.

letter: NDIA, autism stakeholders and early intervention

By convenor |
NDIS logo

Mr Robert De Luca

CEO of the National Disability Insurance Agency

Dear Mr De Luca

Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia, known as A4, is the national grass-roots advocacy group representing autistic people and others living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A4 and others in the ASD community have tried to engage with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) from the outset. But there has been very little progress.

Correspondence with NDIS

By convenor |
Subject: Letter from Chris Faulkner [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED] NDIS logo
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2018 03:29:29 +0000
From: FAULKNER, Chris
To: Bob Buckley (A4 Convenor)

Good afternoon,

Please find attached letter following on from our meeting on 30/01/2018.

The battle for benefits: people with disabilities fight back against broken system

By convenor |
two people smoking near a Centrelink sign

Jeremy Poxon, Media Officer for the Unemployed Australian Worker's Union

Record numbers of Disability Support Pension applicants are having their claims rejected, often against the explicit advice of doctors. With nothing left to lose, some are choosing to fight.

After two years of failed applications for the Disability Support Pension — as well as numerous appeals — Quang Huynh, a 30-year-old Dandenong man, decided he’d had enough.

Georgia and the NDIS

By bobb |
Jason Clare MP portrait - official photograph

The Hon Jason Clare MP

Member for Blaxland

Speech: 12 Feb 2018

Tonight I want to talk about a beautiful little girl who lives in my electorate named Georgia.

Georgia is 9 and she has multiple disabilities.  She has autism, epilepsy and profound global development delay.

Georgia can’t dress herself, or brush her teeth or comb her hair.  She can’t shower on her own.

She has to wear a nappy 24 hours a day.  

She has to wear a onesie - otherwise she will put her hands in her nappy and smear faeces around the house.

Subscribe to Australia