My thoughts about the NDIS Review

The NDIS report was released on December 7. The report includes 26 recommendations to government to change the system that supports people with disability.

These recommendations provide a roadmap for all governments to deliver a more inclusive and accessible NDIS. You can watch a message from the Review Panel and read the full report here: https://ndisreview.gov.au

We asked Brooke Canham, Policy Officer for her thoughts about the NDIS Review report.

What are some of the big recommendations made by the NDIS Review?

In my opinion, some of the big ideas are:

• Set up foundational supports for people with disability. Foundational supports are things people with disability need to be part of their community. For example, help with cleaning and shopping.
• Better support for people to make decisions about their lives. For me, this means giving people with an intellectual disability support to make decisions about their lives.

What do you think is missing in the recommendations?

There weren’t any recommendations about employment.

I feel like there is not enough detail about how the government is going to make the recommendations happen.

Some of the things I think need to be made better to support people with disability and their families are:

• Put money into navigation support, advocacy and helping families with children with disability to get the right supports.
• Make sure people with disability get clear information so they can make their own decisions.
• Assess if people need support to make decisions and then include support in their NDIS budget.
• Give information and training to nominees to make sure they understand their role.

What do you think people with an intellectual disability need to know about the NDIS Review recommendations?

The recommendations are not easy to understand for someone who has an intellectual disability.  I think people will need a lot of support to go through and understand the recommendations.

What questions do you think people with an intellectual disability might have about the Review?

I think people would have lots of questions. For example:

• What are the main recommendations that the government is going to make happen in the next 12 months?
• How will the government support people with disability as the changes to the NDIS happen?
• How will the NDIS planners be able to help people with disability to be supported?
• Are the NDIS plans going to be accessible and in Easy Read so that people can understand their plans and make informed decisions?

You can read an Easy Read version of the report here: www.ndisreview.gov.au/sites/default/files/resource/download/a-better-ndis-recommendations-actions.pdf