Models of support under NDIS

With a change in the Australian Government the name for the new direction in disability care is now the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

This new direction in providing support to people living with disability and their families and career givers, is designed to give people a greater say in the governance structure of the support services they access.  It is also one of the Australian's Governments response to the UN agenda to improve the human rights of people living with disabilities in Australia. 

NDIS seeks to address issues such as chronic under funding of the disability sector across Australia, through an increase in the medicare levy.  Implement early intervention strategies, the introduction of the NDIS reminds us that we are all one accident or serious illness away from living with disability.

People with disabilities have told the productivity commission that they want a more active role in the community. They are seeking a more meaning full purpose for they lives and the lives of the family.  They do not want others outside the family unit making decisions around schooling, therapies, equipment, home modifications, study vs life skills options, respite care, accommodation, recreation and employment.

These decisions are best made in consultation with the person and significant others in their lives.  Until now many of these decisions and choices have been made by therapist and government departments and far too often decisions about one area of a person life such as accommodation and personal care has been made independent of choices around respite care for the family, resulting in a disjointed and sometimes inappropriate service delivery for clients and families.

The first thing the NDIS hopes to achieve is a more holistic approach to their care and support needs. An individual is much more than their impairments. A person's inability to verbalized the dreams, doesn't mean the have no goals and aspirations for the future. Nor does the need for assistance to get out of bed in the morning, toileting, bathing, and breakfast, inpack their ability to undertake university. The need to access 24 hour residential care doesn't mean a person can't work at some level. (work can be considered a few hours volunteer work)

For the first time in Queensland from July 2016 the allocation of funds will be based on the goals and aspirations of the person with the disability or decision parents with a child make around, early intervention and schooling for their child.

Many services and the Department of Community Services in Queensland are already in a transitional phase.  The revolutionary shifts that the NDIS creates can not occur over night.  Its introduction as indicated will impact on other service areas.

• Housing
• Accomondation Services
• Schools
• Further Education
• Employment agency
• Health system
• Therapies and Early Intervention
• Mobility aids and technology assistance.
• Transport

Other issues such as access to building, the exit of young people from nursing homes, public awareness and education, staff training and a shift in how services are delivered and marketed needs address.  I think many in the sector and perspective clients still under estimate the changes that will occur as a result of the NDIS.

Some families in Queensland who receive a family package from the Department of Communities have made the shift to self-direct funding, known as the My Life, My Choice Program. The NDIS in between 2016 and 2019 for Queensland (note dates and timelines differ from state to state and you need to check the website for dates in your area). Will extend self-directed funding to all Queenslanders living with disability by 2019.

Under the current self-directed package being offend to families in Queensland there are 2 tiers to chose from in terms of managing your support needs, these will be very similar with variations under the NDIS. For example the MY LIFE, MY CHOICE, packages do not include funding for equipment and therapies.

Pathways to Self-Directed Funding (Queensland)

1. Buying services direct from a service provider. The main change under this tier is a family will chose the provider or providers. Many families have decided the happy with their current service arrangements and nothing has change for them.  Remember self-directed funding is about the individual and their family making the choices that are right for them. For each family, that will be different. Change will create uncertainly, don't look at others, focus on you, your family and meeting your goals and needs.  The advantage of this budgets and reporting is done by your providers.
2. Selection of a Host Provider (Broker) - a 'host' will hold you money in their bank account. There are responsible for providing you with information on services you can access.  A host provider many or may not also be a service provider to your family. The difference is you choice which service you will receive. Instead of the department of communities deciding you have 7 hours a week in PC, 2 hour a week respite, and 5 hours for community access for your family member. You will decide if you want to do PC for your family member so they can access the community more. This is what people are saying the want.  They want greater choice and flexibility. 
3. A family can choose to form a company, directly employ staff, do there own rosters, staff training, wages, book keeping and reporting. Some people like this choice the want a greater say in who is in their lives, hour often the come, when the come and the role the will play. Its not for everyone but it gives people another choice.  Remember your choice is about what is right for you.

Going back to the Human Rights Commission and the issue of choice under the National Disability Scheme, the scheme directly addresses the issue of choice.  However to fully allow individuals to make informed choices for their lives many changes need to be made. 

Access and opportunities need to be created, we can't just give someone a key to a house and walk away. Living independently may be their choice but we still have responsibility to make sure the house is accessible and suitable for their needs.  If a house has front steps and an inaccessible bathroom and the person is fully dependent one a wheelchair for mobility then part of their package needs to be set-aside to access appropriate accommodation  they many need to access a living skills program or assistance to deal with centrelink. In dependent living accommodation is much more than a change in address and appropriate supports needs to be funded.

To achieve this a family or individual needs a plan the need consider all the risk factors and support services needed to execute a plan and how that will occur.  This is the role of a community linking officer on the current system under the National Disability Insurance scheme their will be assign someone to enable you to map out you plan. 

This may allow you to explore some new possibilities for your family or yourself to enjoy things e that haven't been possible before. Better access to services may allow to relocated close to where you want to study or if you want to compete in the paraolympics in swimming and don't live near a pool or coach. 

Until now relocation for people with disability has meant reapply for support and being placed on waiting lists with service providers.  Moving for people with disabilities has been a very limited options and the is one reason why we needed the scheme to be national.  So if someone in the family is offered a transfer that is now possible to accept the transfer without risking a drop in support services. 

The National Disabilities Insurance Scheme ensures people with disabilities and their families have security, that other Australian enjoy, such as moving from Brisbane to Melbourne. These are choices the rest of the community takes for grants.  These are the Humane Rights Australian Governments have failed to provide.

Such choices for people with disabilities means service providers need to be more open and transparent about what they have to offer and more flexible in their delivery.  Respite is traditionally offered during the day. What about if a family wants to incropriate the possibility for shift work into their lives.  More and more services will need to adapt to a market place rather than offer standard programs.

At times even I under estimate the changes that we will see under the NDIS. We changes all of us need to be open to opportunities and threats.       

  

Accessibility in an Inclusive Society

Living for a revolution . . . for many the introduction of the NDIS is nothing more than a change is the way the support needs of those living with disability.  However, the ideals of the NDIS campaign extend far beyond providing support for people needs.  The induction of Disability Care Australia signals an end to funding based on which box you tick and what your impairment prevents you from doing.

The driving force behind its introduction is to see a rise in the participation rates of people with disabilities and the family members who provide primary unpaid care. Until now Australian society has played lip service to the social inclusion of people living with disabilities. Having a family member acquire a disability or a child being born with a disability can be just a social isolating for the carers and siblings of the person with impairment.

Often the only social inclusion for a sibling of a child with disabilities is there schooling.  As parents care for the child who has special needs, other siblings are deprivation of attention.  Providing care can also meaning siblings miss out on activities such as music or sporting activities.  Where a sibling has a behavioural or social disability, inclusion in community activities can be impossible with out respite care.

As we focus on the possibilities under Disability Care Australia, The biggest access we much overcome is our disabling attitudes.  For too long in our society we have hidden those with disabilities and their families way in small pockets of our community under the cover of 'speacialness'.   There is nothing inclusive about activities that only 'special people' can participate in. Things like S-trope (the 'S' is 'special) and supported workshops in my own community spring to mind.  Programs that are inclusive driven be participating in what are everyday community activities, but adaptive for those with specific needs.  While many of these activities have played a vital role in building a person's self esteem. The also contribute to social isolation of those living with disability.

By far our biggest challenge to full social inclusion is a society and communities that are largely inaccessible to many people whose lives are impacted by disability.   Accessible society are much more than ramps, parking and toilet amenities for those who struggle with mobility issues.  Australian communities are so far behind the eight ball when it comes to accessibility communities.  This is the number one barrier we need to address if we are to bridge the divide in terms of social  inclusion.

While our public admendities, transport systems, public schools, universities, finical institutions, sporting and recreational facilities and places of cultural interests continue to be inaccessible to any Australian residents, measures to build social inclusion levels in our local communities will be hard fought for.  Whether inaccessibility is physical or attitudinal in nature the barriers still need to be torn down and torn down quickly. 

When it comes to creating accessible communities Australia lags on the lower bottom of the ladder in the Western World in so many areas.  One of the social targets for the NDIS is employment of people with disabilities.  With work places inaccessible to many Australians to ensure reform targets for employment are meet, we must address these issues.  Changing social policy with addressing access issues can not build an inclusive society.

Currently the Australian economy is one of the healthiest in the world and yet we rate 21st out of 28 in the development counties for the employment of people with disability. People whose lives are impacted by disability in Australia are more likely to be living on the poverty line than in other Western countries. We as Australians should feel ashamed of this recorded. I expect in true Aussie style we live happily unaware of these embarrassing figures

For me these statics reflect our failure to value all Australians are equal.  Our attitudes continue to limit the opportunities we offer to those with certain impairments.  Those not expected or encourage to perform and push the boundaries beyond what is possible will continue to under-perform. If you expect people with disabilities to step up to the bar, can I suggest we at least stop lowering the bar so low that all require of these Australians to step over it.

That is indeed what we do every time we create an artificial community in which the is no real competition measure success.  If we want our children to thrive in a competitive community we set a standard and ask the child to me it.  Unless he or she has a disability and then we say, just do your best.  By not encouraging them to search for success in the same way as other children, instead labeling them is 'special', we are leading them into a life of mediocrity, dependency, social isolation and propriety. We unwitting have decide their lives are best that way and 'they don't know any better.

These attitudes, values and standards are not present in many other Western Countries. All children are required to attend school.  A child with special needs given appropriate support can attend a public school. In the united States where the bar for these children are the same height as any other child, they are out performing their Australian counterparts. We have a huge leap to make before see full employment for people with disabilities.

We are unlikely to accept any attempts by employers for tokenism and the underemployment of the past.  With the NDIS revolution rolling out across country, all employers should feel put on noticed.  The federal government has set the wheels in motion, so to speak to give people the support they need to be at work on time.  Employers are now duty bound to make sure their worker places are accessible for any Australian who may or may not have a disability.

As we seen with the CEO of Myers, one of the largest retail chains in Australia the days of make excuses for the inability to employ some living with disability are number.  Australia its time for all of us to raise the bar and expect more of ourselves.

Count us all in!

Mislad information around the NDIS causing unnecessary pain

Errh! The media! Firstly to be fair the media and especially social media has been a real alley in the NDIS now known as Disability Care Australia which was launch, in five states across Australia under trial status. 

Monday provided due celebrations for thousands of Australians who worked and campaigned for many years for one single funding system to provide the support, therapy, and equipment needs for Australians living with Disability.

However Monday was only the beginning . . . in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the North Territory and only a few thousand people will be given the opportunity to transition from the current funding arrangements to a federal funded support package under the direction of Disability Care Australia in the first 12 months.

Yes, we have every reason to celebrate that between now and July 2019 around 420 000 Australians living with Disability and their families will be empowered to have a greater choice about how the want there support needs to be meet, who the would like to meet those needs and the times the wish to be supported to  have a shower.

While Disability Care Australia gives hope to hundreds of thousands of Australians either currently affected by impairments or who will acquire a disability before the age of 65, its introduction means different things to different Australians.  For those who have never had support and struggled to purchase equipment an access specialized therapy, the fairness of the system brings renewed hope.  The same eligibility applies for all Australian, well not quite WA is still play hard ball and I can't imagine the hard ache of those who live in WA with disability.

As I talk to people with disability. their families, parents of adult children, support workers and carers and those who simply support a true fair system of funding for everyone affected by disability, I am gob smacked at some of beliefs that are held. But I am angered that non service users particular support workers think things have change.  That with the wave of  a woad, years of miss management by state government can be undone!  

The monument of the commencement of Disability Care Australian  has sadly left many uniformed and sadly incorrect information seems to spread faster than the information people need to know.  My suggestion is for all the up date inform on launch dates, eligibility and employment opportunity you go directly to the Disability Care Australia Website.     

Hence my feeling a little bit aggro with the media.  Psychological studies show the people on retain 10% of the information we receive. So by human nature we will retain the information the competes most for our attention. So this week its been Disability Care Commence on July 1. As I shared early in the week for some Queenslanders this has been confusion been added to be changes in funding at state level. 

Disabilities Services Queensland funding has been at a dysfunctional level for a number of years, due to its faulty foundations and to date on band aide solutions have been found. Currently Queenslanders living with disbility and their families are funded by a number of different types of packages. For example Individual packages, post school packages, family packages, block funding and now self-directed funding under the growing stronger policy. 

Its a very confusing and frustrating time for everyone in the sector:  employees, clients, families, carers and and administrators. Basically for the next 3 years were tread water and try to hold on for the hope for the future that Disability Care Australia holds.

The introduction of Self - Directed funding through the Growing Stronger Policies  - is a recognition be the Queensland government that people living with disability want a greater say in the way they are supported. 

Essentially the commencement and eventually everyone being supported by Disability Care Australia aims to bring giver greater choice and flexibility to those living with disability.  We will see an end to administrators deciding what is appropriate support and a move towards support being given to achieve the goals of people living with disability.  

For the majority this will see a major change in the way people access there support, but for those who a happy with how things are working for their family, nothing needs to change.  Under Disability Care Australia as long as your services continues to maintain Disability Service Standards they will continue to operate. Changes to the way you are support will only occur if you want them to change.

This shift in the way people are funded and support is perhaps the larges reform we have seen in Australia since the introduction of medicare and the regulation of health services and deliver. Such a monuments change in service delivery can not occur over night.  The are many thoughts and ideas out their regarding what families and clients want to achieve.  We need to get this right, to change everyone at once is dangerous and irresponsible.

With a change in service delivery, we need new ways of providing safety measures for clients, families and support workers.  These must be careful thought through.  We may need new laws to protect people unable to protect themselves.  We need specialize advocates, OT's and physios to be trained in the areas people tell us they want to access. 

Some of the people we support experience major communication difficulties to ensure these people are being enable to achieve there goals and living a life style of their choice will take months. Remember we want to undertake this very individual approach for 420 000 Australians and many will receive support for the first time. 

We are giving people the right to make informed choices about their care, where the live and the activities they chose to engange in for the first time many of these people are in their 40's and 50's the right to be empowered to make choices for their lives are foreign and changes need to occur slowly to ensure cohesion and exploitation do not occur.

We can not predict what people with chose, we do not know fully what all the risk this new system will bring. Remember giving people the power to make real choices about there live means, they for the first time will feel the consequences, so safe grands need to be build into the Disability Care Australia system.  We do not want to do that without careful monitoring, case studies and time to make adjustments.  

To ensure this is a first class method of delivering support to those who need it we need every part of the next 6 years. So please the best place to correct you have the correct information is Disability Care Australia Website.

By all means share in the celebrates of this historical time in our Australian history, but at the same time don't get caught in the confusion and media hype. Be checking with the links I've added to my tool bar and join their relevant twitter and facebook pages. 

Access Funding For Disability Support Needs

The journey up the mountain as we build a fairer system to support people with disabilities, their families and those who provide care will be fought with difficulties as I set out to highlight yesterday. The concepts of Disability Care Australia, remain unclear for many.

Some people in the community are still unsure about their personal eligibility for the scheme. You can nor check your eligibility on the Disability Care Australia website by answering a few simple questions. 

It is important to remember the commencement of Disability Care Australia will be different in each state, to find out information about your area you should check the website of check with a local disability service provider.

On all area of Australia have joined the scheme we will have A National Standard of Disability Care. It is important that we understand from this point forward we are all responsible to ensure these standards are meet.  If we want to maintain these national standards and ensure everyone remains protected under this knew system we, clients, families, caregivers, support workers, staff at organisational level, management  governance level and government departments must demand best practices in the workplace.

To be well supported we much give excellence in supporting our support workers, through protecting their rights, maintaining work, health and safety standards at all times, pay award wages and follow award pay structures. Sure we all want value for money to stretch our funding dollar, but their are times when spending our funding on staff training and ensuring the well being of our staff will be a wise investment.  Just as staff are known by the reputation so are we clients.  In a market driven industry, based on supply and demand to attract quality support workers you want a A+ rating as a client, family and/or employer. 

The launch my seem like a long way off in Queensland, but the time to prepare for a future is now. The scheme will see clients, families and carers being empowered to make choices for themselves on how they wish to be support.  The family may choose to do the personal care for there family member so they may spending more time in the community.  Remember one of the main goals of Disability Care is to increase peoples involvement in the community.

People will also have a greater say in who will support them.  No matter where the live they can chose which services they want to access.  If a service is not providing the types of supports they want to access the are able to approach other services, use a generic or use a brokerage to employ staff directly.  Disability Care will see clients accessing different services, doing different activities to what the have previously done, trying some new things, learning knew skills, and exploring new pathways of being supported. It will be an exciting time of learning and exploring together.

Change even when it is positive can be frightening, so if you frighten and feeling unsure about your future, you are not alone. A good sense of fear can be helpful and make us more cautious. When we are cautious we often check things out better and explore all the risks and that's what we need to do as we prepare for a future being funded and supported by Disability Care Australia.

Now is the time to ask lots of questions and go exploring.  Talk to other people, find out how the do things.  Try to do some different things to see if you or your family member likes it then you can decide if it something you want to build into your support package.  If you like what you do now and just need more help to achieve you goals, that's ok too! 

This is your life and Disability Care is about enabling you to make the right choices for your life.  You might want to think about where you live.  You might like where you live But will you want to live then in 5 . . . 10 years time? Do you always want to live where you libe now or might you want to more  at some stage? It's ok not to know the answers but its good to explore and dream a little too.

Moving and where we live has been something many people with disability because of lack of funding, or opportunity or low incomes or other family commitments or the wrong type of accommodation to suit you particular needs, has not made choosing where and with whom you live possible. That's the other thing about Disability Care Australia you make discover new possibilities open up for you. 

So get round and talk with your friends see what types of things their thinking of doing in the future.  Ask your support provider if the think the will offer anything different when Disability Care starts.  Jump on the internet and see what are services are doing.  The more questions you ask, the more people you talk with and share ideas with you more ready you be when Disability Care Australian commences in your area.

If you live in Queensland and your discussing funding, self-directed funding or Disability Care Australia that you understand,(a) how you are funded on July 1 2013; (b) which level of goverment you are funded by; (c) all state and HACC funding will change once Disability Care commences in 2016 in Queensland.

At present any funding being assigned before July 2016 is not under the banner of Disability Care Australia and paid for by the agreements  made by state and federal goverments to be funded by the medicare level recently.  When you feel confused find a support person who knows you and your family well and ask for help.  You may like to find an advocate or  mentor to assist you in your journey.  

They journey towards changing to Disability Care Australia is best take with people you know and who know you well.  Whether your a client, a family member, a carer, a guardian  a support worker, paid carer, work for an organisation, an agency manager, or in a governance position this is one journey I don't advise you take alone.   

I  am not an expert on Disability Care Australia, much of what I write is base on the changes I expect to occur in my home state of Queensland.  It is important you understand the changes that will occur in you area and the key dates.  Always refer to the Disability Care Website and talk to people in you network.  I started to up links up on my tool bar to the right.  If you want to recommend a link or need assistance to find something email me. Together we can make this journey.

Mountains and Pot Holds of NDIS

   As of Monday the Introduction of Disability Care Australia, previously know as the NDIS.  However Disability Care promises to be more than a funding reform and change in the person holding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. 

    The legislation behind its introduction seeks to address so key human rights for people living with disability, their families and carers.  The first thing to our heads around this new piece of legislation is it brings all Australians into line with the Unite Nations conventions for people living with disability.  The drive towards the implementation of the structure the will become Disability Care Australia is to ensure all Australia's have equality.

     Thus far I do not think we have had an enough discussion and debate on what this equality looks like in an Australian context.  Recently at a National Conference - some said, Disability Care Australia, what is that? He highlighted on a conceptually level, we all have some based understanding that this will be the new system of supporting people with disability, their families and carers in Australia, but few of us understands  how it will work structurally.

    The first potential pot hole I can see between us and the mountain peak of the full implementation of Disability Care Australia is understanding the difference between conceptual level and the practicalities of how things will run on a day to day bases.  Living in Queensland, where the current funding per head per populations for Queenslanders with disabilities is the lowest and perhaps unfairest state when it comes to access funding,

    I fully appreciate the frustration of Queensland being one of the last states who will both introduce and then fully implement this new system.  I also understands peoples desperation to grasp what this new system will look like for them and their families, especially for older Queenslanders experiencing disabilities, in which there is a sense or too little, to late.

     Negotiating the gap between where are personally on July 1, 2013 and where we will be (which for many is still pretty much undefined) when the NDIS is fully up and and running.  Seems to add additional pain for Australians who have been pinning the hopes on its introduction of years.  

    For Queenslanders this frustration is enfolded by confusion which is been added to by some changes being made by the Department of Communities ~ Disability Services in Queensland at the very same time the introduction of Disability Care Australia is occurring in other parts of Australia. 

     In 2012 some Queenslanders living with disability are been given the opportunity to change to self-directed funding under current state government.  While this funding will be managed in a similar manner to funding provided under Disability Care Australia. there will be fundamental differences in eligibility and what  is being funded. Essentially both systems have been designed to give clients and families greater say in how they are supported. 

                Self-Directed Funding (2012 Queensland only)

                Known as My Life My Choices was offered too families receiving family funding packages and

                some individuals receiving post school packages. If you receive other types of funding packages

                through the Queensland Department of Disability Services you are not eligibility to self directed

                funding.  Unlike the self directed funds funding to be rolled out under Disability Care Australia, 

                the provision of mobility and communication aides is not included.

              

                Disability Care Australia (From July 1 2013 in the five launch sites)

               Will ensure care, support and equipment provision for all Australians with disability under the age

               of 65.  Where a person has reached the age of 65 when Disability Care Australia is launch in 

            their community, their care will be provided by the federal government through the aged care system. 

               To be eligible for Disability Care Australia you must have a significant permanent disability that

                impacts your ability to undertake daily tasks without assistance or supervision. 

          

               For Queenslanders this means once the system is fully operational more Queenslanders and

               there families will be eligible for support.  We will see and end to 'packaging'.  Everyone will 

               receive assistance in the same way according to the goals the come to agreement with their 

               local office office of Disability Care Australia and all Australians with a disability will finally
               have the same access to medical, mobility and communications devices, seeing an end to
               means testing.  . 

                

               This means an end to funding being assigned on the biases of diagnoses.  Not all Australians

               living with disability have an official diagnoses. So now these people too care receive support.  

               Appropriate support will be given to allow people living with disabilities to achieve their 

               goals and lifestyles choices.          

        

     If you currently live in Queensland and have any questions or concerns around the type of funding you receive you can either talk to your support service provider or community link officer if you have one. During the gap period for Queenslanders, we will continue to see changes to the way our state funding is managed it is important for us to recongise what are the changes happening for me 'today', while engaging in discussion for a future under Disability Care Australia,

         o  Disability Care Australia what is it? One of the major dips in the road is people are having trouble grasping is what this system of support will look like once it enters our homes, our schools, our communities and workplaces. Those who current receive support want to know what are the changes? Will I lose any support? The good news is the federal government has promised no Australian with a disability will be worst off in terms of hours of direct support and the provision of essential equipment under Disability Care. In Queensland something like additional 50, 000 Queenslanders will begin to receive support with this like personal care, feeding, meal prep, assistance with  house work and transport, respite care for families and oler carers, more people will be able to move into supported accommodation, motor viecheal and home modifications will be paid for and people will be able to access early intervention.

     The major shift in the par-dime to understand is not how people will be supported by why people with be supported. Australians with disability and their families are more likely to experience social isolation, unemployment or underemployment, provity and difficulties accessing things like training, education and health care. By removing the barriers created by disability where possible (we need to acknowledge it will not be possible for those who are profoundly impaired, but the government still is responsible to improve the benchmark significantly) people, their families and caregivers can enter into the fullness of life in the community of their choices.

     This shift is to empower every Australian to have direction and lifestyle choices for their lives, or their family members life, so where ever possible these Australians can experience full inclusion and economic equality.

       To achieve this Disability Care will look at an individual or the individual family unit seeking support. Not at a bunch medical and OT report.  It will ask what the clients hopes and dreams for their future are.  Rather than make funding available on the based of out dated formulas. Funding will now be tied to goals and enabling the person or family to achieve their goals.  For each client that will now look very different according to the pathways the choose. This is the thing that excites me most about NDIS.  The empowerment of individuals to make choices just like any other Australian.

     The pot holes in the road are building an Australian society that will allow the full engagement of people with disabilities. This means building communities that are accessible to all Australians. Until recently access has been seen as an issue for Australians who have a mobility impairment. However as I begin the access debate this is far from the access issues present in my mine.  As we modernised Australia we can address physical barriers and improve much communication access through technology. What is hard to change is the major shift in community attitudes needed for full social inclusion and economic equality.
.
   Traditionally people living with disability have been supported in segregated areas of our communities, such as special schools, residential communities, respite centers, group homes, sheltered or supported employment or specialized activities for people with disability. Although increasingly seen in the community engaging in activities, the sense of segregation or 'differences' remains marked.

   People experiencing disability as part of their lives tell us this is not how they define social inclusion. Social inclusion implies that someone is accepted in the community and view as any other member of the community.  Where parts of our community are in accessible for one reason or another; (this could be physical access, lack of appropriate communication, technology, noise or lighting issues, lack of appropriate supports or general inappropriate attitudes) the are great roads to be built up the mountain before the ideologies and goals under the Disability Care Australia can fully be achieve.

    Only a few have fully comprehended how the NDIS relates as a humane rights issue for those Australians with Disability. Queenslanders are fortunate to have the luxuary of time to debate, learn, listen anf create an inclusive community before Disability Care Australia opens it doors in our state.  Self-directed funding begins to allow some families the experiences of chosing how they want to be supported to achieve their goals.  As these people learn and grow to be empowered to made their own choices, as a community we have a responsibility to make our communities accessible for all Australian regardless of the type of impairment.  Our stairs must make way for ramps,  our signs must learn to talk, our officers must be accommodating, our telecommunications systems must be fully accessible, our streets and transport system able to be accessible, our public servants and retailers ready to converse with those who are challenged by a full range of communication difficulties and we all need to be ready to embrace those different to ourselves.  

     These are the challenges that we face as Disability Care Australia is rolled out in full.  If you want to know more about Disability Care Australia, eligibility, what assistance will be available I  suggest you visit the website and use the online access tool or talk too your existing provider.  If you want to know more about building an accessible community and how technology can play a role you can email me or contact your local council about access issues.

     If you want to assist in creating a inclusive society start engaging with people living with disability and enjoy what they have to offer.

The Employment Section

Or is it seek.com now.  Take you tick of any online employment recruiting website and see if any job advertisement reads like this:

WANTED - Product design manager, an innovative creative person want to head put a new product design range. We're looking for a person with excellent team leadership and communication skills to learn of team of designers. We are an equal opportunity employer will to accommodate any person with a disability who can demonstrate they have the skills to lead our team.  We are also happy to offer flexible work hours. 

My hunch is not only will we never see such a job advertisement few companies are currently will to make the physical adjustment to their work place (such as accessible toilets) or equipment modifications let alone be flexible with work hours to work around the team managers health needs. And yet the introduction of Disability Care Australian, has put Australian employers on noticed. Not only is it illegal to discriminate on the grounds of disability, but employers are being ask to modify and arrange their businesses to accommodation the employment of people with disabilities, but allowance for the support needs to be met in the work places.

It is the one piece in the NDIS puzzle I can quite click into place.  As a person who experiences uncontrollable seizures that are triggered directly by stress I know I am unemployable in a traditional 9 to 5 role.  I am most suitable to roles that allow me to work flexible hours from home. 

"Despite what you read about 'bludgers on the DSP' (disability support pension) regularly in the Daily Telegraph we don't want to live on the DSP. We want to work, earn a wage and pay taxes."Australian Network on Disaility

A sentiment, I heard echoed around the discussion table at near ever conservation about the introduction of the NDIS or Disability Care Australia. Yet wanting to work, even having the ability to work, has never correlated in to jobs. People with disabilities and the carers are currently 30% less like to be employed than the generally population.

On would think with the current discussion and debate surrounding the introduction of Disability Care Australia and the views being expressed by people with disabilities themselves you would be forgiven for thinking the gap in narrowing. The reality is the jobless rate among people with disabilities is on the increase. As reported by Australian Network on Disaility.

Why then is it that so much of the Disability Care Australia legislation and the Productivity Commissioners Report  hinged around the increase employment of people with disabilities and the relatives that play a vital care role in a family members life.  I can see how the availability of regularly respite care support will enable the primary care given to go beack to work.  I can see the huge increase number of jobs in the disability sector, especially when the talking about doubling the number of people who will be supported in Queensland alone.

My struggle is why because people will be assured of assistance to get out of bed in the morning and be assisted to get to work on time, do they suddenly overnight become employable?  Yes we can address public access issues and  improve public transport for the needs of people with disabilities, but how to we bridge those attitudinal barriers, that equate disabilities to illness and incapacity. How do we as Australian with disabilities make our seemly visible abilities more visible.

"There are times when I feel I need to twice as much to prove my capabilities to perform a job than my competitors without disabilities. Then there are times I feel I a seen to have supper powers because of the professional approach I take to my work.

As if the is some think of rule of thumb the people with disabilities can not achieve as well as the non disable counterparts and to do so is a supper feet. Mate I am lucky if I can get the sales person to talk to me, yet alone convince a potential employer he or she has the correct CV in their hands  and I have not lied about my achievements. A person with a disability is dammed if the don't reveal it to a potential employer in the cover letter and if The do they run the risk of not getting an interview.  No one has ever explained how we can prove it is my epilepsy that leads to discrimination and not my cerebral palsy.  When the contraints of my CP are much more visible.

To use a Pauline Hanson expression, "Please explain . . . how support disability Care Australian will make us suddenly employable?"

  .   

Disabling Words

It strikes me as ridiculous that people who claim to be writers are unaware of the powerful impact words have and the collective responsibility we have in using current terminology. The word of God gives warning to the power when it tells us the tongue cuts sharper than the sword.

As a writer and an advocate for people with disabilities I feel a sense of failure and embarrassment this morning. Having been excited to have a piece on social inclusion printed to see the words 'Leadership in the Disable Community', beside my work brings shame. Two words thoughtless added by my editor, erodes my attempt to dissolve the the barriers between people with disabilities and the general community. 

When people with disabilities fight so hard not to be grouped together.  To not  from exclude groups or clubs and rather be included in mainstream activities. To be label in the media as a 'community' you realize how entrenched  negative community attitudes are towards people living with disabilities.

Again this morning I realize how unprepared Australians are to receive the values that unpin the NDIS, We are not mature enough to tear down the attitudinal boundaries.  In a system of support that seeks to address underemployment and increase social participation of Australians living with disabilities, the barriers feels as isolating as being surrounded by mountains a herder like cattle into a holding ground.

Please if you seek to write and print articles on social inclusion, chose appropriate terms and language that empowers rather than disables. Help us educate, rather than box us in!         

Roles in Disability Care Australia

In the disability sector the most vital role is the relationship between their support worker and the clients they work with. In the main the introduction of NDIS now known as Disability Care Australia, these already established relationships and relationships the will be introduced will be relatively under changed, where these  Client/worker relationship built on well grounded polices and procedures will continue unchanged.

In Queensland in preparation for the introduction of the NDIS in 2016 some clients who already receive packages through Disability services have switched to self-directed funding,  under this arrangement with the state government clients and/or their adult guardian have a greater say in how they  use their funding .

This funding is allocated under the Queensland Government's Growing Stronger Program. Where greater emphasis is placed on client choice. My life! My choice! Is  the principle that underlines this funding and much of the funding that will be distributed under Disability Care Australia. If you have not been contacted by the Department of Disabilities Services of you service provider to change to this new fund system, then for now how you use your support will remain unchanged.

My life! My choice! Gives clients and families three different models that enables them to be more empowered to make choices around their daily living needs and support goals. Eventually all people with disabilities living in Australia will be able to do this.

However this is a huge shift in thinking for everyone involve. We need to take slow steps to allow these changes to take place, understand what the mean for clients, families, carers, guardians, the adult guardian board, support workers, service providers, the dismantlement of the Department of Communities, the staff and all people working in the sector.  The changes are a few years away, but now is the to discuss what these changes mean for us as individuals and collectively.

Any change creates uncertainty, this uncertainty use in the right way can be a powerful tool. Or we can let this uncertainty be ruled by fear leading to a state of confusion. The introduction of  Growing Stronger and later Disability Care Australia is simple to give people as greater say in the life style choices.

Both systems allow this to occur in a number of ways:

1. Structurally it is predicted that many clients and families will chose not to make any changes in how the are supported and who they are support by.  For these people the greatest joy maybe to know the equipment needs will be meet.
2. Then there's a group of clients who would like a greater say in who supports them, when they are supported, how often they are supported and how they wanted to be support. Currently they may go bowling on a Saturday morning, they might decide they now like to go fishing on Saturdays or the want to attend a respite center to make new friends. This is about real people making real choices for their lives. The people chose a provider to 'host' the package on their behalf and disperse funds to produces the services the clients want from one or more service  providers.
3. It is expected that only a small number of people will chose to apply for an ABN and completely self-manage package.  This means rather than use staff from an existing service provider such as the Cerebral Palsy  League or the Endeavor Foundation, clients will advertise, interview, train and employ their own staff.  These people will be subjected to the same rules and regulations as all small business owners and bound to maintain the disability standard.

So you see while on the surface level, service delivery appearance will look the same, the governing principles and governance model will undergo significant change.  The word governance is the decision making process around what a support system will look like.  Until now this governance roll in Queensland has been undertaken by the department of Communities Disability Services, Board members of Service Providers and Case Workers, Community Linking Officers and Client Coordinators.

Only now as self-directed funding is being offered can families and clients say, I don't want 10 hours in home support, what I need is 5 hours in hours per week to assist with personal care, landry and meals preparation  and I like to use the other 5 hours to be support do a TAFE  course. In order to change the way people with disabilities are being supported some people will meed to look for new support providers. 

This is a major shift in thinking and methodology for case workers and coordinators. People who have previously been employed to design, write and implement support plans, with only assist in the writing and implementation.  The days when someone working for a service provider decides a client will spend 'x' number of hours at a shopping centre are thanking ending. Where traditionally support workers have felt the need to prompt or decide activities for clients, these types of governance decisions will be directly made by clients, a family member or appointed caregiver or guardian. 

More than ever before support workers must be able to make the shift from a more traditional role of 'a paid carer' to support worker.  A support workers role is to enable a person to achieve the goals.  The days when client are only receiving support as respite care for the caregiver(s) in their lives are ending.  Under the watch of Disability Care Australia all support will be linked to the goals the person wants to achieve.  

If that goal is to be able to make themselves a sandwich for lunch the support worker will find it hard to defend taking a client to a movie.  People with disabilities want and enjoy the same things as everybody else.  With the right to make decisions about how the will spend their time to comes responsibility. Where a client lives independently and chooses to go bowling instead of doing the shopping when supported, then lack of choices of things to eat is the consequences.

Many of us like to protect others from harm and making mistakes, NDIS or Disability Care recognizes that even people with disabilities have the right to make mistake, bad choices even where they can be harmful. Support Workers will no longer be directly the client through the daily routine.  The client will decided if the have a shower at the start or the end of the shift, they may chose to do both and they may chose even not to have a shower.  It is their life and their choice.  It is not the role of the worker to make judgments on how the person asks to be supported. 

Many workers who have worker in the sector for many years will struggle with this change in governance, for those accustom to making decisions for the people they support this will be difficult.  While some clients and families are very happy with how they are supported now, many tell us, they want to decide what type of voluntary work the like to do, to go ice staking rather than swimming. Under NDIS individualized support is set to become even more individualized. 

Workers who unable to adapt to a change in governance will struggle to please the clients. As we saw yesterday that means they may struggle to keep their employment. 

Disability Care Australia and Community Participation

One of the driving themes behind the NDIS campaign and now the introduction of Disability Care Australia is the desire for people with disabilities and their families to participate in all areas of life and to have the same freedom to fully participate in society.

There are many places, events and activities which people with disabilities have felt excluded from. Either through the inability to physically access like beaches, pubs, swimming pools, restaurants, art galleries, theaters; or poor access to education and learning supports; limited access braille services and hearing loops, the cost and limited funding for assistance dogs, including guide dogs; cost and delays in home modifications and mobility aids and lack of funding for appropriate support care.

             

The introduction of Disability Care Australia does more than ensure people with disabilities and their families receive the correct types of supports and equipment to meet their needs. It brings Australia into line with UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.  People with disabilities as standing up and saying, I simply want to be counted in!

Many have mistaken the NDIS campaign for another grab for 'entitlements' or 'welfare'! The popular myth: people with disabilities are content with being 'spectators' in society, this is certainly not true in my case nor my friends withe disabilities.  The majority of people I know with disabilities are either engaged in study, community, full time employment or are small business owners like myself. People despite the barriers;  lack of support and community attitudes go out and crave their way into the community.

For me one of the larger challengers of Disability Care Australia will be to reshape our view of 'disability'.  That is to challenge the traditional view or stereotype of disability, to see the abilities, talents and skills that people with disability, to explore new possibilities for people with disabilities and admit past attitude have limited the people with all disabilities.

I personally do not believe we have begun to explore the possibilities that people with disabilities and their families can enjoy with all that advances in medical science; technologically, communications and methods of education have to offer.  The education system continues to allows the labeling of students with disabilities and the schools the attend.  There is no need for the would "Special" to be used in the name of a school.  Just because that school caters  solely for the needs of students with disabilities.  The idea that having a disabilities makes as "special" or "different" is outdated and continues to feed myths and inappropriate attitude to those who deal with disability as part of their daily lives.

Complying with UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. means taking a mature attitude. To treat all people the same.  We need to treat adult with disabilities as adults and require more of them and ourselves.  Individuals need to be treated according to the physical age not the intellectual comparability we mentally assume them to have.  For so often our assumptions are incorrect.

If working with young people with high support needs taught me one thing, time and time again it is how much I underestimate people with intellectual and behavioral disabilities is they deliver so much more than I require of them and the always give a 110%

Means people with disabilities and their families want to be part of every aspect of the Australia way of life and enjoy everything that our beautiful country has to offer. For we too come from the land down under!

What are the possibilities?

As we approach the introduction of Disability Care Australia on my blog at present we are stopping . . . 

Waiting . . . 

And preparing . . .

To ask What is possible? 

. . . If we don't allow our attitude to define our disabilities . . .  

Herr's an example of one teacher who encourage every girl to do her best and encourage her dreams. 

How about you?

What are your dreams and hopes for your son or daughter?

What kind of future under Disability Care Australia do you see for them?

Education?

Sport?

Dance?

The Arts?

Acting?

Employment?

Independent Living?

Relationships?

Marriage? 

Buy their first Car?

In Australia this is the first time that mums and dads of children with serve disabilities will be asked what is it that you want for your child.  For the first time a parent will be asked do you want to give you're child the opportunity to learn to walk?  Would you like to see if your child can cope with mainstream schooling? Would you like a wheelchair adapted to enable your child to play sport?  These are all reasonable and fair request for support to enable a children to fully participate in the community in which they live. 

What is not reasonable or fair is the isolation families have endured as a result of a family member having a life time disability. This is the equality Disability Care Australia (NDIS) seeks to bring into our communities and lifestyles.  The goals of thias system are the goals people with disabilities and their families have told the government the want.  They have said we want to be counted it in!  We want to be included and we want a greater say in the direction we want our lives to take.

Just as this young girl's team mate willed her to shoot a goal, we want to cheer on the people with disabilities in our lives on.  Are you ready to ask what is possible?