A Senate inquiry in Australia is examining the government's proposed changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The inquiry has heard that exhausted families could be plunged further into crisis by the sweeping changes. The proposals target the 50 billion dollar scheme. Their stated purpose is to make it more sustainable.
The inquiry has drawn a wide response from the public. More than 4,000 submissions have been made to it. It is holding three days of public hearings into the cuts. The scale of that participation points to how many people feel touched by the proposals.
The financial goal behind the changes is substantial. The government wants to save around 38 billion dollars over four years. To achieve that, it is introducing major changes to the NDIS Act. On paper, the measures are designed to deliver billions of dollars in savings.
For families, the concern centers on one specific change. The draft laws say parents will be responsible for providing substantial care. That includes personal care, transport and behavioural support. Families fear that, in reality, the changes are more likely to push them into crisis than to help.
One family put a human face on those fears during the hearings. Deanne Burrows says she understands that caring for her son is her responsibility. At the same time, she knows she needs help to do it. Her 16-year-old son Brodie lives with intellectual disability and autism.
The level of care involved is constant and demanding. Brodie receives around-the-clock care from his parents and from NDIS-funded support workers. "We're burnt out with just the general NDIS, let alone this new definition of parental responsibility," Deanne said. That new definition is exactly what worries families in her position.
The government has defended the need for change. It says the ballooning cost of the NDIS needs to be addressed by changing how the scheme is designed. The task now, on its account, is to find a balance between the scheme's sustainability and providing support to people with disability. The three days of hearings are set to weigh those competing pressures.