The National Disability Insurance Scheme is set to de-clutter the disability sector and provide more funding to those who need it most: lifetime suffers, their carers and family members.
It will help those with significant and permanent disability to “start to receive care and support over their lifetime, regardless of how they acquired their disability”.
The scheme will act as a safety net for those people who need assistance most, not to get overlooked or feel that funding will unexpectedly disappear.
Stelios Piakis, the Manager of Aged and Disability Services at the Australian Greek Welfare Society has long seen the need for long term services and funding. Many families are at odd as to what future their disabled family members will have.
“People tend to look inwards and try and deal with things themselves within the family. A lot of people have come to us at a breaking point, a point of when they needed so much more assistance,” he told Neos Kosmos.
It’s a struggle Mr Piakis sees day-to-day with families under pressure to care for a disabled family member.
Mr Piakis believes the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NIDS) has been long overdue.
“The disability sector was very spasmodic, between the state and federal governments,” he told Neos Kosmos.
“They’re trying to work on a pan-Australian system that is more or less seamless across the age of a person but also across all states. So you don’t encounter different systems if you move from Victoria to Sydney.”
In the scheme, families and carers will be better provided for – financially and medically – for the long term.
The Prime Minister has allocated $1 billion and has been campaigning state governments to provide more funding for the scheme which will be trialled from the middle of next year for 10,000 people initially and will grow to 40,000.
Disability services have long been the responsibility of the states, and the pressure for improvements has been big. After much public pressure, the Victorian and NSW state governments bowed down and agreed to offer more funding for trials in their states.
The disability issue has now moved away from a private issue and become a public responsibility.
The scheme will provide much more choice for disabled people and carers, offering control over how they get support and how they receive it.
Agapi Care, a non-for profit disability service provider for Greek Australians has given families and carers the ability to seek respite care at a minimal cost.
It also provides long term accommodation facilities for Greeks with a disability and has expanded over the years to meet demand.
Agapi Care deals with many disabled people, and the variety of age groups and disabilities show that developing a disability is not prioritised at birth.
Andrew Haralampidis of Agapi Care sees many people that are suddenly disabled from accidents.
“Disability today is not just people who are born with it. A big proportion of people are disabled by car accidents or work accidents,” he told Neos Kosmos.
Agapi Care’s most popular service is respite care, helping families take a break from the stress of looking after a disabled family member and to give them another social outlet.
“All the families need a break, for two days, three days, five days. We try to accommodate more people and more families.
We have a long waiting list, new referrals every day. We cannot help them all but we try our best,” he says.
The NDIS will provide more families with the option of respite care and long term assistance.
Mr Piakis believes long term support will help relieve the worry many family members feel as the years go by.
“A lot of worry comes from the family and from the carers, who worry “what are we going to do when we cannot help them anymore?”. There’s a lot of insecurity and there’s a lot of stress,” he says.
For many with a disability, public perception can make them feel uneasy or unwelcome. More funding will help those with special needs interact better with those in the same position and with the wider community.
Mr Piakis believes the scheme will foster an attitude of acceptance.
“We expect the new scheme will remove part of the stigma of having a disability and expose the whole issue a bit more, you make it normal, common,” Mr Piakis said.
It is estimated that 6.3 per cent of the Australian population experiences disabilities with a ‘profound or severe core activity limitation’, meaning they always or sometimes need assistance.