The proposed NDIS bill will make us all suffer
This is what I think about the proposed NDIS bill and what I need you to do. Please read the below before emailing Senators.
Trigger warning, institutional violence and neglect.
I don't want to go back.
I don't want to go back to catching every cold and coughing so much my rib cage seizes up and I can't breathe properly.
I can't wear a mask without a support worker.
I don't want to go back to things not being clean.
In the group home, the carpet was hardly vacuumed, and often my toilet wasn't cleaned. Used gloves were left everywhere. They wouldn't believe me if I said my bed hadn't been changed for 2 weeks. Dishes weren't cleaned properly and were put away with oil and food still on them. When I first moved in, there was dust over everything and it never got cleaned up.
I don't want to be abused every day.
I was abused so much by support workers that were rushed.
I was abused so much by support workers I didn't choose.
I was abused so much by support workers who didn't have the same values as me.
I was abused so much by rude support workers.
It's horrible torture, having someone you don't like touching your body, day after day.
I was abused so much by support workers who got away with it, over and over again, because the companies didn't care.
I don't want to go back to my groin not being dried properly and getting a skin infection because of it.
I don't want to go back to my old wheelchair.
The new wheelchair is so good for my spine, and I have less-cramps, but I need more support to use it.
I don't want to go back to having no time for work.
My time was so limited before, but I thought it was all I had. The limit of my time and what was possible for me. But now I have more time with support, and what I studied for is flourishing.
I don't want to go back to not going to the pool.
I can feel it doing me so much good, and know if I had been supported to do so 11 years ago after the stroke, I would be so much better.
I don't want to go back to not pooing.
Support would not come in time and either I would have soiled myself or the urge would have gone and I would get constipated.
I don't want to go back to bypassing (wetting myself) so much. I would do this more because I was constipated. And then had to wait ages for support to come and often they were angry and didn't want to help.
I want to keep being a Ni Ni. Being in my sister’ and her babies’ lives.
I didn't just spend many very painful hours writing for the Royal Commission just for it to be ignored.
I don't want this to be my last book.
I don't want to go back to not having a voice.
A voice in my support.
A voice in life.
1 support worker to 3 people requiring 24-hour support is not 24-hour support.
I don't want to go back to not having a say in my reasonable and necessary funding.
Bin the bill, not us.
NDIS is insurance for everyone, it's in case we get sick and don't get better, or if we have an injury and don't get better, or if we are born with disabilities. It's a wonderful thing because all of us don't have to live in fear of disability so much. We can have lives, and our families can have lives too.
And this has proven to benefit the economy, for every dollar spent by the NDIS, the economy gets $2.25 back. That's over a 200% increase.
Under the proposed NDIS bill we could lose our right to reasonable and necessary support, as currently stated in the NDIS Act. When you have a disability, it can cause you not to have a life, because disabilities cost money. The NDIS is meant to lift you up, so you can have a life. That is where the term ‘reasonable and necessary’ is used. ‘Reasonable’ because bionic legs cost millions and ‘necessary’ because this is what you need to lead a life. Catheters, gloves, wheelchairs, communication devices, hoists, hi-low beds, support workers and so on. Anything you might need because of your disability or disabilities, and this is always different. Like, I need a certain shower head to clean myself. Everyone's disability is different, and everybody’s life is different, so we need different plans. ‘Necessary’ is a very important word in there, because otherwise, the NDIS can say ‘no’ to all kinds of things that are vital for us, like gloves that don't hurt me. And we could lose the ability to advocate for ourselves.
Under the proposed NDIS bill we could lose our choice and control over what we can purchase with our NDIS funding.
Under the proposed NDIS bill all support workers will have to be NDIS registered, making it harder for people to become support workers, there for giving us way less choice in who supports us. Support may cost more because of having to go with registered providers, this recommendation may only profit support companies and impact those that the government pretends to want to assist. The companies charge more per hour to cover overheads but pay the workers less, which really isn't fair as companies don't pay much and many support workers can't live off that without working unhealthy amounts of hours. This also increases the risk of harm to us and means that it's hard to keep good workers because they are more likely to leave this line of work. They're taking away our right to choose who supports us. And I fail to see how this will make things better. We have the choice between unregistered and registered providers now, how does taking a choice away make any difference, except make it harder. And You can have all the regulations in the world and still have people being abused.
Under the proposed NDIS bill new legislation does not allow for people with disabilities to be involved in determining how processes are designed and put into practice. Our experience and knowledge should shape how we access support and funding.
Under the proposed NDIS bill we could be forced to undergo assessments to prove our needs. We have already had to go through all of this with health professionals, and it is traumatic. Why do we need to go through it all again? We don’t know what these assessments will look like or how they will be used to assess our needs.
Under the proposed NDIS bill, people could be forced off the NDIS before the State and Territory governments establish ‘foundational supports’; leaving many in our community without support. I can't see why this isn't just all under the NDIS.
Under the proposed NDIS bill it will be harder to get on the NDIS.
Under the proposed NDIS bill people who need 24/7 support could be forced to share support, and be put at greater risk of abuse and neglect. As I wrote in the beginning, I have extensive experience of this, and it was horrible. People think it's safer in a group home because there are always witnesses, but this isn't always the case and the abuse I suffered was nearly always witnessed. Bill Shorten said that they are hoping to break the isolation by bringing us together. This is so ridiculous and feels like an old excuse, I felt so lonely and stifled in all crowded living environments. You get us with all our traumas and expect us to get along. Believe me I have tried and we just don't. We are not all connected by our disabilities because we are all different and we are different people.
Under the proposed NDIS bill people with mental disabilities could be treated less fairly. I can see this happening.
Under the proposed NDIS bill it could be harder to appeal an inadequately funded NDIS plan. I have been through the appeals process, and I get really scared at the thought of not being able to do it again.
Under the proposed NDIS bill NDIA may unfairly ask you to pay back the funds they see as inappropriately spent, but will not prosecute because in a court of law you are innocent until proven guilty. They would be putting us in debt with no hope of paying it back. Of course we want to have any fraud stopped, but penalising us all through these changes is not right. And all of this fraud is because NDIS was asleep at the wheel.
It will cost more money in the future and only create negative change. It will cause less productivity and cause more disability through neglect.
I'm not sure we can fight this because of all the propaganda and misinformation out there. The government is saying that it’s because they care about us when really they are cutting our funding that we need. Some people think that by robbing funds from the disabled community they can fix the economy, when it is the very opposite.
As a society, we will all suffer, because NDIS is meant for all of us and we will just suffer because so many of us are suffering.
We will all suffer and many more people will die through neglect.
The government (lower house) have voted through the changes to NDIS, so what we have to do now is contact every Senator in the Senate and urge them not to pass this bill and go to this website https://saveourndis.good.do/saveourndis/Email_NDISBill/. It doesn't need to be long, you just need to say you oppose the proposed NDIS bill and maybe add any of your information if you want to and have the capacity. And say it publicly if you can that you will not vote for anyone who votes for this bill, before the 5th of August. Any letter saying ‘you don't want this’ is a good letter because you are weakening their position. And if we win, they will think twice before coming after us again.
And please, pass this word on to as many people as possible.
Sam Petersen
#SaveOurNDIS
Senators information:
https://www.aph.gov.au/senate/~/media/972C67136DC0488CB81E78611B907282.ashx
Senators’ contact emails:
Below under these individual emails there is all of them put together so you can email them all at once.
Senator Penny Allman-Payne (Greens, QLD)
senator.allman-payne@aph.gov.au
Senator Alex Antic (Liberal, SA)
Senator Wendy Askew (Liberal, TAS)
Senator Timothy Ayres (Labor, NSW)
Senator Ralph Didier Babet (UAP, VIC)
Senator Catryna Louise Bilyk (Labor, TAS)
Senator Simon Birmingham (Liberal, SA)
Senator Andrew Bragg (Liberal, NSW)
Senator Slade Brockman (Liberal, WA)
Senator Carol Brown (Labor, TAS)
senator.carol.brown@aph.gov.au
Senator Ross Cadell (Nationals, NSW)
Senator Matthew Canavan (Nationals, QLD)
Senator Michaelia Cash (Liberal, WA)
senator.michaelia.cash@aph.gov.au
Senator Claire Chandler (Liberal, TAS)
Senator Anthony Chisholm (Labor, QLD)
Senator Raff Ciccone (Labor, VIC)
Senator Richard Colbeck (Liberal, TAS)
Senator Dorinda Cox (Greens, WA)
Senator Lisa Darmanin (Labor, VIC)
Senator Perin Davey (Nationals, NSW)
Senator Jonathon Duniam (Liberals, TAS)
Senator Don Farrell (Labor, SA)
Senator Mehreen Faruqi (Greens, NSW)
Senator David Fawcett (Liberal, SA)
Senator Katy Gallagher (Labor, ACT)
senator.katy.gallagher@aph.gov.au
Senator Varun Ghosh (Labor, WA)
Senator Nita Green (Labor, QLD)
Senator Karen Grogan (Labor, SA)
Senator Pauline Hanson (One Nation, QLD)
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young (Greens, SA)
senator.hanson-young@aph.gov.au
Senator Sarah Henderson (Liberal, VIC)
Senator Steph Hodgins-May (Greens, VIC)
senator.hodgins-may@aph.gov.au
Senator Hollie Alexandra Hughes (Liberal, NSW)
Senator Jane Hume (Liberal, VIC)
Senator Maria Kovacic (Liberal, NSW)
Senator Jacqui Lambie (Jacqui Lambie Network, TAS)
Senator Kerrynne Jeanette Liddle (Liberal, SA)
Senator Susan (Sue) Lines (Labor, WA)
Senator the Hon Jennifer Ryll (Jenny) McAllister (Labor, NSW)
Senator the Hon Malarndirri McCarthy (Labor, NT)
Senator Susan Eileen McDonald (Liberal National Party, QLD)
Senator the Hon James Anthony McGrath (Liberal National Party, QLD)
Senator the Hon Bridget Grace McKenzie (National Party of Australia, VIC)
Senator Nicholas James (Nick) McKim (Greens, TAS)
Senator Andrew Lockhart CSC McLachlan (Liberal, SA)
Senator Jacinta Suzette Nampijinpa Price (Country Liberal Party, NT)
senator.nampijinpaprice@aph.gov.au
Senator Deborah Mary O'Neill (Labor, NSW)
Senator Matthew Anthony (Matt) O'Sullivan (Liberal, WA)
senator.matt.o'sullivan@aph.gov.au
Senator James William Paterson (Liberal, VIC)
Senator Fatima Payman (Labor, WA)
Senator Barbara Pocock (Greens, SA)
senator.barbara.pocock@aph.gov.au
Senator David Willmer Pocock (Independent, ACT)
senator.david.pocock@aph.gov.au
Senator Helen Polley (Labor, TAS)
Senator Louise Clare Pratt (Labor, WA)
Senator Gerard Rennick (Liberal National Party, QLD)
Senator the Hon Linda Karen Reynolds CSC (Liberal, WA)
Senator Malcolm Ieuan Roberts (One Nation, QLD)
Senator the Hon Anne Ruston (Liberal, SA)
Senator Paul Martin Scarr (Liberal, QLD)
Senator Devanand Noel (Dave) Sharma (Liberal, NSW)
Senator Anthony Vincent (Tony) Sheldon (Labor, NSW)
Senator David Martin Shoebridge (Greens, NSW)
Senator Dean Anthony Smith (Liberal, WA)
Senator Marielle Feuerherdt Smith (Labor, SA)
senator.marielle.smith@aph.gov.au
Senator Jordon Alexander Steele-John (Greens, WA)
senator.steele-john@aph.gov.au
Senator Glenn Sterle (Labor, WA)
Senator Jana Naretha Anne Stewart (Labor, VIC)
Senator Lidia Alma Thorpe (Independent, VIC)
Senator Tammy Marie Tyrrell (Independent, TAS)
Senator Anne Elizabeth Urquhart (Labor, TAS)
Senator David Allan Van (Independent, VIC)
Senator Jess Cecille Walsh (Labor, VIC)
Senator Larissa Joy Waters (Greens, QLD)
Senator the Hon Murray Patrick Watt (Labor, QLD)
Senator Peter Stuart Whish-Wilson (Greens, TAS)
senator.whish-wilson@aph.gov.au
Senator the Hon Penny Wong (Labor, SA)
senator.allman-payne@aph.gov.au, senator.antic@aph.gov.au, senator.askew@aph.gov.au, senator.ayres@aph.gov.au, senator.babet@aph.gov.au, senator.bilyk@aph.gov.au, senator.birmingham@aph.gov.au, senator.bragg@aph.gov.au, senator.brockman@aph.gov.au, senator.carol.brown@aph.gov.au, senator.cadell@aph.gov.au, senator.canavan@aph.gov.au, senator.michaelia.cash@aph.gov.au, senator.chandler@aph.gov.au, senator.chisholm@aph.gov.au, senator.ciccone@aph.gov.au, senator.colbeck@aph.gov.au, senator.cox@aph.gov.au, senator.darmanin@aph.gov.au, senator.davey@aph.gov.au, senator.duniam@aph.gov.au, senator.farrell@aph.gov.au, senator.faruqi@aph.gov.au, senator.fawcett@aph.gov.au, senator.katy.gallagher@aph.gov.au, senator.ghosh@aph.gov.au, senator.green@aph.gov.au, senator.grogan@aph.gov.au, senator.hanson@aph.gov.au, senator.henderson@aph.gov.au, senator.hodgins-may@aph.gov.au, senator.hughes@aph.gov.au, senator.hume@aph.gov.au, senator.kovacic@aph.gov.au, senator.lambie@aph.gov.au, senator.liddle@aph.gov.au, senator.lines@aph.gov.au, senator.mcallister@aph.gov.au, senator.McCarthy@aph.gov.au, senator.mcdonald@aph.gov.au, senator.mcgrath@aph.gov.au, senator.mckenzie@aph.gov.au, senator.mckim@aph.gov.au, senator.mclachlan@aph.gov.au, senator.nampijinpaprice@aph.gov.au, senator.oneill@aph.gov.au, senator.matt.o'sullivan@aph.gov.au, senator.paterson@aph.gov.au, senator.payman@aph.gov.au, senator.barbara.pocock@aph.gov.au, senator.david.pocock@aph.gov.au, senator.polley@aph.gov.au, senator.pratt@aph.gov.au, senator.rennick@aph.gov.au, senator.reynolds@aph.gov.au, senator.roberts@aph.gov.au, senator.ruston@aph.gov.au, senator.scarr@aph.gov.au, senator.sharma@aph.gov.au, senator.sheldon@aph.gov.au, senator.shoebridge@aph.gov.au, senator.smith@aph.gov.au, senator.marielle.smith@aph.gov.au, senator.steele-john@aph.gov.au, senator.sterle@aph.gov.au, senator.stewart@aph.gov.au, senator.thorpe@aph.gov.au, senator.tyrrell@aph.gov.au, senator.urquhart@aph.gov.au, senator.van@aph.gov.au, senator.walsh@aph.gov.au, senator.waters@aph.gov.au, senator.watt@aph.gov.au, senator.whish-wilson@aph.gov.au, senator.wong@aph.gov.au