I remember seeing that little disabled boy who had
his specially modified bicycle stolen and after his
mum's plea on television it was later found. Medicare
does not cover useful life-changing bicycles. But
imagine the difference to the lives of the vulnerable
kids and adults that supporting a scheme that would
help - what that would do?

Surely those of us who are healthy and don't need any
support can find it in our hearts to be more generous
and understanding towards those who need help to live
normal lives. Worrying about being ripped off? Pu
that to one-side and try to remember the smile on
that kid's face when he got his bicyle back.

One professional working in the area, and often asked to approve NDIS packages, reports that the scheme will "go down as the biggest piece of public policy largesse in Australian history". It is uncapped and not well designed to set limits. There is an incredible lack of transparency and unaccountability for spending after approval. It is so bad that even some of this person's bleeding heart colleagues are converted to an anti-welfare mindset!

At $30 billion a year, the NDIS is on a par with the aboriginal industry. It is heading towards being more expensive than Medicare, and could well be so within a decade.

And it is not managing its aim of getting people into the workforce. It was supposed to pay for itself by increasing participation in the workforce. What a joke that was!

Autism is a big 'disability' gobbling up the dollars these days, with more cases than the common cold being 'discovered' - quadrupling in the last 20 years.

Disability and caring are the fastest growing industries. Australians are really in a very bad way, it seems. Oh, and sex workers are also on the NDIS payroll.

Dear Foxy,

Indeed.

I have a mate with autism impacted son. He was in tears at our kitchen table when the NDIS was announced. Up until that point his son had only had a single occupational therapy assessment with no plan in place for ongoing OT. He has a plan in place now.

Also as parents of a highly dependent child they now at least have an evening a month respite which has helped immensely in dealing with mental demands of caring for their son.

Dear Steele,

I am used to giving Storytime Sessions at the library
for kids with disabilities. It's so rewarding to
have them react.
They have their favourities of course - and it's heart-warming
when they join in.

I think their parents and carers in general - are angels.
They deserve all the help and acknowledgement that we
can give them.

Quote

Bill Shorten told the ABC that some providers were making themselves "NDIS millionaires off the backs of taxpayers and people with disability."

"The NDIS is doing a lot of good for a lot of people. But in my opinion, there's been insufficient scrutiny paid on the backdoor of the scheme," Mr Shorten said.

"The invoices come in, people aren't checked to see if the services that they're claiming they deserve to be reimbursed for have actually occurred."

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission chief Michael Phelan has estimated that up to 15-20 per cent of the NDIS expenditure is rorted.

"Ever since I became minister for the NDIS about five months ago, I've been shocked at the outpouring of complaints about some people taking the scheme for a ride," Mr Shorten said.

"I want to be very clear to anyone who thinks they can rob people with disability and rob taxpayers: Get off my scheme. Just get off my scheme. The party's over."

End quote.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-09/bill-shorten-vows-to-track-down-ndis-rorters/101633484

Great to see after so many years of LNP mismanagement.

DD, where are you costings coming from, seems you plucked them out of the air. When did you become a cost expert on wheelchairs? Just asking.

The envy of some on the far right whenever a program like this is implemented is nothing more than jealousy from those willing to stick their snouts in the public trough for their own benefit, and think nothing of it. ttbn is the war budget some kind of untouchable sacred cow. Here's a radical thought, how about if we spent less on aggressive militarism and more on people we might have a better society.

"It is at its heart a marvellous and compassionate scheme giving dignity and freedoms to hundreds of thousands of disabled Australians. It deserves es our support." Well said Steele