NDIS client Neil D’Cruz may be forced to sell home to pay for his mother’s aged care

An NDIS client with disabilities faces selling his Salisbury East home to pay for his mother’s aged-care fees – now his brother says the family needs immediate help.

An Adelaide family is calling on NDIS Minister Bill Shorten to intervene to save the family home because of “unique” circumstances.

Neil D’Cruz, 61, has lived with mother Jean, 86, all his life and has physical and intellectual disabilities, and an NDIS home-care package.

Mrs D’Cruz’s failing health saw her move into aged care last month and faces paying either a non-refundable daily accommodation fee or a lump-sum refundable accommodation deposit.

Her son is not on a pension, so is not regarded as a “protected person”, which means the home they own jointly is included as an asset when calculating her fees.

Mr D’Cruz had been on a disability support pension but went off this to go to work, to gain some independence.

He suffered a workplace injury and now works four days a week at Orana, which caters for disabled workers, and also receives a compensation top-up payment that pushes him above the threshold for a pension.

NDIS recipient Neil D'Cruz, right, who faces losing his Salisbury East home, with his mother Jean – who is going into aged care – and brother Andrew.

If it was ordinary income he would still qualify for a pension, but compensation income is assessed differently by Centrelink.

His brother Andrew has written to Mr Shorten pleading for him to use his discretion to grant a pension so Mr D’Cruz can stay in the house.

“It is a unique situation – if it was extra income he would lose 50c of pension for every $1 above $190 income a fortnight but would still qualify for a pension, however because it is compensation he loses $1 pension for every $1 of extra income so does not qualify,” he said.

“We are trying to see if he can resign and reject the compensation payment but it looks like Centrelink won’t allow that.”

Mr D’Cruz and SA-Best MLC Frank Pangallo have written to Mr Shorten seeking intervention but have been referred to Services Australia.

“Despite his intellectual and physical disabilities, Neil has chosen to do paid work – not be a burden to taxpayers – yet for that reason he has not been classified a protected person by Centrelink,” Mr Pangallo said.

“However, as an NDIS participant, Neil is classified as being a vulnerable and at-risk person.

“He faces having to sell the home he co-owns with his mother, who was his carer, so his family can afford the significant costs involved in his mother moving into aged care. The Minister must intervene.”

A department statement says they cannot comment on individual circumstances, but have staff who work closely with families to ensure they understand their options.

“We don’t have the flexibility to make decisions outside the strict criteria set out in legislation, but we’re continuing to work with this family to make sure they’re being supported,” it states.

“This includes providing information about their appeal and review options if they don’t agree with a decision we’ve made.”