NewsBite

Disability

December 2024

Elton John lost sight in his right eye following a severe eye infection.

Sir Elton John reveals he has lost his eyesight

The 77-year-old legendary musician told fans he had lost his vision after an infection in one eye earlier in the year.

  • Albert Tait

November 2024

Law firm accused of improper billing and discrimination

A legal assistant alleges he was forcibly made redundant at Lander & Rogers after complaining about appropriate access when he started using a wheelchair.

  • Maxim Shanahan
Unions say disability home carers are often required to work during the sleepover.

‘Nightmare’ shifts: Push to rule carer sleepovers as breaks, not work

Employers are seeking industry-wide changes so carers sleeping at a client’s house can’t count that towards overtime pay, which they say could blow out NDIS costs.

  • David Marin-Guzman

October 2024

Optus pushed phone and internet plans on vulnerable people despite knowing they could not afford them, the ACCC has alleged

Optus ‘exploited’ vulnerable people, ACCC alleges

The telco group sold phone plans to people who could not use them at home because there was no Optus coverage where they lived, the competition watchdog claims.

  • Jenny Wiggins
Disability Minister Bill Shorten is negotiating with states and territories about autism services.

NDIS autism reforms could stretch beyond election

Disability ministers will meet in Adelaide on Friday for more negotiations over the cost of early intervention services for children with developmental delays.

  • Tom McIlroy
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The report from the e61 Institute finds that productivity across the care economy has not increased in almost two decades.

NDIS is sucking in workers from more efficient jobs

Flatlining growth in the care economy and surging spending on the National Disability Insurance Scheme is threatening to make households poorer.

  • Michael Read
Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill Shorten says the list will stem waste in the scheme and help boost community confidence in it.

Sex work, yoga and cuddle therapy banned from NDIS spending

The list of approved and banned services for participants in the scheme comes into effect on Thursday, with a one-year transition period.

  • Tom McIlroy

September 2024

Samuelson Appau

DEI is no longer just about ethics, it’s about profits, academics say

Australian business schools are providing an increasing amount of diversity components to reflect a growing corporate demand.

  • Gus McCubbing
Industry sources said there was a 50,000-case backlog awaiting reassessment, ten times the usual level.

NDIS ‘navigator’ plan could save up to $5b

A plan to replace middle men with trained plan co-ordinators is being considered by federal Labor, off the back of the NDIS review last year.

  • Tom McIlroy
Jerusa Geber dos Santos of Brazil, right, with her guide, Gabriel Garcia, winning a 100-metre heat during the Paralympic Games at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France, on September 2.

Meet the quiet heroes of the Paralympics: the athlete guides

There are 22 Paralympic sports in which competitors are allowed to use guides, and their relationships can border on telepathic.

  • Elena Bergeron

August 2024

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten says the scheme’s sustainability is on the line.

Shorten defends disability cost savings

The federal government has pushed back on critics of reform plans passed by parliament, warning the future of the scheme is on the line.

  • Updated
  • Tom McIlroy
Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill Shorten.

NDIS eligibility fight looms for Labor

Bill Shorten heralded the passage of major reform legislation for the $49 billion scheme, but Labor faces tough negotiations on autism care and enrolment rates.

  • Tom McIlroy
Minister for the NDIS Bill Shorten.

Premiers warn on NDIS reforms, risking new peace agreement

South Australia’s Peter Malinauskas and Tasmania’s Jeremy Rockliff have helped broker a major deal on disability governance, helping push through reform legislation in the Senate.

  • Tom McIlroy and Gus McCubbing
Myths about why men are paid more than women don’t stack up.

This Gender Pay Day, employers must take action for their own good

Women must work, on average, 50 more days per year to earn the same as men. Here’s what businesses need to do about it.

  • Mary Wooldridge
The latest data is showing “positive gains” as cost growth in the second half of 2023-24 fell, says National Disability Insurance Agency CEO Rebecca Falkingham.

NDIS comes in $600m below budget as reforms bite

Budget measures to cap growth in the National Disability Insurance Scheme are beginning to bring the cost of the scheme under control.

  • Tom Burton
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NDIS Minister Bill Shorten.

‘Sliding door moment’ looms to curb NDIS growth

Disability Minister Bill Shorten signalled constructive discussions with the Coalition and the crossbench could result in new laws being passed in parliament within days.

  • Tom McIlroy

July 2024

A reform bill to cap overspending of NDIS plans and to create a better test for determining supports for the scheme has been stalled in the Senate.

Senate urged to pass NDIS bill to get reforms back on track

Disability advocates have called for reforms to the NDIS to be passed despite protests that some recommendations could be catastrophic for the severely disabled.

  • Tom Burton
Medibank’s Shelley Matheson at her home in central Victoria.

What businesses are doing right for this group of workers

Not only did it mean Shelley could work in a step-free environment catered to her needs, but it also meant she didn’t have to ask for special treatment.

  • Euan Black
A sustainable NDIS depends on delivering forecast savings.

‘Not sustainable’: sex work, steam rooms, crypto to be banned on NDIS

Payments for sex work will be banned under changes to National Disability Insurance Scheme funding, with federal Labor conceding a wide range of services being billed to taxpayers are unsustainable.

  • Tom McIlroy
The NDIS is on track to overtake the age pension as the most expensive area of spending within three years if it remains stuck on its current trajectory.

Surge in NDIS top-up claims costing $5.5m a day

The number of NDIS participants seeking unscheduled top-ups has jumped by 50 per cent as landmark reforms to control galloping costs are stalled in the Senate

  • Tom Burton

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/disability-5wa