Gold Coast families in dark over NDIS delays

GOVERNMENT delays rolling out the National Disability Scheme has meant huge delays for vulnerable families needing help on the Gold Coast.

PEOPLE living with a disability on the Gold Coast may have to wait longer to access NDIS funding due to Government hiring delays.

Families say they have been left in the dark, just one month out from the July 1st rollout of the new disability funding scheme.

Six months late, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) is yet to deploy all the on-the-ground staff needed to assist 8,400 locals transition to the model.

Instead, Gold Coast residents have had to rely on over-the-phone planning sessions, to determine how much funding and services they can access, when the scheme comes into play.

Pictured at their Hope Island home Kylie Moore and her disabled daughter Maddie Clarkin age 8 who are waiting for the NDIS to kick in. Picture Mike Batterham

Hope Island resident Kylie Moore said she is still seeking details on her daughter’s future care.

Maddie Clarkin 8, suffers from the rare genetic disorder Kabuki syndrome which severely delays her development.

“We don’t have anything on paper yet, no plan, nothing,” Ms Moore said. “I don’t know how they are going to leave this until the last minute.”

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For the past three years Ms Moore says she has been told to wait until the scheme was in place before she could access services such as speech pathology and occupational therapy for Maddie.

Kylie Moore and her disabled daughter Maddie Clarkin are still waiting for their planning meeting to happen. Picture Mike Batterham

“We were told this was going to be in place six months ago, ready for the roll out date but we are still waiting for our planning meeting to happen,” Ms Moore said.

“I am not really getting my hopes up too much.”

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Another Gold Coast mother, who did not want to be named, is waiting on the funding to assist her five-year-old son access a wheelchair.

“What is happening on the Gold Coast right now is people are being drip fed information, without anything being finalised,” she said.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited Fairhaven in Point Clare to announce the NDIS funding deal on May 25.

“It is all over the phone and it seems like a Band-Aid to bridge the problem.”

The woman’s son suffers from a fatal form of Muscular Dystrophy and will soon need a powered wheelchair.

“If we went through the existing scheme we would be out of pocket $5000, we were told the NDIS would cover it, but no one will tell us when that will happen,” the single mum explained.

“We have only had the letter on January 3rd to say we are going to call you. I’ve filled all the forms out but I am still waiting to hear anything else.”

The Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN) said similar delays in other regions have led to backlogs.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull meets workers with disabilities in the up-cycling workshop at Fairhaven Shopping Centre in Gosford, Friday, May, 25 with NSW the first state to officially sign up to the full rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

CEO Paige Armstrong said some people with disabilities had issues communicating over the phone and needed to be able to talk face-to-face with the service provider.

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“Families are telling us it can be confusing, when they are trying to access the scheme and call an 1800 number to wait 40 minutes or longer,” Ms Armstrong said.

“Those who don’t have someone to assist them are having even more trouble getting clarity.

“Without co-ordination on the ground the process has caused a lot of anxiety.”

State Minister for Disability Services Coralee O’Rourke MP said the staffing delays have been an ongoing issue and should have been fixed in January.

There are also delays in other states: Phillip Beddall at home in Adelaide SA.

“It was agreed in Queensland’s Bilateral Agreement with the Commonwealth that Local Area Co-ordinator services would be in place from six months prior to an area starting transition,” Minister O’Rouke said.

“In fact, these arrangements have only been established on time once for Queensland, in the Bundaberg region.”

A spokesman for the NDIA said the agency is working towards finalising Local Area Co-ordinator services and have engaged some staff to deliver community engagement activities.

The agency would not confirm delays, the number of staff working on the Gold Coast, or the number of individuals who will have access to the scheme on July 1.