Bill Shorten hears of triumphs and challenges from Northern Territory NDIS participants

The NDIS has changed the lives of Territorians like Rebecca and Christos, but it’s also come with challenges. Here’s what they had to say when given the chance to speak directly with the minister in charge of the scheme.

Rebecca Hell shares her story at the Project21 learning centre in Coconut Grove, Darwin. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Rebecca Hell has a busy schedule fitting in two jobs, hobbies and classes, but living with a disability means the 30-year-old still relies on loved ones to plug the gaps left by her National Disability Insurance Scheme plan.

Ms Hell had the chance to tell her story directly to the minister overseeing the scheme when Bill Shorten visited service provider Project21 in Darwin on Wednesday morning.

She told Mr Shorten that living in Acacia Hills, 45 minutes south of Darwin, was “a really big struggle”, as her NDIS funding often failed to cover transport, making it tricky to attend programs and see friends.

Christos Timotheou also spoke about his experience living with autism on the NDIS. Along with working as an admin assistant at Down Syndrome NT, he this week started work experience at Charles Darwin University.

“The NDIS has helped me to achieve my goals,” he said, but shared concerns that “the money runs out very quickly, and the budget can be very, very difficult”.

Others in the group told Mr Shorten they had no problems with their plans: “nothing to worry about, things are just smooth,” said one.

Rebecca Hell and Christos Timotheou told Bill Shorten there were both benefits and challenges of being on the NDIS. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Mr Shorten said the NDIS was “not perfect” but it was “here to stay”.

Ballooning costs have placed increasing pressure on the minister to rein in the scheme, which already struggles to meet the needs of many Territorians living in regional or remote areas, with limited access to services.

“The general test I want to apply is it’s not one size fits all on the continent Australia,” Mr Shorten said.

“I think there’s been too much focus in the past of each individual element of an individual’s plan, whereas we’d rather do it more top down over the whole person based on their needs, with less micro management.”

Minister Bill Shorten meets local NDIS participants at the Project21 learning centre in Coconut Grove, Darwin. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Maningrida was last year granted $7.6 million to pilot a program for so-called alternative commissioning, such as allowing all local NDIS participants to pool resources to access a shared service.

“The trial is about how do we build support for people within community, by community, for community,” Mr Shorten said.

“It’s very early days to see how it’s going, but I’m optimistic that we can see greater utilisation of people’s individual packages, and see the resources invested to build better disability supports generally in the community – the NDIS can’t be the only lifeboat in the ocean.”

Mr Shorten said the promised second trial site was still being confirmed, and could be in any remote community across Australia.

Chief executive of Down Syndrome NT Rachel Kroes said budgeting was the biggest challenge faced by her clients, but overall the scheme made a significant positive impact on people’s lives.

“There are challenges, any bureaucratic system has got challenges,” she said.

“We’re lucky we get to work at the end where it works for changing lives, making choices, being independent, being joyful, being part of our community.”