NDIS cash-splash an outrage to hard-at-work taxpayer

The equivalent of the NDIS was started in the UK in the mid-1970s. To start with, assessments for eligibility were usually done in the claimant’s home by doctors — often the same ones who saw claimants on behalf of insurance companies. In more complicated cases specialists were used, particularly if there had been an appeal against the first decision.

The doctors were well paid and three to four assessments per half day was about the norm. Some claims were simple to assess but others took a great deal of experience, for instance, like that of an autistic child as mentioned in your leader (“Great expectations of the NDIS need to be managed”, 25/5).

The scheme was eventually moved online and the claims are now looked at by “trained assessors”. Many of these are former nurses. Most claimants are, of course, honest but there are plenty of opportunities for “gilding the lily”. There is no way, for instance, of proving how often a claimant needs care during the night.

About 10 years ago the schemes were reorganised and it was thought that £2 billion could be saved. In fact, costs have increased by more than that. The same will happen with the NDIS. Costs will continue to spiral upwards unless there are very clear criteria for eligibility and very experienced claims assessors who spend a significant time in person with each claimant.

Some packages cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, so well qualified and paid assessors would be a “drop in the ocean”.

Dr A. Ian Wilson, Kings Park, SA

First, I have always been a great supporter of the NDIS and the people it hopes to support, but when I hear from a friend that she knows an unqualified 20-year-old who earns $100 an hour through the NDIS to transport people to their various appointments, I feel ripped off as a taxpayer. Having worked in the health sector as a scientist for the past 35 years, I could never hope to earn even half that amount of money. I think a genuine audit into exactly who is benefiting from this scheme needs to be done urgently. Patients before rip-off artists, please.

Carmel Keating, Chapel Hill, Qld

The average worker’s annual income in Australia is now $90,000. A story I read recently said the cost of NDIS support for a particular individual with hearing problems was $89,000 a year. Surely this aid is grossly disproportionate? I’m almost 79, I have severe hearing loss, I have issues arising from being run down by a car in 1965 with near-fatal injuries, I had multiple serious illnesses from 2000 to 2010 and since 2000 it’s been a constant struggle — losing physical capacity, slowly regaining it, then getting another knock. Well, that’s life. I don’t want NDIS help, thanks, and I think that the level of NDIS spending is surely highly imbalanced.

Michael Cunningham, West End, Qld

There are reports of the NDIS bill increasing by billions of dollars (“NDIS bill to jump $10bn over budget” (22-23/5). These days this is hardly worth blinking over. However, it is worth reflecting on the NDIS figures, which indicate that the number of disabled Australians approaches one in five, or a third of households.

The short-form definition of disabled is “total or partial loss of bodily or mental function”. If these figures are correct then it must be assumed that our health system has failed. Each of us might want to consider our family, friends and surrounding community and ask ourselves if every fifth person we interact with is, to a degree, disabled? If a lot of us do not have one in five of our community disabled there must presumably be many communities where the figure is one in three or even one in two.

What conclusions should we draw from that?

Paul Harris, Jervis Bay, NSW

The NDIS is symptomatic of Labor’s policy reforms; it is heart versus head and a failure to understand the limitations of well-intentioned schemes. Under Labor, Victoria’s debts are predicted to grow to be 50 per cent greater than NSW’s by 2023-24. I fear the $3.8 billion business levy for mental health (in the recent state budget) will face a similar blowout in coming years. Can Labor ever be trusted to facilitate wealth rather than just spending it?

Glenn Marchant, Pascoe Vale, Vic

Cost blowouts? I suggest the focus shouldn’t be on eligibility but rather the suppliers of the scheme.

Vince Hunt, Lennox Head, NSW