Received from the National Disability Insurance Campaign team:
As you are aware, the end of the federal election campaign is looming fast. This election represents an unprecedented opportunity to push all of the major parties to give greater consideration to the provision of support for people with a disability, their families and carers. We are not looking however for piecemeal pre-election handouts – we are looking for fundamental transformational reform on the scale of a National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The National Disability and Carer Alliance therefore presented the following statement to all three major parties – Coalition, Greens and ALP – and asked them for their formal endorsement. Click here to read a document that summarises their responses. We have also included material from the Carers Alliance who have declared their support for the introduction of an NDIS.
The current disability support system is unsustainable and indefensible. It is chronically under-funded, inefficient, inequitable and, most seriously, fails to meet the needs of Australians with a disability, their families and carers. Unless there is fundamental change, the gap between the need for disability services and their availability will grow.
We therefore call on all parties to commit to major reform of the disability services system immediately following the final report from the Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into a Disability Care and Support Scheme, due in July 2011.
The reforms, most importantly the introduction of a National Disability Insurance Scheme, should create a system that is equitable, efficient, sustainable and based on self determination. The person with a disability, their family or carer should be placed at the centre – exercising choice, control and receiving the services and supports they require for as long as they require them.
We are asking you to distribute the material in the attached press release to all your staff, members and clients for their consideration in the forthcoming election. We are not trying to tell people how to vote – we are simply presenting a summary of each party’s position to inform individuals as they consider how to cast their vote on August 21. We strongly encourage you to top and tail the material with your own particular message.
By conservative estimates there are more than 1.4 million people with a disability which has a significant impact on their daily life in this country, and a further 600,000 people providing unpaid full time care. These figures do not include people with a more moderate disability, extended family members, interested friends and committed staff members. Numerically as a group we are strong. Much smaller groups of people have far greater sway with politicians and the public. We now need to put a strong message to the politicians and the public that things must change and change soon. We must demonstrate that we are united in our support for a National Disability Insurance Scheme.
If you have any questions about the material please contact Kirsten Deane at the National Disability and Carer Alliance – kirstendeane@disabilitycareralliance.org.au
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