Commentary on how the NDIS will work at the front lines

After the flurry of political activity and commentary as the NDIS and its funding was debated and legislated, this week has shifted to focus more on what its implementation will actually mean for  the everyday lives of people with disability and their families:

A plan for DisabilityCare in Aboriginal communities

Damian Griffis, Ramp Up, 16th May 2013

For the NDIS to be a positive change in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disabilities, that change must be driven by the community itself ...

New bid to address Indigenous disability
Thea Cowie World News Australia (radio transcript), 21st May 2013
Indigenous people with a disability face many barriers including the fact that their own languages don't even recognise the word. But after years of neglect Australia's first people are hopeful they will finally get the assistance they need.

Passive to active: NDIS shifts disability focus

Ya'el Frisch, Ramp Up, 22nd May 2013

Until now, Australians with disability have seemingly been cast in the role of passive welfare recipients, with little control over whatever support was available. With the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Ya'el Frisch hopes this role shifts to active empowerment, where people are able to imagine, enable and realise the life they want.

DisabilityCare now a reality but how can we protect its future?

Donna McDonald, The Conversation, 20th May 2013

(This) is the first time in Australian history that disability has been at the centre of a federal budget ... These days, nearly all countries have some type of public funding program covering different aspects of disability assistance. Approaches differ based on the economic prosperity and status of disability rights in individual nations. The lessons that can be learnt from abroad depend on what we want to learn.

The long wait to fix a very broken system
Kirsty Needham, Sydney Morning Herald, 19th May, 2013
It will be a frustratingly long wait before Sydney families living with disability can experience the promised safety net of DisabilityCare Australia. For all the legislation passed in Federal Parliament, the bipartisan funding commitments, and the public goodwill that has helped a 0.5 per cent rise in the Medicare levy pass so swiftly - without even a murmur of ''no new tax'' - it will be five years before the new era of services based around personal needs and goals will begin for Sydney residents with a disability.