10 May 2017
Youngcare’s response to the Federal Budget
Youngcare commends the Australian Government on finding innovative ways to ensure the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funding gap is met. In 2019 there will be 460,000 Australians covered under the scheme; all of these participants will now be covered by the change to the Medicare Levy. Too many young Australians with high care needs are being left behind. These young people deserve the freedom to choose where and how they live, and it’s up to all of us to make sure that happens. This is an issue that affects us all.
Youngcare urges State and Territory Governments to continue to find ways to support young people with high care needs to prevent them from entering inappropriate housing.
Youngcare CEO Anthony Ryan said, “This is all about choice. We applaud and encourage the NDIS to be driven by the choices they offer for young people with high care needs”.
Youngcare welcomes the establishment of an independent NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission to oversee the quality of NDIS providers and enforce the rights of participants. Youngcare feels it is important to establish expectations for providers and their staff to deliver quality support to all participants. Enabling the Commission to have preventative and corrective powers will ensure that the responses to issues that arise will be appropriate.
A National Code of Conduct is being established by the Commission, ensuring not only registered providers but also those unregistered providers supplying to self-managed participants, meets an agreed standard of care and any breaches are met with penalties. Youngcare looks forward to commenting on the Code of Conduct during the public consultation period and encourages others to do the same.
Youngcare sees the national framework as a positive step in the right direction allowing for the current complex and fragmented state-by-state system of disability safeguards to be retired and a consistent quality and safeguarding system implemented for the first time.
Todd Winther, Youngcare resident commends the governments’ decisions on the federal budget, “I applaud the Government’s commitment to the NDIS. We need to ensure that they deliver on their NDIS framework of choice and control” Mr Winther said.
Establishing the NDIS Savings Fund to future proof the NDIS for all participants is seen by Youngcare as an essential move to ensure all young people with high care needs are able to access appropriate care and housing.
Increasing the level of care to enable those young people with high care needs to live their lives with choice, control and dignity is paramount to the success of the NDIS. This means that the demand for disability services is growing rapidly. The Government estimates that a further 60,000 full time workers will be required by 2019, taking the total full-time equivalent workers to 162,000 when the scheme is fully implemented.
Now is the time. Young people with high care needs have more control over their own care than ever before, unlocking an opportunity to live fulfilling lives that are truly their own. For more than 12 years, Youngcare has been fighting to make a difference to the lives of the young people with high care needs being left behind, living in inappropriate and unacceptable housing. We are at the edge of embracing freedom. The freedom of choice. Choose to get behind us — together we are a powerful voice for positive change.
