One Small Step For J-Gill, One Giant Leap For Crippy-Kind

10 Aug 2011: I find it a bit sad, that on one of the biggest days in Australian disability history, when I clicked on The Daily Telegraph website at around midday, the three main featured stories were about the London riots (fair enough), whale-eating sharks and three boozing football players...

Well, for those of you who haven't heard the news, seemingly because it simply isn't important enough to make the headlines, I will fill you in.

Everyone by now should know about the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), in case you don't, it is a national proposal which will allow people living in Australia, with significant, permanent disabilities, and their families, to access services easier. Such services include; essential care, support, therapy, equipment, early intervention and training.

Anyway, the Australian Government has today announced that it will begin proceedings towards a NDIS along with the introduction of a National Injury Insurance Scheme. The NDIS will assist those who are born with significant disabilities, and the National Injury Insurance Scheme will assist those who have been affected by catastrophic injury; such as spinal cord injuries, severe burns, traumatic brain injuries and multiple amputations ect.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard stated today, that the current system that is in place is a ‘very cruel lottery' because assistance is provided to those who require it, but, is dependent on where they live, timing, and how they acquired their disability. And this can result in an unfair level of support for some people.

The existing amount of funding that is provided by the state and federal governments to meet the present level of support available to the disabled community, is $7 billion annually, the NDIS will require $13.5 billion a year, so they must come up with another $6.5 billion a year, from somewhere. At this stage, there are discussions of using the money from existing taxes and budgets.

The NDIS is expected to assist around 400,000 Australians, once it's fully up and running. But that's estimated to be no sooner than 2018. Today though, $10 million was promised by Ms Gillard towards technical funding, which is a great start to a brighter future, for Australians and their families, who live with disabilities.

We can look forward to receiving lifelong assistance that will help pay for aids, appliances, home modifications, personal care, respite, specialist accommodation support, group homes, domestic assistance, transport, crisis support, and guide dogs. And assistance will be provided through a common set of eligibility criteria, for those with a ‘permanent' disability, to ensure that the support is only supplied to those who truly need it.

If you'd like to see the report from the Herald Sun website, click here: http