MONDAY marked the launch of a national disability insurance scheme in selected locations.
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The Hunter, Barwon in Victoria, South Australia for children and Tasmania for young people are the launch areas for DisabilityCare Australia.
Port Macquarie-based not-for-profit organisation ACES chief executive officer John Faithfull said he was happy the scheme had reached this stage.
“There’s a lot of water that needs to go under the bridge before we are clear about what services will look like in the future,” he said.
Mr Faithfull views the scheme as an opportunity to build on work already underway.
More funding and more equitable funding would mean a lot more people included in the system by way of rights, he said.
More than 26,000 people with disability, their families and carers will benefit from the first stage of DisabilityCare Australia, which will be gradually implemented in other areas.
Disability Reform Minister Jenny Macklin said DisabilityCare Australia would give Australians the peace of mind that if they, their child or a loved one had a significant and permanent disability, they would get the support they need, when they needed it, over their lifetime.
Meanwhile, Mr Faithfull voiced concerns more money coming into the sector could be an invitation for more players to enter the system and “cherry picking” could occur.
He fears that could lead to people with complex needs being marginalised even further.
“And if there is more competition you run the risk of the workforce attached to services being fragmented seriously,” he said.
In fairness, Mr Faithfull said he had read the policy and consultation documents and it seemed the policy framework would address his concerns but it would come down to interpretation.
Mr Faithfull is optimistic both sides of politics will honour their commitments surrounding DisabilityCare.
The scheme will deliver a life-long approach to support people with disability through individualised funding.
When the full scheme is rolled out nationally by July 2019, it will help about 460,000 people with disability.
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