Rushed NDIS reform bill leaves more questions

The NDIS should be designed to give participants what they need and to support them to live.

The bill, as it stands, will not do that.

It has gone through two committee inquiries, yet we're still unsure about how the new assessment process will work.

What will the assessment tool look like?

Who will use it?

How will costs be measured against the participant's budget?

Participants have been told they will get a new framework plan, but it's not clear what a new framework plan actually is and how it's different to what they have had previously.

What happens to participants who have an old framework plan?

That's also unclear.

Another point we don't know is how costs will be measured and allocated as part of the government's plans to get the scheme back on track.

The idea of flexible funding is great, but what happens when the support a participant wants doesn't align with NDIS rules for that pot of money?

Can the money be moved to another pot so the participant can still access the support they need?

We're supposed to just trust that it will all be worked out, but that's only going to happen after the legislation passes.

This is not how we should be making decisions about NDIS participants.

Wading through what is and is not approved by the NDIS is already hard enough, but the idea that the participants and their carers will have to refer to an approved list is causing concern in the disability community.

What happens if a participant has been relying on a support for years and it is not on the new list?

Does that mean it can't be claimed as part of their NDIS package anymore?

These questions are valid.

None of us have seen this list yet.

Participants are expected to be across all aspects of this scheme, but how can anybody be across anything?

Instead of this helping the disability community, participants are falling through the cracks.