Brenna
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‘I feel that the people we dealt with within the NDIS did really not understand what they had done, which really impacted my life.’
Brenna is hard of hearing, has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), anxiety and depression.
She told the Royal Commission ‘my loss of hearing does not impact my daily life as much as my medical conditions do’.
Prior to the NDIS, Brenna received Home and Community Care (HACC) Program funding. HACC provided a mobility scooter and other services so she could remain in her home and engaged with her local community.
In 2015 Brenna was suddenly transitioned from Home and Community Care to the NDIS.
The NDIS plan only included $1500 for hearing aids.
Brenna needed funding to cover the costs of therapy, to modify the bathroom, purchase accessible equipment and for help in the home and garden.
Brenna was told the NDIS couldn’t fund these items because they were not disability related.
When she explained ‘that my hearing wasn’t a problem, all of my physical health issues were,’ the NDIS senior planner told her ‘you will receive nothing’.
‘Over the next four years, every year I would have to fight for any funding I could, to assist my spouse … with my care.’
One time an NDIS planner told her to get her GP to say she had dementia to get some funding. ‘I was not going to lie,’ Brenna said.
Brenna contacted an advocate who helped her appeal the decision. The NDIS approved some transition funding and Brenna purchased a modified bed and chair.
Following another appeal Brenna was able to get some help to maintain the home and garden.
‘If when NDIS realised they could not provide me with the supports I needed they should have just sent me back to Home Community Care under COPD as a chronic condition, under the health system.’
As soon as Brenna turned 65 she applied for a My Aged Care package.
‘My mental health over this time really declined.’ Brenna said if she had remained with HACC, the supports they had already approved would have moved to My Aged Care when she turned 65. ‘Instead for five years I have had to go with minimal support and my husband has had to take care of me and the home. His health has declined over this time also.’
It took two years from applying for Brenna to receive a My Aged Care package.
‘I hope Australia will look after people like me and support people to stay with their families, but it has to be easier than it is now, not fighting and waiting, fighting and waiting.’
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.