Donal
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‘The NDIS have made so many mistakes.’
Donal, early 60s, has health issues, is an amputee and uses a wheelchair.
Around the time of the NDIS roll out, Donal started having problems with his powered wheelchair. He could no longer get spare parts and the manufacturer suggested he get a new chair.
Donal contacted the state government disability services program and discovered he needed to sign up to the NDIS.
After an initial meeting with an NDIS provider, Donal said he wasn’t ‘even out the building’ when he received a text from Centrelink cancelling his mobility allowance. Donal relied on his mobility allowance to pay for transport costs and has had trouble making ends meet ever since.
‘We were living a modest life on the pension … We could always survive. Once we were shoved on to NDIS, we lost all our backup … There were times where we had to ask for help to pay the phone bills and things like that.’
Donal told the Royal Commission dealing with the NDIS has been ‘pretty much a shambles from the start’.
His first plan included funding for a feeding tube and other items he didn’t need. He struggled to find someone from the NDIS or Centrelink to sort it out. He said one man was ‘quite rude’ and told him he could get a job.
Donal’s health started to decline. He had a series of small strokes because of the ‘stress and upset’. He became less mobile and needed 24/7 support.
‘They’ve got to do everything for me. I can’t walk like I used to. I can’t use my hands anymore … I’ve got to get people to do things for me.’
Donal is no longer able to operate the controls of his wheelchair.
He has had to ask the NDIA to review his plan several times to increase support. He’s often left short while he waits.
A few months ago Donal’s plan expired and, after some scrambling, the NDIA gave him a temporary plan.
The support workers agreed to continue working, offering to delay invoicing.
However, the NDIA have refused to reimburse the support workers and blamed Donal for using funds that weren’t approved. He said the temporary plan didn’t have sufficient funds to pay the support workers.
‘Instead of NDIS owing up to their mistakes and paying for it, they’re trying to pass the buck to us.’
Donal now has a new plan. He says there is less money for support workers but other areas are inflated. He’s noticed physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other therapists have started charging ‘double what they would privately for NDIS services, sometimes triple’.
Donal needs an electric bed. A friend found one for about $6000, but through the NDIS it’s almost double that amount.
Donal would like to go back to how things were before the NDIS.
‘Pretty much scrap the NDIS and go back to the old system. The old system worked perfectly.’
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.