Disabled People Against Cuts (Australia) is calling on the government to reverse course on proposed disastrous plans to cut the supports for Disabled people to balance the Federal budget.
Budgets are about priorities. What this government is telling us is that they prioritise subsidies for fossil fuel companies, tax concessions for property investors and future submarines over the quality of our lives as Disabled Australians.
Dr Stevie Lang Howson, organiser at DPAC Australia
Last night, at a snap community meeting, 200 Disabled people and their families came together to talk about the government's plans to cut NDIS supports.
Participants expressed fears of returning to old, block-funded systems where government funding went directly to charities and companies, rather than Disabled people.
We fought for an NDIS because the old, block-funded system was a postcode lottery of bad choices. The old system meant that people had to fight for the right to have a shower twice a week, or what time you went to bed.
Sam Connor OAM, one of the original campaigners for the NDIS
Politicians across Australia, including Mark Butler, Anthony Albanese, Angus Taylor and others made a promise that Disabled Australians deserved something better than this.
They signed a pledge saying that they supported us and wanted the NDIS to be a world-leading system of supports that offered a new way of doing things. What we're seeing now is a scramble back to the bad old ways of organising disability support, because government wants to balance their budget on our backs.
Participants expressed distress over the prospect of losing the ability to choose who provided their supports, concerns over having to rely on religious organisations who might not support their lives or values, and a new proposal which would force younger disabled people to live in older aged and retirement settings.
Disabled people moved away from large registered providers and sought more individualised options, because they're often not flexible and do not provide additional safety or security.
Sam Connor OAM
Imagine if you woke up tomorrow and needed help in the shower.
Dr Stevie Lang Howson
You need someone who's going to see you naked and touch your body. In the past you might have gotten to choose who did it from a list of staff at a company. If you didn't like them showing up late, or how they did their job, you'd have to take it up with their boss who may or may not care.
Under our world-leading NDIS, you can hire someone to shower you who you already trust, or who fits your life and values. You can pick who they are, and you can fire them if they don't do the work in a way that works for you. You get to decide what your shower looks like, even if you can't do it by yourself.