PROPOSED changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme could save money on paper while simply shifting billions of dollars in costs and responsibility onto Australia’s already stretched unpaid carers, Carers Australia has warned.
Carers Australia CEO Joanna Cave has warned changes to eligibility and participant plans could increase caring responsibilities, force carers out of the workforce and ultimately transfer costs elsewhere.
Australia has more than three million unpaid carers, many of whom provide essential support to people with disability and play a largely unseen role in keeping the NDIS functioning.
“Unpaid carers provide about $80 billion in care to Australians annually, that’s more than the savings expected from the proposed changes,” Ms Cave said.
“These carers are deeply embedded in the operation of the NDIS. Every day they provide personal care, transport, advocacy, system navigation and emotional support.
“Their contribution is often invisible, but critical to the people they care for.
“If the NDIS can be thought of as a tree, carers are the roots. They may be unseen, but they are fundamental to the health, stability and vitality of the Scheme.”
Carers Australia supports efforts to improve the integrity and long-term sustainability of the NDIS, but argues tightening eligibility and reducing participant plans should not be the primary mechanisms used to control costs.
Ms Cave said many carers were already exhausted and overwhelmed, with further reductions in formal supports potentially leaving families to fill the gaps.
“We don’t believe that tightening eligibility and reducing participant plans are the only, or even the best, mechanisms available to control NDIS costs,” she said.
“There are other ways to improve the sustainability of the Scheme without reducing supports for people with disability and their families.”
Carers Australia has also called for unpaid carers to have a meaningful voice as the Federal Government considers the reforms, warning changes to participant supports cannot be considered in isolation from the families who may ultimately be expected to pick up the shortfall.
“For the NDIS to be sustainable, it is essential that the impact on carers of proposed changes is considered,” Ms Cave said.
“In the case of the NDIS, that includes unpaid carers who stand to feel the full force of the proposed changes at their kitchen tables.
“They cannot be forgotten or ignored as legislation is discussed.”
