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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-01 Daily Xml
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Parliamentary Committees

Social Development Committee: Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter:

That the report of the committee, on the inquiry into the impact of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) on South Australians living with disability who have complex needs and are, or are at risk of, residing for long periods in inappropriate accommodation, be noted.

(Continued from 27 September 2023.)

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (19:46): I rise to speak on the report of the Social Development Committee on its inquiry into the impact of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) on South Australians living with disability who have complex needs and are, or are at risk of, residing for long periods in inappropriate accommodation.

I mean no disrespect to the committee or members of the community who have a significant interest in this proposal when I indicate that my remarks will be very brief, simply in recognition of the lateness of the hour. It was a privilege to participate in the inquiry as a member of the Social Development Committee, along with the Hon. Ian Hunter, who is the Chair of the committee and obviously a member of this place.

The committee looked into a range of important matters. Its terms of reference included the ability to access and navigate the requirements of the NDIS; the timeliness of approval for appropriate specialist disability supports, including home and living decisions through the NDIS and the processes that may lead to delays; the adequacy of funding in the NDIS plans to fund the supports required; the ability of the NDIS workforce and market, including the specialist disability accommodation policy settings and the market in South Australia and the role that it plays in delivering necessary accommodation and funded supports; the impact on the wellbeing of participants of these inappropriate accommodation arrangements; any negative impacts on state government services; and any other related matters.

The committee has made a number of recommendations, and the Hon. Ian Hunter spoke to those in his remarks during the last parliamentary sitting. I take this opportunity to thank all members of the committee but also the secretariat for their work in pulling together the evidence, which was substantial, and crafting the recommendations, and all the people who took the time to appear before the committee and share their stories with us. Some of their stories were quite personal and at times it was an emotionally challenging committee to be on and to hear that evidence, but I know that all of us really appreciated hearing from people impacted by this area and hearing about their lived experiences.

It is my hope that the government will take action in relation to the recommendations. They are detailed. There is some really good work here that could be done by the government that I think would offer some real improvements for impacted South Australians. With that, I conclude my remarks.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (19:49): Thank you to the Social Development Committee for this report. It really does highlight the huge challenges faced by the NDIS and the importance of both federal and state governments working together in order to find solutions. As shadow for disabilities, I receive numerous queries relating to the NDIS and the challenges faced, whether it be navigating the system itself or being able to get services or not being able to qualify for services due to being palliative or from an age perspective.

I also commend the acknowledgement that young people are not getting the services that they require. The recommendations within this report are excellent and I do hope the minister takes them on board and ensures that they are actioned and rolled out. It is good to see that there is support right across all parties for this report. It is an area that should and needs to be a key focus both at a federal and state level.

Some of the recommendations that I was strongly supportive of are in regard to making it accessible, making sure that there is easy access to services and making sure that both the state and federal governments are speaking to each other. Other areas are around best practices and making sure that there are learning opportunities, appropriate training and support right across the board.

We need to ensure that everyone is entitled to a house over their head, but for people living with disabilities some of the challenges faced may mean that they are not able to get the housing that they deserve. This report certainly goes back to making sure that there is a tailored approach, whether it be for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with disabilities or people from different cultural backgrounds, and it really does provide a good platform.

It highlights, as I touched on before, the issue for young people not having access to the right services. I do hope that both federal and state governments ensure that there are appropriate housing arrangements for people living with disability at a very young age, not having to go into aged care but having the right facilities for them as well.

The report goes through some 40 recommendations, and I think a broad range of areas are covered. I just hope that both the federal and state governments take this on board and ensure that they are actioned and that we see positive outcomes for people living with disability right across South Australia.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (19:52): I would like to thank the Hon. Mr Simms and the Hon. Ms Girolamo for their contributions to the debate this evening. I would also like to thank the members of the committee for the way they approached this pretty difficult and quite complex reference that was sent to us by the House of Assembly to inquire into the NDIS and those people suffering with homeless issues or housing issues in general, or inappropriate housing more particularly.

When we focused in on this it became clear to us that there was a very small cohort of the NDIS—a group of people being serviced by the NDIS—who were taking up a very large percentage of the budget of the NDIS. It seemed to us that we could actually, by making recommendations around the housing issues that we were confronted with from our witnesses, hopefully save the federal government a lot of money but also improve the quality of life for a lot of people who were struggling to find appropriate housing.

I would like to thank the members of the committee: the Hon. David Pisoni, the member for Unley; Penny Pratt, the member for Frome; Dana Wortley, the member for Torrens; the Hon. Irene Pnevmatikos; and the Hon. Robert Simms. As I say, we approached the inquiry in a very nonpartisan way, and I think that speaks to the history of the Social Development Committee and how it has operated in this place over the many years that I have been involved with the committee, since I think 2006. It is really a very useful way for the parliament to operate in terms of how we dig deeply into some of the issues that confront us.

Lastly, I would like to reiterate the comments of the Hon. Mr Simms and thank our witnesses, without whom we would not have had the information which we could pull together and on which we could base our recommendations. The personal stories about the lives of people, how they have been impacted by the NDIS and, more frustratingly for them and also for us, how the system itself stopped these people getting access to the housing that would have benefited them and saved the system a lot of money—that was the key thing that came out of this report, from my perspective at least.

I do hope, as the Hon. Heidi Girolamo said, that both levels of government will address some of these issues by talking to each other and working very closely together to improve housing for people who are on the NDIS system. With that, I commend the motion to the house.

Motion carried.

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