The proposed federal budget reduction of $1.6 billion for 2019/20 to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been scrutinised by participants of the scheme as they wait to access the system.
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However, the Department of Social Services expect fewer participants between 2018-20, and a new NDIS Pathways Program is expected to ease the pressure of accessing the system.
Julie Simpson was recently accepted to access funding after two-and-a-half years of paperwork and specialist appointments. Even after two refusals, she counts herself as one of the lucky ones.
"For someone trying to get the service, it's dark days trying to go through their minefield," Mrs Simpson said, but "we are fortunate because we can manage."
Mrs Simpson moved back to Australia from the UK four years ago and says NDIS officials wouldn't accept her application because her daughter's initial diagnosis of autism was made in the United Kingdom.
"They [the National Disability Insurance Agency] needed an updated Australian diagnosis, which we had to wait two years for."
However, a spokesperson from the NDIA said "access to the NDIS [was] based on a person's functional impact, not on their condition or diagnosis. This means no condition is, or will be, automatically excluded."
It was only in late 2018, following further medical issues, that a team in Goulburn diagnosed Mrs Simpson's daughter under Australian standards.
Mrs Simpson receives the disability carer's allowance from Centrelink and this supporting evidence should be a trigger for NDIS funding. However, the two government bodies had contradicted each other.
The NDIS specifically catered for the support of a participant, a spokesperson said.
The Department of Human Services (DHS) and the NDIA collect and use information for different purposes, under different legislative requirements. The DHS and the NDIA only exchange personal or sensitive information with the consent of the individual, or when authorised or required under law.
Consultation with participants has prompted the NDIA to develop the new NDIS Pathways program, which is being progressively rolled out across Australia.
The growth of the NDIS has been significant. In NSW there were 98,858 participants as at December 31, 2018.
A spokesperson from the Department of Social Services said that Budget estimates reflected there would be fewer participants in 2018/19 and 2019/20.
"There is no change to the roll out of services and no changes to funding being provided per NDIS participant as a result of this," they said.
NDIS budget estimates are updated at every budget, mid-year economic and fiscal outlook and the final budget outcome to reflect fluctuating numbers of NDIS participants.
