The Disability Information and Resource Centre

We recently received the following update on the National Disability Insurance Scheme from John Della Bosca:

Dear Supporter

It has been great to meet with some of you during the last few weeks as I have travelled around the country gaining a better sense of where things are at across the nation. I have met with and spoken to individuals and organisations in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia and look forward to heading to Queensland shortly. It has been wonderful to meet so many committed and passionate people supporting the campaign. I have been able to soak up a lot of ideas and some concerns about the approach to the campaign by listening to service providers, advocacy organisations, carer organisations as well as many individuals with a disability and their families. I hope this kind of engagement will continue as the campaign progresses.

There are now more than 590 submissions on the Productivity Commission website, with more posted every day. The Productivity Commission has now received more submissions during this inquiry than during any other inquiry in the Commission’s history. This is testament both to the level of interest in the issue and the level of need. The job of the Productivity Commission is now to review the submissions, and combined with their own fact-finding and research, come up with a draft report in February. It will then be our responsibility to respond to their findings. We therefore anticipate that February and March will be a very busy period. We also intend to make the most of the media opportunities that will come with the release of the report in order to make sure we continue to build public support for the introduction of an NDIS. Look for opportunities to participate where you can – letters to the editor, calls to talkback radio, contact with local newspapers – all these things are very important in building public awareness and support.

We also hope to make some changes to the look of the campaign and to the NDIS website as we gear up for this busy period next year. We will also be making some changes to how we communicate with our supporters. I look forward to sharing more with you as the work progresses. In the meantime, please encourage those who have not signed up for news to do so on the website www.ndis.org.au or look for us on Facebook. Staying in contact is very important, particularly as we build up to our activities next year.

The upcoming state elections in Victoria and New South Wales also provide another opportunity to raise awareness and build support for the NDIS. State governments are important for two reasons. While the scheme will be national, it is very important that the states do not impede progress or implementation – their support is therefore very important. The second reason is that while we wait for the introduction and implementation of an NDIS there are things state governments could and should do in the short term to relieve the pressure on people with a disability, their families and carers. These are our two messages in the lead up to both state elections.

In Victoria we have declared October ‘Visiting Month’. We are trying to ensure every Victorian state MP and every Federal MP from Victoria receives a visit from a person with a disability, family member or support organisation. We are still looking for individuals and organisations willing to participate – please contact Kirsten Deane from the National Disability and Carer Alliance at kirsten.deane@ndis.org.au if you would like further information.

In New South Wales we are holding a rally on the steps of the Opera House on October 28. Radio host Alan Jones will MC the ‘Show Your Strength’ rally and both the Premier and Opposition Leader have been invited to attend. The purpose of the rally is to demonstrate the strength of the disability sector, and to secure a commitment from all major parties to continued disability funding and reform under Stronger Together 2 in the short term and the NDIS in the long term. For more information please visit the website www.showyourstrength.com.au or find our page on Facebook. We would love everyone in NSW to attend – organisers are asking people to wear blue to create a sea of people calling for change.

Thank you to those who got in touch after my last update – I do appreciate the feedback and look forward to working with you all as the campaign progresses.

John Della Bosca
20 October 2010

John Della Bosca, Campaign Director – National Disability Insurance Scheme, has released the following statement:

John Della Bosca

Campaign Director – National Disability Insurance Scheme

Hi Everybody,

My name is John Della Bosca. As you may have already heard, I’ve been appointed Campaign Director for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I am absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to work on something I feel very passionate about.

Over the next week or two I’m going to be spending some time making a scan of the landscape and discussing opportunities for the next stage of our campaign. I look forward to chatting to as many of you as possible – I will be taking the opportunity to pick the brains of as many colleagues as I can as we consider our next steps.

But given the extraordinary events of the last week I think a few initial observations might be helpful.

I came on board on August 9 in the middle of the federal election campaign. During the campaign both parties reaffirmed their support for a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and again promised to take seriously the findings of the current Productivity Commission Inquiry into Disability Care and Support. The fact that announcements regarding disability were made during a hectic campaign and received considerable media coverage is a promising step in the right direction.

The campaign provided an opportunity to achieve an important goal – both parties and the Greens went on record supporting an NDIS. Support for an NDIS as a point of consensus and not just a curiosity for the five weeks of the election campaign is a critically important outcome.

Hypothetically if the NDIS had been a major point of difference in the campaign the adrenaline would be flowing – but the NDIS could have become an all or nothing bet on the election outcome. The exchange of blows might have severely compromised an incoming government’s policy options.

The bi-partisan support creates an opportunity to firmly establish an NDIS as a point of consensus in the contemporary political culture. In summary – winning relative arguments with government about exactly what we want should, in theory, be easier than winning a threshold argument about whether an NDIS should happen at all.

Bi-partisan support has also become more important in the face of the final outcome, with the critical role the independents will now play in the federal parliament.

A strong qualification on this optimism is, of course, that both major party responses are contingent on the Productivity Commission inquiry. This of course provides “wriggle room” for any incoming government, which means we need to continue to find new ways to keep the pressure on. Anticipating various possible outcomes and increasing public awareness and government interest in our campaign in the interim is a key objective between now and February.

As part of the campaign we have begun conducting some research to inform our work. The research demonstrated that while coverage of disability during the federal election campaign raised interest and awareness in the short term, the effect was short lived. This is further evidence of our need to get out and let the Australian public know what the problems are and how the NDIS will solve them.

The research also demonstrated that while awareness of the difficulties faced by people with a disability, their families and carers is reasonably low, when the situation is explained they are generally supportive of change. They are convinced that people with a disability and their families deserve a fair go as fellow Australians, and they recognise that supporting people effectively will benefit the nation economically and socially. Again this is positive, and means we need to redouble our efforts to make the general community more aware of all the benefits of implementing an NDIS. We will of course continue to do our homework and conduct further research as the campaign continues.

Regardless of the final outcome of the federal election, it is clear we have a massive task ahead of us and I welcome the opportunity to discuss your views on the best way to achieve our mission. My email address is john.dellabosca@ndis.org.au – I look forward to hearing from you.

John Della Bosca