Australia has started rolling out an exceptionally life changing way to support people who have disabilities.

However, in WA they have decided to make their own system. A cheaper system. That does not give as much flexibility or choice. It will deny people the ability to give themselves or their children the biggest impact out of therapy, equipment and support they so greatly need.

This also means that if you have NDIS and move into WA you or your child's funding could and possibly will be greatly be reduced due your freedom and choice being heavily restricted.

NDIS has changed my daughter Rosie's life, the flexibility and freedom they have given me has allowed me to see my daughter who is missing 1/4 of her brain transition from a child with self harm issues, with constant emotional induced seizures, who spent her days rocking and crying in a corner, she was unable to talk or see and would hit any one who touched her - she is not that girl any more.

NDIS has changed all of this through intensive therapy, behavioural psychology, support workers and tools to assist her, so much so that we are now looking at an interactive, cuddly, beautiful little girl who not only started to communicate but has been accepted into a main stream school.

This is MASSIVE!! For her and our whole family.

Mostly this has been achieved by giving me the freedom and choice as a parent to find the perfect team to work with her, under WA NDIS I would not be able to do this. 

If you already have this INCREDIBLE NDIS system and move to WA there is a possibly you will loose a lot of it, or that those of us in WA will have to leave all our family and therapy supports behind and move state to find our disabled children, partners or selves, the finding, choice and freedom we so desperately need.

The WA system is cheaper, we understand that, but is THIS really the area where we want to cut costs? They need to realise that because of NDIS my daughter may not need funding in years to come because she is progressing so well, with the intensive therapy that I have been able to give her by having choice and flexibility within her funding. If she was under WA NDIS she would possibly need funding for the rest of her life.

They might save money today but they will lose it tomorrow and the next day and the next if they remove our choice and flexibility. 

Please let WA have the same as the rest of Australia. Please don't take my beautiful little girls chance of a future away!

Will you join us to fight for the disabled people who so often can't fight for them selves, this is our time to stand up and say enough is enough.

Every one in Australia deserves the RIGHT to be treated equally.

Also know we are on the clock - this will be decided upon any day, which is very stressful and confusing for so many of us as our children's futures are so uncertain. 

Here are some of the differences between the schemes that need to be addressed if we are to be on equal footing with the national scheme. NDIS & WA NDIS – differences of concern

NDIS – contract between participant and provider
WA NDIS – contract between WA NDIS and provider
NDIS – funded support coordination of choice
WA NDIS – support coordination by LC – no choice
NDIS – easy to change provider as and when you choose
WA NDIS – have to go through process again via LC – not nimble, and may deter people from moving and restrict real choice
NDIS – people self-managing get same hourly rate to spend as providers = recognition of time spent in self-managing and more flexibility, ‘bang for your buck’
WA NDIS – people self-managing get lower rate = no recognition of work and no incentive to self-manage
NDIS – participants have choice of AT provider, greater choice and control re wheelchairs, prosthetics etc
WA NDIS – participants can only go to ‘the budget holder’, which is focused too much on budget, not people’s needs, dignity and choice
NDIS – people have wide range of therapy providers
WA NDIS – many people have reduced choice due to ‘in-kind’ arrangements between govt and providers.
NDIS – pricing guide recognises differing staff costs on Saturday and Sunday which facilitates greater choice for participants
WA NDIS – single weekend rate makes it prohibitive for providers to pay staff on Sundays, restricting participant choice
NDIS – using the portal to claim is quite simple and payment is quick, for self-managing participants and providers.
WA NDIS – self-managing participants say claiming is a difficult and time-consuming process on paper.
NDIS – participants can choose to self-manage, agency manage or get plan-management assistance.
WA NDIS – participants say it is very hard to get any funding to help with management.
NDIS – participants at key life points can get Futures Planning in their plan.
WA NDIS – this is not an option.

A WA run scheme will cost WA taxpayers more than 544 million dollars and we will still be paying the Medicare levy for a national scheme!

(The above information on the differences between WA NDIS and NDIS have been provided by Disability Review) 

Thank you so so much for reading this, please sign and share this so everyone one in Australia with a disability, including my little girl Rose, can be treated equally.