What is a change of circumstances in the NDIS.

 

The basics are that a change of circumstances is when a person is needing more support that is available within the scope of the NDIS but is unable to fund it within their current funding model and this is where we see some common examples of this could be a disability that changes your mobility or changes your level of function from day to day. Or you are at risk of social exclusion so needing extra community access, or even your housing facility has covid so they need extra support as you can’t be left alone, and we see that these are all reasons for change.

As well as unexpected events such as an illness or needing to move homes so from independent living to a Supported living facility, or from a private rental to a specialist disability accommodation housing. These are all situations where if we didn’t have funding in a plan you can apply for the change of circumstances within this situation, and we see that this is not something that we need to use all the time.

The funding within a plan needs to be budgeted well and not spent all at once but we are seeing a problem with a lack of funding to begin with and longer plans. For people who have a set routine and a set care program I don’t see an issue with this however if the funding runs out you need to be on it and not get into a funding crisis and we can see what is happening under labor is that there are cuts to the then I caps to the program however this is to sustain the scheme and to prevent the turn to fraudulent behavior around.

In that, there are no incentives to pull people to act fraudulently but there would be incentives for people to provide good care for people with disabilities and their families. We are also seeing that there is a reduced need for a change of circumstances when the plants are of a shorter length, and you can have a plan review instead of a planning meeting I think in some situations that this is an excellent idea.

However, I do see the risk when people have complex needs but having longer-term plans could be better for them despite them not using all their funding. This is a complex issue that people are finally discussing regarding the NDIS and the way it is administered.

We are also seeing a lot better training of planners and local area coordination. To understand the complexity of lived experience with disability or caring for someone with a disability without support.

This means at a change of circumstances will always be necessary. We are seeing a push towards having longer plans, which isn't always a good thing This is why change of circumstances names to stay instead of having to wait until your next full plan review.

Let's hope that in the reboot of the NDIS that it is made easier to navigate everyone so we know and has clarity on what the NDIS can fund and what it can't fund, and we have more transparency from providers who will need to take much more accountability for what staff is doing and to have them well trained. As of now there is no mandated requirement for a person to hold any formal training to be a direct support worker or direct caregiver.

I have experienced trauma from support workers who had cared for family members with complex needs and thought that they didn't need training because they have cared for one person with a disability however they forget that caring for the family it's very different from caring for someone that you're being paid to care for, they also forgot that when you have cared for one person with a disability it is exactly one person that you have cared for.

This creates a lot of trauma for families to try and undo and makes it harder for future support workers to create care-resistant clients, these being clients that know they need support but are hard to work with due to them not accepting the help offered because they are scared it comes with an emotional cost or a physical cost as there are now emerging stories of people with intellectual disability's being kidnaped and there plans drained for their funding and them not getting the help they need.

It needs to change and is slowly changing, I hope with Bill Shorten at the helm of the NDIS, that things start to change full the better regarding the lives of people with disabilities.