DCA - Opening Plenary – Welcoming Address
MAURICE CORCORAN:
Okay everyone, if you could please take your seats, we are about to commence. So if you could
please take your seats. Terrific, thank you.
The honourable Jenny Macklin, Minister for Disability reform, senator Mitch Fifield shadow minister
for disabilities, Kelly Vincent member of the legislative council of the South Australian Government,
Mr Bruce Bonyhady, chair of disability care Australia and Mr David Bowen, CEO of DisabilityCare
Australia, ladies and gentlemen, it is with enormous pleasure that I welcome all of you to the
DisabilityCare Australia National conference "My choice, my control, my future".
My name is Maurice Corcoran, I am the MC for the conference.
I have to say from here it looks absolutely incredible to see 1350 people assembled in this room to
learn more about the launch of DisabilityCare Australia. I urge you to look around and get a sense for
this moment, this moment in time because I think in years to come you'll reflect back on this
moment in time just prior to the launch of DisabilityCare Australia in Australia, a monumental feat
and you've been a part of that, being here today.
(Applause)
MAURICE CORCORAN:
We have a lot of ground to cover over the next two days. We will celebrate and share information
about DisabilityCare Australia and showcase some of the 73 resources the disability sector has
developed to prepare people for the transition and the new way of doing things.
First though, I would like to warmly welcome aunty Patricia Okwell to the stage from the Wurundjeri
land to perform a welcome to country. So please could you make aunty feel welcome as she comes
up to the stage.
(Applause)
PATRICIA OKWELL:
Good morning. Can you hear me? I'm not used to these little jiggers. I like to acknowledge the
honourable Jenny Macklin, Minister for DisabilityCare and Mr David Bowen, CEO of the NDIS launch
tradition agency. And other special guests. And all of youse because youse are all special to me.
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My name is Pat Okwell, aunty Pat to you all. I am a very proud Aboriginal woman and a senior elder
of the Wurundjeri people. I am pleased to be here today for the DisabilityCare conference 2013.
The Wurundjeri people are traditional owners of the place now called Melbourne. We are members
of the central Kulin nation. The Kulin nation is made up of five tribal groups, Wurundjeri,
Boonerwrung, Wathaurong, Taungurong and Dja Dja Wurrung. I trust this DisabilityCare showcases
the resources developed by the disability community being introduced by the DisabilityCare scheme.
As Aboriginal people, we know about this as we have suffered tremendously in the past 223 years.
Since our land was taken away. It is only in the past 44 years that we've seen the spotlight shined on
racism and discrimination. So in these terms we understand what confronts Australians with a
disability and their carers. And I do believe I love the carers because they're wonderful people, they
look after the ones that really need the help, you know. I believe that this conference will explore
the affecting issues, suggest solutions and make recommendations on policy and program
development, funding and service delivery.
There are Australians with disability who need our help to become contributors to the Australian
community as many already have. Carers need that help also.I'm a bit nervy now, I'm getting all
carried away.
Carers need that help also as we do an extraordinary job looking after family members and other
people. As an elder I support anything that combats racism and discrimination and disadvantage. It is
a pleasure to be here today to lend my support for the National Disability Insurance Scheme that will
help so many with a disability and their carers to be socially included.
On that note I would like to pay my respects to the traditional owners of this land, the Wurundjeri
people and those of the Kulin nation to our elders past and present, and I'd like to say (speaks
Aboriginal) which means welcome to the land of the Wurundjeri people. Thank you.
(Applause)
MAURICE CORCORAN:
Thank you aunty for that very warm welcome.
Just a few comments to set the context of this morning and then I'll have the pleasure of inviting
Minister Macklin to speak and there's just a few housekeeping matters that we need to address.
But for many years there has been a discourse around the new mechanism for funding support for
people with disability in Australia. We also have in 2006 the United Nations convention on the rights
of people with abilities and in Australia we responded to that in February 2011 with the national
disability strategy being signed off through the Council of Australian Governments. That had 6
priority areas and a 4th was focussed on personal and community support, which leads us to the
work that we're doing with DisabilityCare Australia.
In 2009 the Australian Government Productivity Commission conducted an inquiry into long-term
care and support. The Commission presented recommendations for a new DisabilityCare and
support scheme in which all Australians with a significant and ongoing disability would get long-term
care and support. The Commission emphasised the role of increased choice for people with disability
and proposed support packages would be tailored to allow individual needs where people could
choose their own providers, ask an intermediary to assemble the best package on their behalf or
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cash out their funding allocation and direct the funding to areas of need or choose a combination of
those options.
Here we gather today with just over a week to go until Disability Australia opens its doors.
DisabilityCare Australia is the most significant emotional reform since the introduction of Medicare.
And quite rightly, it will represent a significant new area of Government responsibility and
expenditure across all governments. The estimate annual cost nearly 14 billion is around the same
amount spent on the Disability Support Pension, more than the current annual cost of the
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and not substantially less than the current annual cost of Medicare.
Ultimately DisabilityCare Australia will mean around 460,000 Australians with significant and
permanent disability will get the support they need. Throughout the conference we will share
information on where DisabilityCare Australia has come from and what DisabilityCare will look like
and what it will mean for you.
Over the next two days we will also be showcasing the 73 resources that the disability sector has
developed and to prepare people with disability, their families and carers as well as organisations for
the transition to a new way of doing things.
The Australian Government provided $10 million for this purpose and the funding is known as the
practical design fund.
Over the course of the conference each of these practical design fund projects will be showcased
either in the concurrent sessions or in a stall during morning and afternoon tea breaks.
Just a few housekeeping items that we need to mention. A reminder to please turn your mobile
phones to silent. If there is a fire alarm, we're instructed to please stay in the room. The fire doors
will be closed and we will be evacuated as soon as it is safe to do so.
Bathrooms, there are accessible toilets on every level and there are additional accessible bathrooms
on the ground floor just near where you registered today and there are signs close by. So see people
at the registration desk if you're wanting to access those toilets.
There are hearing loops fitted in every room and they, the one in here is on channel 28. They should
work everywhere but the convention centre has suggested that if you're having any problems to
move to the centre of the room for the best reception.
If you have any questions or need assistance please ask one of the DisabilityCare Australia or
conference team. They are all wearing the blue shirts, the blue polo neck shirts, as opposed to the
blue ties, which we've had some...
(Laughter)
MAURICE CORCORAN:
There is also a (unknown term) just past the registration desk for those who have got dogs and need
to take them outside on to the grass and that's right near the accessible bathrooms.
Presentations will be in this room today until 2:15 and then we will be breaking into concurrent
sessions and you have a choice of 6 different streams. So you may want to look at your program
during the course of the morning and work out where you need to go to, and we have the
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concurrent sessions are straight out the door and down the corridor and just to the right, but there
will be people there guiding to assist you as well.
Lastly, we have a photographer taking photos during the course of the conference and they will also
have consent forms for people to sign just to give your consent to be doing that.
But now it gives me, indeed, great pleasure to introduce our first speaker, someone who has worked
tirelessly to ensure that all Australians would benefit from having the safety net of DisabilityCare.
Should they have, acquire or have a child born with a significant and permanent disability.
Someone who has a deep commitment to improving the lives of people with disability, their family
and carers, someone we should all congratulate for her determination and dedication to making
DisabilityCare Australia a reality. Please warmly welcome to the stage the Minister for family
community services and Indigenous affairs Minister, for disability reform the honourable Jenny
Macklin.
(Applause)
JENNY MACKLIN:
Thank you very, very much Maurice for those very kind remarks. First of all I want to say to aunty Pat
thank you so much for your very warm welcome. We all of us join together in acknowledging your
leadership, we acknowledge all the elders who are with us here today. We acknowledge as well the
ancestors who've come before us.
I'll say a few more words today about the importance of making sure that DisabilityCare delivers for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but I do thank you so much aunty Pat for being here
and making us all feel so welcome.
There are so many of you here today that I want to acknowledge. It's just the most incredible buzz in
the room. But I just want to go through a few people who have done and continue to do so much.
First of all my ministerial colleagues, Tracy Davis is here from Queensland. Thank you Tracy for
joining us here. My Opposition counterpart Mitch Fifield, thank you for joining us. Kelly Vincent is
here from South Australia. Thank you Kelly for joining us here in Melbourne today. Bruce Bonyhady,
to Bruce and all the incoming members of the board of DisabilityCare Australia, thank you so much
for your advocacy until now and thank you for agreeing to be the leaders and the governors of
DisabilityCare into the future.
It's wonderful to have so many of them here today. There's also a large number of the members of
the independent advisory Council and so if any of you would like to meet with them and talk with
them today, talk to those in the blue polo shirts and ask to be introduced. It's a wonderful
opportunity for you to get to know the board members who are here and also those who are on the
advisory council.
I also want to acknowledge Kirsten Dean and everybody who's been so much a part of every
Australian (inaudible). Give yourselves a huge round of applause.
(Applause)
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JENNY MACKLIN:
Because this has been a huge campaign run so successfully by so many people right across Australia.
I also want to acknowledge Graeme Innes. Graeme you continue to be an outstanding advocate for
human rights, for the human rights of people with disability. Thank you for the way in which you do
it and the way in which you take up so many different issues on behalf of people with disability.
And Graeme's over here and on this end we have Professor Ron McCallum who also is just the most
extraordinary advocate and particularly on the international stage, and thank you Ron so much for
joining us here today and for all that you do.
It is with an enormous sense of excitement that I join you here today and to see so many of you here
in this room, so many of us anticipating what is about to happen in eight days' time. So close to
when DisabilityCare Australia is going to open its doors for business, open our doors, our collective
doors to make sure that people with disability get the care and support they need. That's what this is
all about. The people get what they need!
(Applause)
JENNY MACKLIN:
No-one here I'm sure does this, but no-one in our country should underestimate the significance of
what we are about to achieve. No-one should underestimate its significance. Ensuring that people
with disability will enjoy the opportunity and have access to the sort of choices that every other
Australian has. So that you can choose what it is that you want to do with your life, so that you can
have the care and support that you need, and have it for a lifetime. Have it for your whole life, not
just for a few years, not just have it for a few things, not to be told that you have to wait, that you
might get access to a limited number of places for a limited number of programs, with people vying
to get into the queue, with people shut out, and that's what has happened, hasn't it, for so long.
People have been shut out because of how they acquired their disability and all the other myriad of
other unfair rules that apply in the current arrangements.
Too many people missing out altogether.
It has been a battle to get here. It's been a battle for so many people. Long, long years of
campaigning have made sure we can come here today and celebrate. And I do pay tribute to each
and every one of you, each and every one of you who has been part of this campaign, part of the
campaign that really means DisabilityCare is now real.
Of course you have such a big role to play in the future as well. As we make sure that individual
personal plans are developed, that we put the goals and aspirations of individuals at the centre of
everything we do. That's what this is about. Making sure that that is what is at the centre of how it's
determined, what support people will get.
As I'm sure everybody here knows, it's all about to start in eight days’ time in Newcastle, in the
Hunter, down in Geelong and the surrounding areas and the Barwon region here in Victoria, for
children and young people in South Australia and in Tasmania and there - from there of course it will
roll out right across Australia and I am determined that it will include Western Australia, they
deserve this change as well.
(Applause)
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JENNY MACKLIN:
Of course we all understand it is a huge change and that's why it is so important that we get this
right. I can assure you all the staff of DisabilityCare Australia from David Bowen right through, they
have been putting an enormous amount of work into making this so.
At a national level, and at a local level there's been so much happening. If I can just touch on the
biggest issues at the national level, the issues that you have expected us to deliver and we have. At a
national level we have secured sustainable funding, a sustainable funding scheme for DisabilityCare
Australia with an increase to the Medicare levy and that is now through the Parliament.
(Applause)
JENNY MACKLIN:
We have committed an additional $14.3 billion of extra money in this year's Federal budget. That
secures seven years of funding right out into the future so that each and every one of you know that
the funding is secure for the future.
(Applause)
JENNY MACKLIN:
That sort of security is so critical. And we've of course set the framework for the scheme in
legislation. Legislation that went through the Federal parliament in March this year. And of course
the eligibility criteria for the scheme is set out in this legislation and was developed following
extensive consultation with so many of you.
We did not use the models of the past. The failed models of the past were a certain type of disability
meant you got support or not. We know that disability means people can have a huge variety of
needs and that's the way the legislation has been framed. So that significant and permanent
disability of any type that requires support will determine who is eligible. And then the services and
supports under the packages will be carefully planned so that they are appropriate for each stage of
life.
And for people who are not eligible for a full support package DisabilityCare will provide the sort of
comprehensive information and referral service that has not been there before, to link people to
other services. Because wonderful though it is, DisabilityCare will not replace the other service
systems that people with disability need to use. So it is vital that DisabilityCare is able to point
people in the right direction, to make sure that they get the support that they need in the health
system, in employment services, in education, in transport.
I just want to give you a few examples of how DisabilityCare is going to work. Let's talk about a
young woman who we might call Jessica. She's had a spinal cord injury in a sporting accident and
following her acute care in hospital and a spell in rehabilitation, with her agreement, her rehab unit
contacts DisabilityCare to help Jessica work out what she's going to need to address her future
aspirations.
So together Jessica and her family work with DisabilityCare to develop a plan, to develop a plan that
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includes of course the equipment that she will need, the modifications to her home, as well as shortterm coaching that may be necessary for her to really get her confidence back.
Importantly, her plan will address her aspirations for her future. As part of this she wants to get back
to school. So a local area coordinator with speak with the school about what the school has to do to
make sure that Jessica can get to her classrooms so that she can do her lessons. The school will have
to fund these improvements. But DisabilityCare will make sure that the school knows what they have
to do. DisabilityCare will continue to work with Jessica over her lifetime. To make sure that her plan
is updated as she grows up and of course as she moves into the workforce. To make sure that she
has the best support possible.
DisabilityCare of course will also provide care and support for families and for carers to help them in
their roles. Take the case of a relatively young man, let's call him Jason, a 38-year-old with multiple
sclerosis, he has always lived with his mother, Ruth, who's provided all of his care and support and
like many parents in her position Ruth worries about what will happen as she gets older. How Jason
will continue to be supported.
When Jason and Ruth visit DisabilityCare they develop a plan to provide support to meet his needs
over time. Jason's plan includes a range of supports that will help Ruth in her caring role as well as
making sure that they help Jason directly. So there will be money for home modifications like hoists
and handrails which will help Jason move around and help Ruth with the more physical caring tasks.
There will be funding for a formal carer to supplement the support that Ruth provides to give her a
break. Jason's plan will also include a discussion about his future to make sure that it is recognised
that Ruth is going to have to reduce what she does over time, and that Jason may need to move into
more formal care. Formal care that meets his needs, not formal care that says the only option
available to him is a nursing home bed.
This plan will give Ruth and Jason the sort of peace of mind that certainly does not exist at the
moment, the peace of mind that he will be supported over his lifetime.
So when the time comes that Ruth is not able to provide that care, he will be able to continue his life
with the care that he needs. And most importantly of course, that Ruth and Jason don't have to get
to a crisis before they get the extra support that they need.
One of the most important areas that we focused on when we were developing the legislation for
DisabilityCare was early intervention and I just want to give you an example of how that will work.
For a little girl with Down's syndrome who wants to go to preschool, of course before she turns four
she will already have had early intervention support, she'll already be getting care and support from
DisabilityCare Australia. But as she gets ready to go to preschool, she'll get some extra support. She'll
get that extra support to make sure that there's concentration on her language and motor skills to
prepare her so that she gets the most out of her preschool. And a local area coordinator will work
with the preschool to make sure that the transition to preschool happens successfully.
Of course for many people, all they'll need is some individual items. It might be a wheelchair that
actually meets the person's needs than just getting the standard offer. It might be other particular
needs that an individual will require so that they can live as independent a life as possible.
So this gives you some sense of the breadth of supports that DisabilityCare will provide.
We will start in the first stage with support for around 26,000 people with a disability in our launch
sites. And of course there will be thousands of people on top of that who will benefit, the family
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members and carers.
As you know, this is so different from the system of DisabilityCare and support that currently exists.
So we will be bringing people into DisabilityCare Australia gradually, to make sure that the transition
happens smoothly and effectively.
We will make sure that the current supports that people have, no matter how inadequate,
nevertheless people want to have the security of knowing that at least what they have will continue
until their new plan with DisabilityCare is in place. The majority of initial participants will be people
who are currently receiving some support from local, state or federal disability providers. Each State
and Territory that's part of the initial support sites has signed a bilateral agreement with the
Australian Government that includes an outline of how people will enter the scheme over the next
three years, so it's very clear which group of people will come in, in which month and in which year.
Of course there's a range of ways that people can come in, and I know that DisabilityCare will be
very, very open and flexible about this. Some of you may have already gone online to use the my
access check-up. I have. To see how it works, go on to the site, check out what it means for you.
Check out the web site. Answer the questions and see whether or not you think you may be eligible.
Of course you don't have to do that. You can make an appointment, you can ring up, you can go into
the local office in each of the launch sites. People will of course be able to start making
appointments from the 1st of July.
No longer will people have to have that awful experience which so many people face now of being
shunted from one organisation to another, telling your story over and over and over again in search
for basic services.
So we'll have people on the ground, many of the staff already in each of the launch sites, so as - so
they are ready, they're ready, willing and well trained and able to help people transition into the
scheme.
One point I do want to take a moment to clarify, I think many people here will be aware, but I want
it to be really, really plain. There is no link between the Disability Support Pension and DisabilityCare,
no link at all. If a person receives a pension that has no bearing on access to DisabilityCare. They are
separate and this is a very important point for all of us to help people understand. Funding under
DisabilityCare Australia for people with disability is not means tested and will not be considered
income for Social Security or income tax purposes.
Now Maurice has mentioned the practical design fund and I do want to congratulate all of you who
have been successful in getting funding as a result of the money we've made available through the
practical design fund and please take the opportunity while you're here at the conference to get
around and see those examples that are on display of the very practical solutions, the innovative
ideas that are around for people to see about how to really make sure that the transition to
DisabilityCare Australia is a successful one.
If I can just mention one that the endeavour foundation has developed, a guide to help people with
intellectual disability, make sure that they're able to plan their future, explaining what it actually
means to be a participant, how to become a participant, what independent decision making actually
means, how to develop a plan. This is exactly what we had in mind when we put the money into the
practical design fund and we're really, really pleased to see this as just one example of the many
projects that have been put in place.
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Of course we also know we need a very, very strong and robust disability sector. It will be absolutely
critical to the success of the scheme. That's why we've put a separate amount of money, around
$120 million has been available through the sector development fund to really help the sector, help
the disability sector transform itself into the new way, it is absolutely necessary if we are to
fundamentally transform the delivery of disability services.
So already we have many, many services getting money out of this fund, capacity building for people
with a disability, transitions support, change management, both for individuals and providers,
workforce planning, of course a huge issue confronting us, and developing - this is one area I really
want to emphasise - developing innovative ways of delivering support. We do not want to just see
the same methods of delivery continue. We have to get innovative ways and new models. And I do
want to highlight the $900,000 that we've made available through this fund to the first people's
disability network to assist Indigenous Australians to benefit from disability care. This is a vital area
of development and there are a couple of projects which I'm really pleased to see have been
successful in getting some money to Aboriginal organisations, testing new local service delivery
models for Indigenous communities in South Australia. One in Ceduna and another in the APY Lands,
a very remote part of Australia, so it's terrific to see those two projects getting funding.
Also providing - talking about a completely different group of people - providing support through this
fund for people with psychosocial disabilities so that they too can make sure they're able to develop
innovative methods that better deliver to them.
And today I'm really pleased to be able to announce that we're also providing $500,000 to the
national disability and carers alliance to run a series of grass roots community forums in the ACT, the
Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia to make sure that you're able to expand the
knowledge base of people with disability who live outside this year's launch sites. So congratulations
to all of you on getting that money.
(Applause)
JENNY MACKLIN:
Of course we know how important it's going to be to continue to hear from people with disability, to
continue to hear from family members and carers about how the launch proceeds, about how we're
getting ready in the next launch sites in the ACT, in the Northern Territory, and then of course how
we're getting ready to transition in the other states and also in other parts of Victoria and NSW.
So the sector development funds will make sure that we continue that work with many of you over
the next few years.
I want to go back to another point that Maurice made in his introduction. DisabilityCare and support
is a critical part of the national disability strategy. This is only a part of our task, a very important
task, a very exciting task right at this moment. But each and every one of us here knows that there is
so much more to be done, so much more to be done in employment, in the access to health
services, education, transport, legal and justice systems and so it goes on. And I want to say to each
and every one of you, we understand that all of us together need to continue to work to deliver on
our 10 year road map to make sure that the national disability strategy drives our reforms.
(Applause)
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JENNY MACKLIN:
But for today of course we can celebrate. We can celebrate the fact that DisabilityCare is no longer
just a dream. It is no longer just an aspiration. We do now have agreement, agreement of each
other, agreement with most of the states and territories and we're going to get WA, and agreement
across the parliament to make sure that we deliver this huge reform.
I do want to just at the end touch on the goals again. Touch on the goals and I have a wonderful
quote from a young woman, Christy, her name in, a person with a disability, a young law graduate, a
member of the community disability alliance in the Hunter, and she says this recently, "I should be
working, I should have the opportunity to go and earn a living and pay taxes." Christy went on to
explain how she wants to contribute. She says "I'm probably the only person in Australia who
actually looks forward to paying taxes". She wants to be included. She wants to be included and
that's what it's all about, to have the opportunity to meet her aspirations, that at the moment are so
unfairly distributed, achieved easily by some, but for others it is just almost impossible.
So in eight days’ time we start this national endeavour, this national deliver to meet these goals, to
all of you who have been so involved for so long, who've worked so hard, we all of us, all of us, me
included, owe you all so much. We owe you a huge debt of gratitude.
I can assure you that all of us delivering from the parliament, DisabilityCare Australia will continue to
work so hard to deliver on your expectations. Thank you so much.
(Applause)
MAURICE CORCORAN:
Thank you very much Minister Macklin. Look, I just want to add in saying thanks to Minister Macklin,
we have been so lucky to have such an experienced person in cabinet pushing this through.
(Applause)
MAURICE CORCORAN:
The Productivity Commission report said when they reported on their long-term disability care, said
aim to get this rolled out by July 2014. The Minister's beat that by at least 12 months and the work
she was thanking everyone else but this person has led that work in cabinet and in Government, so
thank you again Minister.
(Applause)
MAURICE CORCORAN:
Our next guest speaker Bruce Bonyhady has been equally passionate about the realisation of
DisabilityCare Australia. As a parent of two adult children with disabilities Bruce has spent much of
his life advocating for a new beginning for people with disability, their families and carers and last
week was announced chairman of the DisabilityCare Australia board.
Congratulations.
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(Applause)
MAURICE CORCORAN:
Would you please warmly help me welcome Bruce to the stage. Thank you Bruce.
(Applause)
BRUCE BONYHADY:
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land
on which we are meeting, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation and pay my respects to their
elders past and present.
I would also like to acknowledge a number of very distinguished guests this morning, the Minister
for disability reform, Minister Jenny Macklin, Senator Mitch Fifield, the Opposition spokesman for
disability, Minister Tracy Davis from Queensland, Kelly Vincent, Professor Ron McCallum, Graeme
Innes, many other distinguished guests, but above all ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for
giving up your Sunday to be part of this very important day in the formation of DisabilityCare
Australia.
Standing before you this morning, it's truly inspiring to see so many people here come together with
a common purpose. Never before have we had such a large and diverse audience from all parts of
the disability sector, governments and the broader community gathered together to consider the
future of disability policy and practice in this country. It's therefore symbolic of a transformation that
has gathered pace over the past five years. And this large room is a microcosm of the National
Disability Insurance Scheme itself. We have people with disability who have advocated for decades
for an end to Australia's unfair, inefficient and fragmented disability system. Family members and
carers for whom peace of mind and hence this moment cannot come soon enough. Leaders of
advocacy, information and peer support and advisory organisations who will support others to make
informed choices under the NDIS.
Representatives of disability service providers, many of whom funded the Every Australian Counts
campaign because they knew that that was their purpose, to make sure that people with disability
are fully part of our community and even though they knew that the NDIS would imply huge changes
for their organisation. Representatives of mainstream community support services, people who
want to make sure that people with disability are truly included in our community. Representatives
of the media who have also played an incredibly important part in the every Australian counts
campaign by making sure that the disability story was told to all Australians, so all Australians
understood the importance of the NDIS.
And with representatives of Australian governments and political parties at every level,
Commonwealth, state, territories and local government. And so are emblematic of the extraordinary
support that the NDIS has managed to gather across all governments and all political parties.
Public servants in government departments in every jurisdiction that are part of the
intergovernmental agreement signed by COAG last December have worked tirelessly under very
tight timetables to make sure that DisabilityCare Australia can open its doors in eight days’ time.
All of us are here today to share a common purpose, to celebrate that DisabilityCare Australia has
become a fact, not just a good idea but a fact. And through presentations and discussions, to refine
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and improve the National Disability Insurance Scheme as part of its continuing co-design. The
opportunity could not be greater because if we are successful Australia will be able to proudly
declare that it has one of the best disability systems in the word. Rather than the one which today
leaves more people with disabilities living at or below the poverty line than any other OECD country.
Today also continues to grow the partnership which has seen people with disability, families, carers,
service providers and the broader community working together to ensure that every Australian
counts.
The journey to this moment, the moment just before DisabilityCare opens the doors of its first seven
offices for the very first time, in some ways seems to have been a long one. However for those who
have studied public policy reform, it's clear that the path that has led to the establishment of the
NDIS has been extraordinarily, indeed breathtakingly quick.
Just over five years ago in early 2008 1,000 people gathered in Parliament House in Canberra at the
2020 summit to discuss, debate and agree on the ideas which would shape Australia's future.
Literally thousands of ideas were listed on butcher’s paper and at the end of two days, one of the big
ideas that was endorsed was that Australia's disability system based on welfare should be replaced
by a system placed on insurance, investment and individual choice and funding. We all now know
that the NDIS was not one of the big ideas, but it was the big idea at the 2020 summit.
Then two years ago, just half a kilometre from here, nearly 1,000 people attended the national
disability and carer congress to make the NDIS real and to discuss and debate some of the details of
the NDIS following the release of the Productivity Commission's draft report into disability care and
support. Prophetically that meeting was held in the victory room. Bill Shorten told the conference
that the door was ajar and from that meeting support for the NDIS, both within the disability sector
and in the broader community, has grown unstoppably.
Concerns and doubts were replaced with endorsement. Culminating seven weeks ago in the
community's overwhelming support for an increase in the Medicare levy to help fund the NDIS.
Personally, I have always believed in the generosity and decency of Australians that a fair go lies at
the start of the Australian community. I have also always believed that the NDIS is a great unifying
idea. Unifying because it will provide disability support based on need, rather than where, when or
how a disability was acquired.
And so will end the random postcode lottery with which people with disability have had to put up
with for far too long.
The NDIS is also for all Australians because none of us know when we ourselves or a family member
might acquire a disability. Nevertheless, knowing all of this, I still found those few action-packed
days at the beginning of last month, when Australians from all walks of life stood up and said they
not just wanted an NDIS but they were prepared to fund it through their taxes, deeply reaffirming
and humbling.
As the suggestion that Australia should have a disability insurance scheme has grown and evolved,
removing from the margins of economic and social and political discussion to the mainstream, and
culminating in its central position in last month's budget, many, many people have contributed
enormously to this revolutionary change and they all deserve, all of them deserve our enduring
gratitude.
Success, they say, has many fathers and failure is an orphan, but in this case there is only one
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mother. I refer here of course to the Minister for Disability Reform, Jenny Macklin. Who deserves
our deep gratitude.
(Applause)
BRUCE BONYHADY:
Without her careful and considered nurturing of the NDIS over the past five years, her extraordinary
attention to detail and her evidence-based approach which convinced her cabinet colleagues that
the NDIS was not just a good idea but it needed to be funded we would not be here today.
Personally I would also like to thank you, Minister, for appointing me as the inaugural chair of
DisabilityCare, for having the confidence and trust in me to take this central role. It's an appointment
for which I'm deeply grateful, and to which I will bring my total commitment and determination.
On Friday the Minister and I had our first formal meeting, five years after I went to see her with
Brian Howe to first talk to her about the potential for an NDIS to transform disability services and
support in this country. She asked me on Friday how I was feeling. It was a very Jenny Macklin
moment. And I replied that I was both excited, and filled with fear, excited at the opportunity the
chance to play a central role in ending Australia's deeply inequitable disability system. But fearful too
that despite my total commitment and the commitment and determination of many, many other
people, to implementing the NDIS successfully, we could still fail. In many ways these feelings of
excitement and fear are what have driven me throughout the past five years as I played my part in
designing the NDIS and the Every Australian Counts campaign.
For me, excitement and fear are deep motivators. Without excitement there's no hope, no chance of
change, transformational change in the way that is needed, and without fear there's a danger of
complacency, an enduring and transformational change requires continued alertness to avoid risks
and to make sure it happens well.
My professional background is in funds management and business and I'm going to continue to draw
on those experiences in the years ahead. In funds management there's a saying that one’s
performance is only as good as last month's numbers because performance is reported on a monthly
basis to clients.
The need for short-term as well as long-term performances also applies to reforms, especially
sweeping reforms like the NDIS. Therefore while there will be setbacks, there will be occasions of
poor performance as the NDIS is rolled out. Overall it must be successful and must build a successful
performance track record.
In my last executive role in business as managing director of a funds management and insurance
business, the objective was to perform, to grow and to break out. If the business performed, then it
earned the right to grow. And if it grew, then it got that chance to break out.
The same is true of the NDIS. We must ensure that it performs through the launch phase and then it
earns the right to grow, and then by 2019, all Australians will be covered by this scheme, ultimately
transforming their lives and the lives of all Australians.
Responsibility for ensuring that DisabilityCare Australia performs will rest with David Bowen and his
senior management team. That is their job as executives. I've known David a long time. He was a
member of the independent panel advising the Productivity Commission which I convened and I met
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him several times in his previous role as chief executive of the NSW Lifetime Care Authority. He and
his team have done an extraordinary job to get DisabilityCare to where it is today, ready for launch.
And through David I've also got to know many of his key staff. I can give you my personal assurance
of their commitment to make sure that DisabilityCare is launched next week, is a great success.
They’re commited to building a sustainable flexible and responsive NDIS within a spirit of continuous
improvement and development. Next week, the scheme will take its first steps as the doors open in
Barwon, in the Hunter, in Tasmania, and in South Australia. And then progressively will be rolled out
across the country, making an irreversible difference to people's lives.
But it's important also to remember that the world won't change immediately between Sunday night
and Monday morning. It won't change from a broken dysfunctional system, to a smoothly operating,
well-oiled machine benefiting all Australians overnight.
It's also possible that things will go wrong. That things won't be entirely smooth. But I am confident
that the staff of DisabilityCare Australia have prepared for this moment to the very, very best of
their abilities.
So I give you this assurance, everyone responsible for DisabilityCare Australia, all the governments
and the public servants, the board I will chair, every member of staff of DisabilityCare Australia from
the CEO to every other member of staff are all committed to making sure that this scheme is the
best possible one for Australia.
And by starting on a small scale, by building up our knowledge and expertise over time, by listening
to participants and by sustaining and improving the scheme's foundations, we will contribute to a
fairer, more inclusive community where people with disability are empowered and enabled to have
the lives that they yearn for.
Critical to achieving all of this, will be the good governance of DisabilityCare Australia. So this is the
area that I would now like to address, by giving you some personal perspectives. These are
necessarily personal comments given at the board of DisabilityCare Australia has not yet met. But I
believe that there are four key areas where the board will need to focus its attention. They are in
one way separate but in others they are linked to make up a picture of total risk management and
create a total risk management framework.
The four areas are scheme sustainability, ensuring that the commitment to achieving the full social
and economic participation of people with disabilities, the UN Convention, that people have control
and choice, that the mission of DisabilityCare is achieved, that the insurance model that lies at the
heart of the NDIS, at the heart of DisabilityCare is implemented well and then maintained, and that
the support for the NDIS across all governments, all political parties, the disability sector and the
community more generally is maintained and nourished in the years ahead as the scheme is fully
implemented.
DisabilityCare is a company established under the Commonwealth Authorities and Company act.
This is often termed a CAC Act, the directors of a CAC Act company have very clear and overriding
fiduciary responsibilities. These responsibilities are in many ways more onerous than for a normal
company. As directors of a CAC company, financial sustainability is a vital objective, an essential
objective.
However, the importance of financial sustainability goes well beyond the legal requirements of the
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CAC Act because in the absence of financial sustainability and ensuring that the NDIS is fiscally
affordable and operates efficiently, the overwhelming support that the scheme enjoys today
throughout Australia will evaporate, and without community support for the full funding of the NDIS
NDIS, people with disabilities will again be pushed to the margins of Australian society.
In the absence of financial sustainability disability support will again be rationed, people with
disabilities will be forced to again say how disabled they are, rather than focus on opportunities. And
the hopes and aspirations of recent years will be dashed, causing uncertainty and fear to return.
As a result, the board will need to monitor and ensure that the legislation and rules which are
contained in the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act and the associated regulations are fully
implemented at all times.
This is almost certain to require the board to take a firm and fair stand in order to ensure that the
boundaries of eligibility, the boundaries of fair and reasonable support, are maintained. And not
widened in ways which will undermine sustainability of the scheme. The board is also going to need
to be firm so that other complementary systems which people with disability need to access to
achieve full and complete lives, health, education and so forth, play their part and do not shift costs
on to the NDIS, thereby undermining its viability.
Further, while initially DisabilityCare will set the prices for the services that people will buy, over
time it will move to a marketplace and so DisabilityCare will need to take an active interest in
ensuring that the sector develops, that the workforce develops in order to make sure that the
scheme is not undermined by inflation.
Responsibility for the financial sustainability of the NDIS, however, does not just rest with the board
and management of DisabilityCare. DisabilityCare fits within a much broader community agenda of
participation, productivity and inclusion. And with rights come responsibilities. DisabilityCare is
neither designed nor funded to improve the health, education or other systems that people with
disability must access to have quality lives. It's therefore also the responsibility of those sectors,
every participant, their families, their carers, disability service providers and advocates to also
ensure and look at the services that DisabilityCare is asked to provide through the lens of fairness
and sustainability. As chair of DisabilityCare, you have my commitment to ensuring that
DisabilityCare will hold true to its mission, to give people with disability control and choice in their
lives, and to put people with disability, their families and carers at the very centre of the scheme.
This ongoing philosophy is clearly stated in the legislation and in the regulations, as well as set out in
the objectives and principles of the Act. Control and choice is also central to the UN Convention on
the rights of people with disability which is listed as the first object of the Act.
Control and choice is so important because people who are in control feel empowered and therefore
enjoy much more fulfilled lives. Control and choice is also essential if a new marketplace is going to
emerge which encourages innovation and creativity and choice.
I believe that control and choice will emerge gradually over time in part because it will take time for
people to make informed choices and therefore to take control.
However, there is also another very important factor which will affect the early days of the
operations of DisabilityCare and impose some constraints on control and choice. This reflects the
way the scheme will be funded in the initial phase, specifically some Commonwealth, state and
territory governments are contributing resources to the scheme during its build-up by including
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existing services funded under the national disability agreement. Much of this funding is subject to
contractual arrangements and so it will only be at the conclusion of those contracts that participants
will be able to exercise their full control and choice.
But we cannot lose sight of the central importance of control and choice. It's also essential to always
keep central the primary purpose of the NDIS, to change the lives of people with disability, their
families and carers for the better. To enable people with disability to fully participate in the social
and economic life of the nation. To live ordinary lives and hence to break down the last barrier to
practical civil rights in this country. To ensure that in 20 or 30 years’ time we look back on this time
as the Mabo moment for the disability sector.
The central importance of control and choice is of course reflected in the name of this conference, in
the title of this conference, my choice, my control, my future. And I'm very much looking forward to
hearing the presentations today and tomorrow which reflect the work that had been done as part of
the practical design fund and many of which go to the heart of not just control and choice but also
sector development and inclusion and the many critical factors that will contribute to the
development of this scheme.
An insurance approach also must be at the heart of this scheme and always reflected in the
operations of disability care. That is in part built into the legislation which specifies the scheme
needs to appoint an actuary and a reviewing actuary. But there are other insurance aspects that are
equally important. Insurance companies are forward looking and much better align the needs of
people with disabilities and carers with the scheme than the existing welfare model. Insurance
companies throughout their history have also been very important contributors to social change.
You only have to look at the role that insurance companies played in the development of fire
brigades and improved building regulations in this country, and more recently the role that the TAC
has played in Victoria in improving safety on our roads to see how insurers can have an effect well
beyond the immediate climbs that they look after.
It's therefore in my view going to be important to continue to use the term "National Disability
Insurance Scheme" alongside the term "DisabilityCare" to remind ourselves that this is an insurance
scheme and to similarly remind the Australian community more generally.
The fourth issue to which the board will need to pay continuing attention is maintaining the
confidence of stakeholders. And I particularly refer to all governments, all political parties, all parts
of the disability sector and the broader community. And we're going to need to maintain this over
the next six years as the NDIS, as DisabilityCare fully rolls out across the country. DisabilityCare, as I
said, has been established under a Commonwealth Act of parliament, that, in fact, all states are
shareholders in this endeavour.
In fact, all Australians through their taxes are also shareholders in this endeavour as well as
members of the disability sector. And so it's going to be an incredibly important path of what
DisabilityCare does to maintain and build trust over the years ahead.
Often, the gap between success and failure can be small and very small things can make a very big
difference. So the board is going to need to be strong and firm and careful in all its risk management
activities. Work is already under way in developing an internal risk management framework to make
sure that it is in place for launch. And I'm confident that it will fulfil its needs.
And it needs to because opportunities for reform on the scale of the NDIS come very infrequently,
once in a lifetime if you're lucky.
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For this opportunity we need to thank all those people who've campaigned so hard to get us to
where we are today. It's been an extraordinary journey of advocacy. And I particularly want to pay
tribute to those people who signed up to the Every Australian Counts campaign and those
individuals who told their harrowing stories with great dignity to the Productivity Commission that
turned what could have been a dry document into a document for profound social change.
The opportunity to lastingly transform the disability sector system is in the hands of DisabilityCare
Australia. But, in fact, it's in all of our hands. It's an opportunity that must be turned into success.
There never will be a better chance.
The painstaking analysis undertaken by the Productivity Commission, all the work that's been done
by officials since then give us an extraordinarily deep reservoir on which to draw and on which to
build DisabilityCare Australia. The launch sites will give us further information, further opportunity to
refine the system, to make sure it is the best possible system before it's rolled out right across the
country.
By participating in this design fund, by being here today, you're showing your commitment, your
preparedness to be part of this transformational change. Together, we can transform Australia's
disability system. We can transform Australia. We can make this the best disability system in the
world. On behalf of the board, I'm determined that we play our part. And throughout Australia
people with disability are watching and hoping. The community wants us to succeed. The world is
watching and together united we can succeed. Thank you very much.
(Applause)
MAURICE CORCORAN:
Well done Bruce.
What two brilliant speakers to start off the conference. I'd really like to say again congratulations
Bruce, I feel very confident in having you as chair over this important body and I'm sure I lot of other
people in this room would draw from your speech and have that confidence as well. Again,
congratulations on your appointment and we look forward to seeing the board's work.
Now I'm inviting you now to take a break for morning tea. This will be served on the ground floor, so
we need to go down lifts but there are some incredibly large lifts for people to be able to travel
down here, but I encourage people to be back here on time. We will aim to reconvene again at
about 11:20, if we can. So - but if you could go, and there will be an important announcement when
we convene back here so I encourage you all to be back in the room at 11:30, sorry.
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