Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Concerned parent Gwil Conran tells us of the NDIS funding that's pulled back for special needs kids in the NT

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Concerned parent Gwil Conran tells us of the NDIS funding that's pulled back for special needs kids in the NT · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And I've got to tell you one of the things
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: that always concerns me is if there are changes to
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: services which are being provided to children, particularly children with
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: special needs, who very much you know, their parents want
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: to make sure that they are receiving all those services
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  Speaker 1: that are needed, that are required, but to help them
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: really get the most out of that schooling and also
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: you know, after school activities and care to ensure that
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  Speaker 1: they really are thriving. Now joining me in the studio
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  Speaker 1: right now is Gill Conran.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you. Gill.
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  Speaker 1: Let me just make sure I've got the correct microphone
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  Speaker 1: on there for you. Good morning again, will Yeah. Really well,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: now you are a parent who is quite concerned at
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: this point in time because as I understand it, the
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: NDIS are going to be stepping down a special needs
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: school service and I've really done it without a huge
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  Speaker 1: amount of consultation from what I can gather.
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's exactly right.
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: So I guess there's a service call Nemoluk Social and
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: Recreational Activities which is run on campus at Nemoluk School
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  Speaker 4: For those who are not familiar, the special education school
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  Speaker 4: in the Northern Suburbs for primary students primary age students,
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  Speaker 4: and it's a service where there are specially trained staff,
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  Speaker 4: extra trained staff who are able to deal with much
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  Speaker 4: higher ratios of staff to children with extra needs, with disabilities,
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  Speaker 4: with you know, further kind of personal care needs, those
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  Speaker 4: types of things all the way through, and unfortunately, historically
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  Speaker 4: that's been funded in part by the NDIS. So I
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  Speaker 4: guess it's important to note it's not just your typical
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  Speaker 4: after school care service with kind of limited kind of supervision.
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  Speaker 4: It's a very highly supervised environment. As I say, so,
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  Speaker 4: it is a very specialist service which NDIS have agreed
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  Speaker 4: to fund portions of in the past. And what we've
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: unfortunately learned in the last couple of months is that
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  Speaker 4: completely out of the blue, NDIS have chosen to start
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  Speaker 4: stepping down funding for families, and in quite a in
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: quite a backwards way, some families are in a position
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  Speaker 4: where they've been told if they use those funds for
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  Speaker 4: that service again, all of their funding will be frozen,
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  Speaker 4: which frankly is really it's not.
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  Speaker 3: Really right in any way, shape or form.
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  Speaker 4: The NDIS is a service that, for those who aren't familiar,
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  Speaker 4: provides financial support and assistance to families of not just children,
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  Speaker 4: but all ages of people with disabilities to access services
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  Speaker 4: like physiotherapy, speech therapy, all those types of things and
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  Speaker 4: things that really importantly help, especially at an early childhood age,
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  Speaker 4: kids integrate into society, be able to make those social
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  Speaker 4: interactions and relationships that they may not be able to
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  Speaker 4: develop in a mainstream environment.
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  Speaker 2: And absolutely to have that.
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  Speaker 4: Funding threatened, you know, for some and removed in its
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  Speaker 4: entirety for others is a huge, huge deal because you know,
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  Speaker 4: people fight for this. You know, people fight every year
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  Speaker 4: at their reviews for ends to seek that funding and
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  Speaker 4: to have that pulled away from you I've talked to
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  Speaker 4: other parents of this service who are at the stage
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  Speaker 4: where they actually have to go to a tribunal, you know,
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  Speaker 4: to get that funding reinstated, which you know, we don't
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  Speaker 4: choose to you know, we don't necessarily choose to be
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  Speaker 4: those advocates for our kids, but we have to be
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  Speaker 4: and we have to fight for those services and nothing
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  Speaker 4: comes easy, you know, talking to every parent in this environment,
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: nothing comes easy for them.
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  Speaker 2: So well, how many families are we talking about here.
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  Speaker 4: There's in the region of thirty thirty to forty children
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  Speaker 4: that access this service, and that's thirty to forty children
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  Speaker 4: who as of the beginning of this month or beginning
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  Speaker 4: of next month tomorrow pretty much don't have access to
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  Speaker 4: that service with any certainty into the future. So a
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  Speaker 4: really you know, stressful time for people.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it would be incredibly stressful. Now I've heard I've
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  Speaker 1: heard about this situation from from a few of those parents,
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  Speaker 1: and as you would imagine, you're all pretty concerned about
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  Speaker 1: the NDI is essentially pulling the wool out or the rug.
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  Speaker 2: Out from under you.
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  Speaker 1: What justification or what reason have they given for, you know,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: for this decision.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, Unfortunately, it comes back to the very generic response
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  Speaker 4: that people tend to get when they get their services removed,
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  Speaker 4: which is parental responsibility.
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  Speaker 3: But the way that I've looked at.
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  Speaker 4: It is the NDIS, for example, don't fund swimming lessons,
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  Speaker 4: because anybody in society can access swimming lessons, whether they
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  Speaker 4: have additional needs or not. However, the NDIS would fund
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  Speaker 4: a difference in costing where an individual needed one on
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  Speaker 4: one training. So if it costs ten dollars an hour
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  Speaker 4: for swimming lessons, but it costs a further ten dollars
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  Speaker 4: an hour for one on one, then the NDIS would
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  Speaker 4: cover that gap, And I view this very very much
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  Speaker 4: the same way where these kids can't access a mainstream
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  Speaker 4: after school care service with those additional train staff that
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  Speaker 4: obviously costs a lot of money maintaining those different kind
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  Speaker 4: of qualifications, etc.
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  Speaker 3: Where they have extra behavioral needs you.
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  Speaker 4: Know, on any one of a number of different spectrums
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  Speaker 4: you know, well known and also very rare conditions that
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  Speaker 4: might not be well known about.
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  Speaker 3: It would be it would be.
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  Speaker 4: Kind of pretty hard for a mainstream schoolcare service to
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  Speaker 4: manage somebody who had quite severe epilepsy for example, that
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  Speaker 4: may have additional medical needs. So for me, this is
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  Speaker 4: that difference between the mainstream care service and the additional service.
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  Speaker 4: So there's not a request here to be funding one
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  Speaker 4: hundred percent of the service, but it's that gap payment,
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  Speaker 4: if that makes sense, that normally comes about. And as
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  Speaker 4: I say, people have been through strong review processes and
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  Speaker 4: had this funding approved and.
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  Speaker 3: We advocate day to day for that.
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  Speaker 4: Yet to have it pulled out, as you say, very
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  Speaker 4: much just bang gone is pretty distressing for people.
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  Speaker 2: Well what's that going to mean for the kids.
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  Speaker 4: It's going to be really you know, talking to a
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  Speaker 4: lot of parents about this, it's going to be really
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  Speaker 4: detrimental to some of the kids.
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  Speaker 3: They long for this service.
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  Speaker 4: In fact, some parents have told me that from their perspective,
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  Speaker 4: as much professional intervention as you can get from a
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  Speaker 4: qualified physiotherapist, ot etc.
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  Speaker 3: This service has honestly provided.
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  Speaker 4: Them a huge growth in their children from a social aspect,
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  Speaker 4: and that if that's not what the ndis is here
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  Speaker 4: to do, then I'm not sure what it is here
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  Speaker 4: to do, especially from that early childhood perspective, like.
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  Speaker 1: Have you how are parents now explaining to their kids
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  Speaker 1: as well as tomorrow as that day gets underway and
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  Speaker 1: ordinarily they would go to this service after school in
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  Speaker 1: the afternoon, how are you then explaining to kids For
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  Speaker 1: some of these children as well, I would imagine it's
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  Speaker 1: it's really difficult when they have a real change in
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  Speaker 1: their routine. How are parents explaining to their kids that
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  Speaker 1: this change is now going to happen?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred percent, you hit the nail on the head.
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  Speaker 4: You know a lot of kids are driven, especially in
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  Speaker 4: an extra needs environment, by having a very strong and
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  Speaker 4: solid routine, and that's something that you know educators do
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  Speaker 4: so well in that special needs environment. So to have
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  Speaker 4: this pulled out, it's I really don't know the answer
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  Speaker 4: to the question. It's not an easy conversation to have,
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  Speaker 4: and I imagine there's a lot of parents having pretty
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  Speaker 4: distressing conversations with their kids right now about the fact
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  Speaker 4: that you're not going to be going back and seeing
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  Speaker 4: the same educators. And in some of the interim roundabout
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  Speaker 4: solutions we've been trying to find to continue it, we
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  Speaker 4: want to try and keep that continuity of staff because
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  Speaker 4: at the end of the day, we're lacking in that
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  Speaker 4: specialist staff in the NT in general, there's a real
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  Speaker 4: issue with having those qualifications and people servicing that. So
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  Speaker 4: from our perspective, it's really important we keep that continuity
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  Speaker 4: and we would like, frankly, to be avoiding having those
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  Speaker 4: conversations all together.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely well to anyone listening this morning who's maybe thinking
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  Speaker 1: to themselves, well, you know, it doesn't really matter.
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  Speaker 2: This is just an after school service. Doesn't matter.
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  Speaker 1: Then if the kids need to go to a different
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  Speaker 1: after school service, what would you say to them.
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  Speaker 3: It's a challenging conversation to have.
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  Speaker 4: So I have a special needs son who attends this
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  Speaker 4: service and attends the school, and it would be very,
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  Speaker 4: very challenging for him to be in a mainstream after
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  Speaker 4: school care environment. My son doesn't have any mobility particular
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  Speaker 4: mobility needs for example, but even those simple mobility requirements,
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  Speaker 4: you know, if somebody is in a wheelchair or it
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  Speaker 4: has limited mobility, not a lot of areas are fully
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  Speaker 4: geared up, or there would be small areas they would
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  Speaker 4: potentially be able to access. Not only that, for me,
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  Speaker 4: I just wouldn't feel comfortable sending my son to a
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  Speaker 4: mainstream environment, not because they're not suitable you know for
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  Speaker 4: general children, but more because they don't have that specialist training.
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  Speaker 4: You know, there's a suggestion that there is inclusion support
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  Speaker 4: for example that's able to be accessed, but unfortunately that's
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  Speaker 4: absolutely not the intention of the inclusion support.
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  Speaker 3: The inclusion support is not that.
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  Speaker 4: One on one It doesn't bring down that ratio a
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  Speaker 4: great deal, and it just is a really scary prospect,
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  Speaker 4: you know, putting him into that more wide environment with
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  Speaker 4: a huge range of ages of kids as well, where
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  Speaker 4: you know, you can't expect children within that environment to
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  Speaker 4: have a full understanding of somebody having extra needs as
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  Speaker 4: well as an adult. You get that comprehension of the
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  Speaker 4: fact there are people with different needs, but it's a
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  Speaker 4: scary environment for a lot of those children, and honestly,
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  Speaker 4: for a very very sensory driven child where that environment
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  Speaker 4: with noises and all those other types of things that
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  Speaker 4: the NSRA looks to address, that's something that can't adequately
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  Speaker 4: be addressed in a mainstream environment.
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  Speaker 1: Honestly, my heart breaks for you guys, because I think
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  Speaker 1: to myself, the NDI IS is meant to be there
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  Speaker 1: to support you.
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  Speaker 2: It's actually meant to be there to help you.
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  Speaker 1: Not for you guys having a step out, you know,
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  Speaker 1: go out on a limb like you're doing this morning.
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  Speaker 2: You don't want to be in the spotlight doing this.
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  Speaker 3: We don't, you know, and we're forced.
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  Speaker 4: Into kind of being a parent but advocacy at the
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  Speaker 4: same time, you know. And the thing that really frustrates
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  Speaker 4: me about the whole thing is we are lacking services
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  Speaker 4: in the nt you know, across the board. Last year,
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  Speaker 4: I think there was in the region of one hundred
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  Speaker 4: and eighty million dollars of funding that was allocated to
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  Speaker 4: NDIS participants that remained unspent, so because they couldn't access
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  Speaker 4: those services. So this isn't a situation where money's being
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  Speaker 4: overspent in any way, shape or form.
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  Speaker 3: In fact, it's quite the opposite.
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  Speaker 4: So is that money being unders because funding being cut
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: back in certain areas or the allocations are being cut back.
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  Speaker 4: I don't know, and that's not just in an early
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: childhood environment, but it's frustrating that there is that money
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: there to use for such a relevant and critical service
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  Speaker 4: for these families and it's being pulled away.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Really, Gill, what is your message this morning, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: for the NDI, is, for the Minister responsible for the NDI,
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  Speaker 1: is to anybody really who's out there making these decisions
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  Speaker 1: listening today?
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  Speaker 2: What is your message as a parent?
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  Speaker 4: I think it's really important that people step up and
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: actually highlight these concerns they have.
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  Speaker 3: So where you're.
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  Speaker 4: Directly infected affected, it's really important that those letters are written,
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: that the highlights are drawn to our local members. Remembering,
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: of course that the NDIS is a federal ministry. But
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: guess what, We've got an election coming up, so you know,
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  Speaker 4: we've got lots of very tuned in politicians right now
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  Speaker 4: who are willing to listen to those things and make
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: election promises. So it's a really good time to actually
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: push for that change locally. I think we have some
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: NDIS management which we fought very hard for in the NT.
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: Originally we didn't they weren't based in the NT, they
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: were based into state. We now have those guys locally,
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: and I implore everybody who's affected by this situation or
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: has those challenges to reach out to those people. They
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: can be very responsive and our local members, to their credit,
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: have been excellent in this in drawing up letters, etc.
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: To the relevant federal minister.
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  Speaker 4: But importantly, I think it's about recognizing that not everybody
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: sits in that same same area where they can just
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: access a service left and right straight to an after
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: school care service. There is another area of people who
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: are who do struggle with these areas. And as I say,
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: none of us are none of us are taught how
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: to manage our situation within the NDIS. We're forced into
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: it and we have to really make it work for us,
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: and some people have great success, others less so.
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  Speaker 3: So it's a really challenging place to be.
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  Speaker 1: There's got to be some compassion. I think, you know,
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: we can't just have bureaucrats sort of ticking and flicking.
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  Speaker 1: There actually needs to be a look into this. Luke
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: Gosling has just messaged and he has said that he's
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: sent to please explain on this situation to the Minister
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: Linda Reynolds, so let's see what we find out. Gil,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: thank you so much for coming in this morning. I
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: really appreciate your time and appreciate you telling us about
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: this situation.
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: Great thanks for having me.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Thank you.