People with psychosocial disability from mental illness will lose out from tightened NDIS eligibility
Symptoms and impacts may fluctuate and it can be difficult to show you’ve tried other treatments.
A Senate committee is set to release its report on legislation to tighten eligibility for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) later this week. If passed, the bill will require Australians to prove they have a permanent disability and have tried all publicly funded treatments before being granted access. This will make it tougher for people with psychosocial disabilities, often resulting from mental illness, to obtain support.
The current approval rate for NDIS applications from those with psychosocial disabilities is one in four, compared to about four in five overall. This figure has dropped significantly over the past five years, from 66% to 25%. To qualify for the scheme, individuals must demonstrate they have a permanent and significant disability that severely limits their ability to function.
They must provide evidence from medical professionals, specialists, and allied health workers, but clinicians' opinions may be disregarded for psychosocial disabilities since they are not considered permanent. The new legislation will also make it harder for people to show they've exhausted all available treatments, as the NDIA will require evidence of participation in any publicly funded treatment.
This is a significant challenge, as mental health services are limited, expensive, and often have long waiting lists. People with psychosocial disabilities may struggle with memory, concentration, and decision-making, making self-advocacy a daunting task. The proposed changes risk consolidating the government's previous proposal for independent assessments, which was scrapped due to lack of evidence.
The new bill could shift eligibility to a standardized measure of a person's daily functioning, a framework that has yet to be determined or validated. This change would push eligibility away from clinician-provided disability assessments and make it harder to appeal decisions. With a 76% overturn rate for the NDIA's decisions over the past three years, Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion's casework shows that appeals typically result in increased funding for participants.
However, the bill could remove participants' right to appeal, leaving them with little recourse if their disability is deemed insufficient or temporary.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
