Community Service Assignment: History Of National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

Question

Task: It is important for community services workers to understand the purpose of social policies, why they are developed and how they are shaped by the different theoretical perspectives and values of the decision makers in government. It is often a theoretical or ideological viewpoint which informs social policy decision making rather than a genuine identified social need or evidence-based research.
For this community service assignment, you must choose a social policy from the list below and the relevant social system it applies to: • Income support
• Welfare to Work
• Medicare
• National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
• Inclusive Education
In your essay, you must answer/fulfill the following:
1. Describe the history of your chosen policy
2. Was it shaped by a genuine identified social need? Or did it come about as a result of the values of government decision makers?
3. Discuss the impact of your chosen policy on Australian society, specifically on a social system/s.

Answer

Introduction:
As per the research on community service assignment, out of the overall population of Australia, more than 4.3 million people are found to live with some type of disability. Focusing on the rising population of people with disabilities and years of discussion, in July 2013, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was launched to enhance services that are delivered to people with disabilities. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has an aim to fund around $22 billion to more than 500,000 Australians each year specifically to people with significant and permanent disabilities (NDIS Guidelines, 2021). It has been supporting the disabled population of Australia and another remise with empowerment, support, finance as well as care and treatment to assist them in promoting the quality of life. The service has been delivered to people with different disabilities belonging to any age group without any act of discrimination. It has been working with different levels of government and stakeholders to ensure service is delivered within every community. Thus, the assessment will focus on assessing the history of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Also, the idea and concern behind the development of the policy will also be evaluated and discussed in order to understand the significance of the policy within the target population.

National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
History of National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS):
The history behind National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) picked up the pace in the year2911 as the discussion on the need and significance of reforming the disability services of Australia took place. The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) showed a considerate response to the rising issue and complication faced by the disabled population due to several social, economic, physical and political determinants of health. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was thus known to be the conclusion of the discussion which was implemented to support and fund services to people with disabilities. In the year 2013, during the mid of march, the legalisation National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was granted permission to function and thus, with it the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Act 2013 was formed. The act was created and implemented in coordination with the Scheme and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) (Cowden, McCullagh & Tran, 2021). The Select Council on Disability Reform in the year 2011 agreed to lay and implement the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)in the mid of 2013 which was performed a year before the approved date by the Productivity Commission. The change thus helped the people with disabilities as well as the service providers to get access to the services earlier and seek the benefits associated with the plan.

In the year 2013, National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was named and recognized as the Disability Care Australia, which was further changed back to National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) on 7th September 2013, by the new government after the federal election. The trial of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was performed within different communities and age groups of Australia. These trial sites and populations included the children of South Australia who belongs to age under 14 years, hunter region of New South Wales where people till the age of 65 were involved, as well as young population belonging to the age of 15 to 24 of Tasmanian were also involved in the trial (National Disability Insurance Agency, 2021).

The stakeholder behind shaping the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS):
The development of any policy or framework within a state or national level involves two chief factors which guide the shaping as well as the development of a policy towards certain issues. It is evident that either the social need or the rising issue within the community explains and demands the development and implementation of a particular policy or framework or entirely the government serves as the decision-maker in the entire process. Thus, it is necessary to understand which of the two factors were actively working during shaping the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is found to be shaped by both the factors as it was developed focusing on the social needs of the rising issue and complication among the people with disabilities as well as the government equally served as the decision-maker in the entire process (NDIS Guidelines, 2021). During the early years, the population of Australia who was living with a significant type of disability were not financially stable and properly prepared for the risk as well as the demands that disability will require. Disabilities developed lifetime complicates and explained the need to adhere live time care and treatment which was a major challenge for people belonging to middle and low-income communities. The health care and disability care system during the year 2010 and before were fragmented, underfunded, ineffective and difficult to access which develop a major barrier in seeking equal and appropriate access to better treatment, care and living. With the rising issue and ineffective disability support system, the burden and stress within the health and social care system were growing and thus explained the need for better funding within the respective sector (Cowden & McCullagh, 2021). Understanding the social need for disability care system as well as people with disabilities, an idea from Medicare was extracted and a similar national scheme for disabled people and their funding was implemented called the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). It was developed with an aim to provide funds and equal insurance cover to every individual within the premise of Australia who is suffering from any kind of disability.

After assessing the social need for disability support, in the year 2010, the government of Australia along with the involvement of the Productivity Commission conducted a public inquiry within a long-term disability and support scheme to evaluate the services and facilities provided to the susceptible population. From the inquiry and the attained report, it was assessed that more than 1000 reports reading the ineffective and inappropriateness of the service were highlighted by the population with disabilities (Green et al., 2018). Thus, focusing on the report as well as the detailed understanding of the social need, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was shaped as a national scheme of funding and insurance for people with disabilities.

Impact National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) on Australian society, specifically on a social system:
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been working with diverse communities and thus have supported society and the other social systems with support and strength. The policy functions within the society by providing information and connection to various services and facilities within the community focusing on the disabled population. It has been generating awareness and health promotion within the adverse communities regarding the health needs, the services, the funding as well as other facilities provided by the government to people with disabilities (Hayward, McKay-Brown & Poed, 2019). The social system of Australia has sustained increased strength as National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been providing choices to people relating their health and social need as well as control over their service and support for a lifetime. In the case of children born with a disability, National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been providing early intervention and support to minimize the risk of further complications as well as reduce the negative impact of the disability in the growth and development of the children (Barr, Duncan & Dally, 2020).
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has a major impact on Australian society as it aims to function by linking with different people and communities and understanding their issues with the involvement of NGOs and other non-profiting organisations. As Australia is known to involve people belonging to diverse communities and religions, National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has ensured equal and respective services to people of every ethnic group and race with maintaining dignity to their beliefs. Thus, the National Disability Insurance Scheme is not only providing funding but has ensured education, employment, health, wellbeing, as well as community support to people living with disabilities (Whitburn, Moss & O’Mara, 2017).

Conclusion:
After assessing and discussing the history, as well as the role of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, it can be concluded that the policy has been supporting and enhancing the health, economy and wellbeing of people with disabilities. It has strengthened the health care as well as social care services of Australia which precisely functions for the disabled population by providing equal, and appropriate access to service and funding to ensure lifetime care. National Disability Insurance Scheme has been one of the national schemes which have been carried out focusing on the social need as well as consideration and support of the government relating the rising issue of ineffective disability services before the year 2010.

References:
Barr, M., Duncan, J., & Dally, K. (2020). Parent experience of the national disability insurance scheme (NDIS) for children with hearing loss in Australia. Disability & Society, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1816906
Cowden, M., & McCullagh, C. (2021). The History of Disability Services in Australia. In The National Disability Insurance Scheme (pp. 13-33). Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-16-2244-1_2
Cowden, M., McCullagh, C., & Tran, J. (2021). The NDIS Trials. In The National Disability Insurance Scheme (pp. 79-100). Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2244-1_5
Green, C., Malbon, E., Carey, G., Dickinson, H., & Reeders, D. (2018). Competition and collaboration between service providers in the NDIS. Community service assignment Centre for Social Impact, UNSW Sydney. Retrieved from: http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:52725/bin0106efd0-83f1-428d-8973-cf215dcef313?view=true
Hayward, B. A., McKay-Brown, L., & Poed, S. (2019). Positive behaviour support in Australian disability policy, and its future with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Research and Practice in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 6(1), 14-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/23297018.2018.1498299
National Disability Insurance Agency. (2021). National Disability Insurance Agency | NDIS. Retrieved 18 November 2021, from
https://www.ndis.gov.au/understanding/what-ndis/whos-rolling-out-ndis/national-disability-insurance-agency
NDIS Guidelines. (2021). National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Retrieved 18 November 2021, from https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/ Whitburn, B., Moss, J., & O’Mara, J. (2017). The policy problem: the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and implications for access to education. Journal of Education Policy, 32(4), 467-479. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2017.1280185