Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott has delivered an impassioned defence of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), declaring “it’s not broken — it’s bloody great”.
Key points:
- Dylan Alcott says he’s tired of answering negative questions about the purpose of the NDIS
- He says the scheme is not about participants “driving nice cars” but so people with disability “can have a shower”
- Advocates are at the royal commission, discussing their vision for an inclusive society
Mr Alcott was speaking at the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, which is this week looking at what should be done to make Australia more inclusive.
His comments come during a period of upheaval for the NDIS, with new leadership and an independent review looking into various aspects of the scheme, including its sustainability.
Mr Alcott — who is not an NDIS participant — said the scheme needed to be protected and he was tired of answering negative questions about its purpose.
“[NDIS funding] is not so we can drive nice cars,” he told the hearing.
“It’s so people with disability can have a shower, get out of aged care facilities and … get the support in their home so they can get out and do whatever they want to do and start working.”
Many in the disability community have long criticised the public commentary around the NDIS as being solely focused on the cost of the scheme and not the benefits to participants and the economy.
Mr Alcott said the oft-repeated rhetoric of an NDIS “blowout” was “very dangerous”.
“If we as a society constantly read the negative things about it, it becomes a negative scheme and it is not,” he said.
“It can be very, very, very dangerous, because it paints us as people with disability, on the NDIS … as bludgers … getting handouts, taking the money … and it’s just not true.
“It’s an investment in our economy to increase the productivity of this country. That’s why the NDIS was created.”
Mr Alcott told the hearing a report by his company Get Skilled Access found kids under six who have been on the NDIS for four years, compared to those who were not had “double the amount of friends”.
“Did you know that? Like did we hear about that? Of course not,” he said.
“We just hear about the cost and how it’s a pain in the arse for everybody — but it’s not.”
Mr Alcott is among dozens of disability advocates sharing their vision for an inclusive Australia with the royal commission this week.
Actress Chloé Hayden spoke about disability representation on Monday, revealing she grew up thinking she “wasn’t supposed to exist” because she never saw autistic people like herself represented in media.
The inquiry continues.