A controversial move by the Coalition to force ‘independent assessments’ on people seeking access to or already in the National Disability Insurance Scheme has struck its first hurdle with a tribunal rejecting the less ‘reliable’ evidence of a government-backed therapist.
On Wednesday, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal granted mother-of-two Jennifer Ray access to the $22-billion NDIS because it found her diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder substantially reduced her ability to function in day-to-day life and required support.
The tribunal heard evidence from Mrs Ray’s psychologist Teana Barry who had treated the woman professionally for almost five years.
Meanwhile, the National Disability Insurance Agency — the NDIA, which administers the scheme — insisted the evidence of an independent occupational therapist, who deemed Mrs Ray to have only a minor disability that did not require extra support, be used to deny support.
The latter’s evidence did not hold much weight with the AAT.
“The Tribunal considers the observations made by Ms Barry are more reliable than those made by the independent therapist, as Ms Barry has seen Mrs Ray on approximately 50 to 60 occasions, including out of the comfort and familiarity of her home environment, whereas the independent therapist had only seen Mrs Ray once for a period of three hours in her home environment,” AAT Member Kim Parker wrote in her findings.
Parker’s decision goes to the heart of a new policy announced by NDIS Minister Stuart Robert late last month which would outsource all functional assessments for the scheme to ‘independent’ government contractors.
On Monday, Robert released more detail about the plan saying it would eliminate ‘biased’ reports and provide specialist advice to everyone, ‘not just those who can pay the most for a report’.
“Independent Assessments will lead to more consistency in decision making when people request access the NDIS and in the planning process, make the process fairer and more equitable by removing the financial burden on prospective participants,” he said.
Under the NDIS, participants have had to collect specialist reports from therapists, doctors, and other treating clinicians which demonstrate impairments that meet the criteria for entry to the scheme. Once granted, the agency is obliged to fund any support that is considered ‘reasonable and necessary’ in perpetuity.
It has faced cost pressures since inception, however, particularly in the ballooning numbers of autistic people who were not properly accounted for in government modelling.
“My key concern is that these assessments will mean that people with disabilities are going to be poked, prodded and tested to prove our disabilities,” activist Craig Wallace said.
“This will come from people that we do not know and who do not understand our conditions.”
Under the proposed model, assessors will spend as little as a few hours with a person and, Wallace says, run through a ‘checklist-style exercise’.
“It will determine what our function is on any given day but this is a really bad approach for people with autism and psychosocial disorders, for example,” he said.
“They can have a good day and the very next one will be bad.”
Disability advocates have staged a national ‘NDIS crawl’ today to protest the policy; outside agency buildings where they can or from their homes performing a checklist of everyday tasks.
The new framework, also released on Monday, offers some sweeteners. Participants would no longer need to pay for the assessments themselves.
“The NDIA estimates that average savings for people with disabilities of $130 million to $170 million per year will result from… removing this financial burden,” it says.
But its intent is also clear.
“The Productivity Commission recommended that those assessing functional capacity be drawn from an approved pool of allied health professionals who are independent of the person being assessed, to reduce the potential for ;sympathy bias’,” the framework says.
“The change in approach outlined in this framework is aligned with this original intent, in order to mitigate the potential for bias.”
A pilot for the project has already been completed. It was carried out by APM, a sprawling service provider that also conducts assessments for home support under the aged care system.
It is also an employment services provider with the Department of Employment’s beleaguered Jobactive program.
Rick Morton is the author of the bestselling One Hundred Years of Dirt. He has been a journalist for 15 years with a particular focus on social policy and national affairs. Rick is the senior reporter for The Saturday Paper.
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