NDIS funding cut hits Canberra family

Luci McClusky, who has an intellectual disability and severe epilepsy, participates in everything from circus to rugby lessons and gardening in any given week.

"She's having all these interactions, not just with other people with disability, but mainstream people as well. And I think everybody's life is enriched from that exposure and experience," Ms Glasson tells The Canberra Times.

But Ms Glasson says her daughter will be forced to cut back on those activities, and be confined to her home for most of the day, after her NDIS funding was cut earlier this year.

The mother believes her daughter is the latest victim of what the federal opposition and disability advocates believe is a trend of cost cutting across the scheme.

The National Disability Insurance Agency denies this, pointing to figures which show the scheme's costs are growing and set to exceed $26 billion this year.

But those figures are cold comfort for Ms Glasson and her daughter.

Documents seen by The Canberra Times show the 22-year-old's funding for core supports was cut from $318,000 to $276,000 earlier this year, after she moved into supported living accommodation.

The overall number doesn't tell the full story.

The component of the package used to fund dedicated support workers during daytime hours was slashed by about two-thirds, to $99,000.

In documents explaining the decision, which Ms Glasson was forced to apply to access, the agency argued that 10 hours per day of 1:1 support would likely lead to isolation.

The agency agreed that a dedicated support worker was needed for personal care and daily activities, but said Ms McClusky would benefit for being cared for as part of a group of three when she did community activities.

Ms Glasson was dumbfounded by that argument. She said it was because of dedicated support workers that her daughter was able to participate in the community.

One of Ms McClusky's support workers, Cheyenne Shooks, said her client needed constant 1:1 support because of her seizures, which occurred an average of three times a week for about 15 minutes at a time.

Ms Glasson asked for an internal review of the funding cut, but the original decision was upheld. She will now consider an appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal - an arduous process she went through to overturn a separate cut in 2019.

If that appeal is rejected, she will have to consider moving to part-time work to care for her child. Ms McClusky is looking for a part-time job herself, but has been unable to find one.

Ms Glasson said her family had hoped that transitioning their daughter into supported living would mark a step forward in her life - a key aim of the NDIS.

Instead, she said the new plan had set her daughter back.

"It wasn't too long ago, a generation or two ago, where people with a disability were hidden away in institutions," she said.

"The NDIS was about, 'hey, let's experience all of our diversity out in the community'. Luci has been an emblem of the spirit of that in terms of how she goes about her life.

"[But] this current plan doesn't respect her [and] what she wants her life to be. It brings her two steps back."

In a statement to The Canberra Times, a spokesman for the National Disability Insurance Agency said Ms McClusky continued to receive significant funding, including for community activities.

The spokesman indicated the funding cut was the result of Ms McClusky now sharing supports with her housemates.

"In some cases, such as this, when a participant moves to shared accommodation it is appropriate that some supports be shared with those living in the same accommodation to promote an inclusive environment and greater social participation for participants," he said.

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"On transitioning to the accommodation, Luci was able to share supports with two other participants and now receives 24/7 1:3 supports with some individual supports per week. This is reflected in the change to plan value."

The spokesman said the scheme was designed so that funding would change when a participant's needs and circumstances did.

The Canberra Times earlier this year reported the agency had established a special taskforce to contain costs, as the Morrison government warned the scheme was becoming financially unsustainable.

The agency spokesman this week confirmed the taskforce had been wound up, but did not say why.

Samantha Connor, the president of People with Disability Australia, said cuts to packages were being reported across the country.

She said funding cuts could have serious consequences for participants, including leading to social isolation and, in some cases, death.

The Guardian over the weekend reported that there had been a 300 per cent increase in applications to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal over NDIS decisions since July.

The agency has argued that a spike in appeals over the past financial year was the result of more people joining the scheme.

Labor MP for Canberra Alicia Payne, who Ms Glasson contacted after her daughter's funding was cut, said Ms McClusky's case was an example of the Morrison government not honouring the "choice and control" principle at the heart of the scheme.

"Luci and her family know what is best for her - she has blossomed while being able to participate in these activities she loves, but she is being told that they are not reasonable and necessary. They obviously are," she said.

"It's shameful that this government is doing everything in its power to cut the NDIS and the plans of people like Luci."

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