Our Council Members connect with the community to find out about issues that affect them.

Our Council Members shared these issues with the NDIA.

It’s hard for people with disability in the Northern Territory to find someone to speak up for them when they use the AAT.

Council Members explained there are not enough services to help them.

This means some people don’t use the AAT when they should.

Council Members are worried about people with disability in the health system.

They have learned that some people experience:

neglect – when someone is not helping you the way they are supposed to help you

discrimination – when someone treats you badly because of something about you that you can’t change.

They shared this often happens when people who need a lot of support don’t have someone to help them.

For example, a carer or support person.

People who work in the health system need to understand what:

people with disability need

• rights people with disability have.

Rights are rules about how everyone should be treated fairly.

Some hospital staff won’t give NDIS participants personal care – like help with showering.

They ask support workers to do this instead.

Council Members think we need one way for everyone to get this support in hospital.

Now there are less rules about how to stay safe during COVID-19.

But COVID-19 is not over.

Council Members are worried that people with disability will feel more unsafe.

And might not take part in the community.

Some people with disability have stayed at home since March 2020 to keep safe.

Council Members also learned that some areas in aged care are not accessible.

When something is accessible, anyone can:

find and use it

travel around.

For example, the shared areas are accessible.

But the rooms where people live are not.

Providers deliver services and supports to people with disability.

Many smaller providers support people with disability by giving:

good quality services

• services that think about what each person needs.

Bigger providers can make it hard for these smaller organisations to get enough:

people to use their services

funding from the government – money to pay for supports.

It also costs smaller organisations a lot to prove they:

follow the NDIS’s rules

• keep participants safe.

Council Members think the NDIA should hire more people with intellectual disability.

This shows other organisations they can too.

Council Members also explained why it’s important to keep including people with disability when the NDIA works with the community.

They also shared that the NDIA should work with different groups of people together.

For example, providers and people with disability.

Council Members shared that some participants are having their plans changed or stopped.

And they didn’t know it would happen.

Council Members also think the NDIA should give participants more information when they change their plan.

Some participants keep some funding for when they need more support.

But when the NDIA changes their plan it can affect this funding.

Council Members shared that more participants will use the AAT if this keeps happening.

Council Members also shared that there are not enough support workers.

They explained that workers can make more money working in aged care.

And there aren’t enough workers to keep people with disability safe.

Some participants in places far from large cities or towns can’t use their plans.

This is because there aren’t enough services where they live.

Council Members also shared that participants have to wait a long time when they want to change something in their home.