Gippsland Carers are supporting a National Disability Insurance Scheme and will present a Petition to Federal Parliament to reinforce our support for a National Care and Support Scheme.

Gippsland Carers Association fully supports the introduction of a National Disability Care and Support Scheme. We welcome the support of the Federal Labor Government in their action to commission a Productivity Commission Inquiry. The Inquiry call for community input has seen over 595 Submissions posted on their website.

The Productivity Commission will release a Draft Report in February 2011, call for further submissions in April and a Final Report in July next year.  You can visit the Productivity Commission website here http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/disability-support .

 To read the Gippsland carers Submission 133 made to the Care and Support Scheme, you can download a copy by clicking here:   http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/100381/sub0133.pdf

Our Petition for an NDIS

To emphasise our support for a national disability insurance scheme, we have collected signatures for a Petition to the Federal Government that will be presented to Parliament by our local Federal Member. We want to keep the issue of a national insurance scheme before our elected representatives. Only bi-partisan political support for such life changing legislation will ensure that deliberations by the productivity Commission will be successful.

 Caring for people with dependent disabilities, handicap, mental illness and aged frailty is a whole of community responsibility. Anyone anytime can be affected. An accident of birth, an acquired disability due to accident or disease, depression, mental illness or frailty in old age, can happen to anyone! 

It is wrong that only those who have an accident in a motor vehicle or at work can expect compensation because everyone pays into an insurance scheme. Just like the Medicare Levi protects every Australian against ill health, so an Insurance Scheme or Levi must be legislated to Insure every Australian against dependent disabilities.