On Four Corners Tonight, the documentary Breaking Point covers families in crisis because of the lack of disability support available to people with a disability.
The heart-rending story that tells what it’s like to live with a disability, or to care for someone who is disabled, in Australia today. Reporter Wendy Carlisle meets the families the nation has neglected.
The system of assistance for people with a disability in Australia is broken. Carers know it, charitable organisations know it and so do the governments. Now the federal government says something must be done. It’s holding an Inquiry, with the intention of creating a new and fairer system. It’s even considering a national disability insurance scheme. But will the system be reformed in time to save the families now at breaking point?
If you miss the show and have a broadband connection, check out Four Corners on iView to watch it via your computer for the next 4 weeks or so.
We’d love to hear your comments after the show. Did you think the show was well done, and showed the perspective of people with a disability and paid carers as well as that of families? How do the issues raised in the show affect you? Do you think they missed important factors? Post your comments here.
- Ricky Buchanan and the NJW Team
I think this is an important program for us all to watch. It highlights a very important issue which needs to be addressed quickly.
I found this really scary to watch, as it’s an issue which is relevant to me personally as a person with severe disabilities. The way the system currently works as a lottery with some who are relatively “lucky” in terms of services provided and some who are in the same situation but “unlucky” is crazy… but I’m one of the “lucky” ones I know. If I wasn’t, I don’t think I could continue to keep myself out of a nursing home honestly.
I’m scared that it’s a problem so huge that the government will continue to ignore it. It’s not as if overburdened people with disabilities and overworked carers have a lot of political pull
The program was very scary and the fact that people were having to head overseas to the UK to get reasonable outcomes was appalling. Not everyone has this option as few people have dual passports. I am also concerned that Bill Shorten doesn’t think the National Disability Insurance Scheme could be operable until well into a second term of the Rudd government.
The issue is not when or if an insurance scheme is set up but HOW its going to operate. Unless it focuses on an individuals life’s plan it has the potential to be no better than it is now. Everyone has different needs and aspirations. Some people may require specialised equipment and others may need assistance to live independently or to access basic services. The list in the disability field is endless. Regardless of the severity of a disability everyone has the right to live meaningful lives and should be given the means to do so. Families who have no other choice but to care for their child as they themselves age and whither should also be a major part of the plan. We have put together a plan for our son which highlights many of the areas that are specific to him. This can be seen at the following URL: It only shows the key areas in the menu bar roll -overs at the top. His actual plan has all of the areas filled in with specific detail.
http://www.adam.org.au/example_plan.htm
If the insurance scheme does not positively address this issue correctly it may leave people with disabilities further out in the cold. DHS has a full copy of my sons plan. When we asked for several weeks respite last year the response was, yes we can do this and we can put him into a centre while you have a holiday. He can have a holiday as well. Some holiday that would have been. We did manage to get the additional support tagged onto his current plan and kept him out of the centre. But if bureaucrats continue to have this approach to services I shudder for the future. So. Individual plans for people with disabilities (completed by the individual with the support of their family of advocacy group if required) and a complete retraining program for bureaucrats along with community awareness. That might work.