This morning, Mark McBriarty and I met with Daniel White, Bill Shorten's Political Adviser, to discuss the closure of My Care Planner, the Minister's irresponsible remarks about the services provided by plan managers and support coordinators, and the pricing freeze affecting our sector.
Instead of a meaningful discussion, we unfortunately encountered more political rhetoric about NDIS reforms, navigators, and the Minister's office "understanding our frustration."
While I understand that the NDIA is an independent statutory agency, I find it hard to believe, and frankly concerning, that the Minister overseeing the Scheme has no weight in critical decisions like the Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits.
We were told that NDIS reform and the future of navigators look promising, which is great, except for the fact that My Care Planner could not survive long enough to see this come to fruition, and that many quality providers are not likely to either.
Lastly, when we asked how plan managers and support coordinators are supposed to earn the trust of participants and families when the Minister frequently describes us as "ticket clippers," "parasitic pen pushers", "paying for sex and drugs," and "spivs and shonks," we were told that he does say there are some good ones. That's a relief...
I'm not sure what I hoped to achieve from today's meeting, but I left feeling more frustrated than ever by the lack of genuine understanding from the Minister's office.
#NDIS
Pic desc: Quotes from various news articles about plan managers, written in black text on a white background, including: "parasitic pen pushers," "dodgy outfits defrauding the NDIS," "spivs and shonks," "ticket clippers," and "up to 90 percent of plan managers are committing fraud."