2023-11-21
Lines attributable to Senator Jordon Steele-John, Australian Greens spokesperson for Disability Rights and Services and Health
“Minister Shorten’s comments about the future of supports for autistic people available through the National Disability Insurance Scheme will send shivers down the spine of neurodivergent people and their families.
“The NDIS is a vital support for disabled people. The Greens are resolute in our view that the NDIS should continue to be a support for people with psychosocial disabilities.
“It is abhorrent that a Labor government seeks to balance their budget bottom line off the back of disabled people’s access to vital services. We thought this cycle of fear and worry was over when we kicked out the liberals, we were wrong.
“Despite a Labor government we’ve never seen less access to GPs, we’ve never seen public schools so under-resourced, and now the government is threatening to take away a lifeline for autistic kids and their families: their NDIS supports.
“The lack of comprehensive community support for neurodivergent people would see these changes remove the lifeboat and actively push disabled people into the sea.
“To support people in this country we need levels of government to work together. The disabled community are calling on all levels of government to properly fund the NDIS, expand investment in Medicare and resource our public schools.”
Lines attributable to Senator Penny Allman-Payne, Australian Greens spokesperson on Education (Primary & Secondary)
“Labor can’t just shunt the responsibility for supporting kids with psychosocial disabilities from the NDIS to the school system.
“Public schools are already on their knees, thanks to a bipartisan refusal to adequately fund the sector for decades.
“We heard during the Senate inquiry into school refusal that neurodiverse students aren’t being adequately supported in the school system as it is, so Minister Shorten’s comments will be causing anxiety among parents, carers and teachers across the country.
"We need a properly funded NDIS to support autistic kids, and a fully resourced public school system where teachers have the time and facilities they need to provide care and attention to every student.”