The Mental Health Community Coalition ACT (MHCC ACT), the peak body for community mental health in the Australian Capital Territory, has raised serious concerns about NDIS reforms announced this week by the Hon Mark Butler MP, warning that the reset will strip back supports
that are actively keeping people well, without a safety net in place to catch them.

The stakes are real. Around 1,200 Canberrans with psychosocial disability currently rely on the scheme every day. MHCC ACT acknowledges the $200 million Inclusive Communities Fund as a step toward more inclusive local programs, but it cannot replace the individual, weekly
psychosocial supports many people currently rely on.

“The NDIS is not a benefit scheme. It is not full of people who are scamming the system. It is about providing the support and assistance people need to live fulfilling, meaningful and dignified lives” said Lisa Kelly, CEO, MHCCACT. “The proposed reforms threaten the provision of the supports people with a psychosocial disability need to live participate in community and live the life of their choice”.
Under the reforms, spending on social and community participation, the stream that funds the kinds of supports that make a plan workable for many people with psychosocial disability, will be reduced with a focus on “maintaining disability” rather than building capability and supporting community participation.

For many NDIS participants, this funding pays for the weekly swim with a trusted support worker, the riding lesson that helps a person regulate and connect, the predictable routine that sustains wellbeing and prevents crisis. These are not discretionary extras. For many people, they are what keeps the week stable. For some, they are what prevents a crisis. And when these supports are stripped away, it is the parents, families and carers who absorb the load – picking up the hours, the worry, and the responsibility the system has stepped back from.

The numbers in the ACT are staggering. Currently around 1,200 people with a psychosocial disability receive support through the NDIS. A further 9,000 people in the ACT require psychological and social supports to assist with maintaining wellbeing and participation in workforce, relationships and community. The NDIS proposed reforms will threaten the resources of the 1,200 people in the scheme and ensure that more than 9,000 people will languish without supports. This is simply an exercise in cost shifting. The proposed reforms do not save money; they
just change which bucket covers the cost.

“We continue to hear promises of additional support through foundational supports and government agreements but have yet to see any of this
translate into funding, programs or timelines” Ms Kelly stated. “Psychosocial supports prevent mental ill-health from escalating. They keep people connected, regulated, and in their communities. They keep people out of emergency departments and out of acute psychiatric care. When those supports are withdrawn, the work they were doing such as preventing deterioration, preventing crisis, preventing admission all stop. Removing supports does not remove need. It transfers the cost to families, to the public mental health system, to emergency departments, and to crisis services” Ms Kelly noted.

MHCC ACT is calling on the Federal Minister to stop reforms that will prevent NDIS participants
from participating in community and is calling on the ACT Government to advocate for urgent
release of psychosocial support funds from both the local and federal budgets to meet the needs
of the 9,000 people in the ACT.

For media enquiries: Jessica Whaler, Member Engagement & Communications
T: 0406 669 016
E: Jessica.Whaler@mhccact.org.au