The Federal Member for Macarthur Dr Mike Freelander hosted a Macarthur NDIS Forum to help ease the concerns of families and people with disabilities in transitioning on to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The Forum heard from Mary Hawkins from the NDIA, Jeff Scobie from Macarthur Disability Services and Emma Baxter from Family Advocacy.

Dr Freelander said:

“Many families are being left in limbo when it comes to the NDIS.”

“The lack of information is making many families feel anxious about the transition to NDIS.”

“The purpose of the forum was to get everyone in a room and allow their questions to be answered. One of the largest issues with the NDIS rollout is the lack of communication.”

Some of the key concerns raised were; difficulty getting face to face meetings with an NDIS planner, knowing what needs to be brought to the planning meeting, discrepancies between plans and planners, knowing what services are available once the plan is complete.

Dr Freelander said:

“It was great to have so many people able to ask questions and raise their concerns directly to people in the sector.”

“I will be doing more of these forums in the new year because the roll out of the NDIS is a working process and we need to ensure all issues are addressed.”