International Women's Day Australia, 8 March 2021

 

Australia 2021
Based on a 2018 Chronicle Herald editorial cartoon, via @Bloss55

Morrison government is facing growing backlash from the disability community over a plan to introduce “independent assessments” to the national disability insurance scheme by the middle of this year

These are the private assessors that the Morrison Government announced it has contracted eight companies to do ‘independent' assessments on people who are current participants or applying to enter into the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Having supplied little more than business names for these independent assessors, this is the scant information I have collected since reading The Guardian news article of 7 March 2021.

1. Outlook Matters Psychology, Innovative Rehab, Pain NT - business names for Victorian for profit company Outlook Matters Pty Ltd offering Therapeutic Supports and Early Intervention Supports for Early Childhood (deafness & mental health).

2. Konekt Limited – a company listed on the stock exchange has 9 for profit subsidiaries. Provides organisational health and risk management solutions. Its 4 directors have backgrounds in banking, accounting, marketing, financial services, health insurance and one was formerly a senior executive in Rupert Murdoch’s infamous London-based News International PLC and currently chairs a data centre company, NEXTDC Limited.

3. Rehab Management (Aust) Pty Ltd – occupational rehabilitation and corporate health services provider. One of 5 for profit subsidiaries belonging to Arriba Group Pty Ltd. It has offices in all states and territories

4. Access Care Network Australia Pty Ltd – registered as a charity this WA company provides advice, support and referral to enable people to remain living in their own homes.

5. IPAR Rehabilitation – for profit provider of injury prevention, occupational rehabilitation and return to work services in Australia, with offices in every state and territory.

6. Advanced Personnel Management (APM) – member of the multinational APM Group, acts as a for profit employment agency for people with illness, injury or disability.

7. HealthStrong Pty Ltd - a for profit residential aged care and home care provider owned by Australia’s second largest health insurance company Medicare Private Limited.

8. Allied Care Group – a subsidiary of Zenitas Healthcare Ltd, a for profit home care provider listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (formerly known as Zenitas Healthcare Limited, BGD Corporation Ltd, Boulder Steel Ltd, Boulder Group Nl, Boulder Gold N.L).

This panel will be in place for three years, with the option for the National Disability Agency (NDIA) to extend it for two more years.

BACKGROUND

The Guardian, 7 March 2021:

The Morrison government is facing growing backlash from the disability community over a plan to introduce “independent assessments” to the national disability insurance scheme by the middle of the year.

Under the current process, applicants submit evidence from experts, including their specialists, and these reports are evaluated by the National Disability Insurance Agency.

From mid-2021 they will undergo an “independent assessment” by an allied health professional employed by one of eight contracted providers paid by the government.

The changes have sparked widespread backlash, including from a coalition of 25 disability advocacy groups which this week called for the plan to be scrapped.

They said their clients had expressed “acute fears regarding the risks to their health, wellbeing and access to reasonable and necessary supports”.

Labor, the Greens, and the Liberal MP Russell Broadbent have also suggested the change is a cost-cutting exercise, a claim strongly denied by the government.

The government argues that people with disabilities and their families are now forced to spend money collecting reports from experts. This has meant outcomes have been inconsistent and too often based on where a person lives or their access to health professionals.

This week the NDIS minister, Stuart Robert, released data showing plans were worth more on average in more affluent electorates in Adelaide, compared with less wealthy areas.

The government says the assessments – which will be free of charge and last about three hours on average – will create an easier, “streamlined” process.

Yet some people who have already taken part in an independent assessment have been highly critical of the plan.

Aaron Carpenter, a 41-year-old who lives with autism and agreed to take part in the pilot program, told the Guardian the experience had been “dehumanising”.

When he applied for the scheme, Carpenter’s own clinical psychologist wrote a report outlining the functional impact of his disability.

He questioned why his independent assessment was instead conducted by a physiotherapist.

Carpenter said he was asked many “yes or no” questions with “no context” and was at one point asked to complete a “task”, which was to make a cup of tea.

The NDIA has told participants the assessments include questions “about your life and what matters to you, and ask to see how you approach some everyday tasks”, and will also include some “standardised assessment tools”.

Carpenter said: “There’s a level of trauma that comes with disability and it’s through being made to be like a dancing monkey.

“We almost have to tell our story every single time we see somebody. To do that with a complete stranger, over the course of an hour or two, cannot capture us at all.”

After the assessment was finished, Carpenter applied to the NDIA for a copy of the independent assessor’s report.

He was dismayed when he saw a section titled “self-harm” was listed as “not-applicable”.

“When I have a bit of a sensory meltdown, it’s not nice,” he said. “I will punch things, I’ll punch myself, I’ll pull my clothing off.

“Probably my biggest impairment is being able to manage sensory input to the point where I don’t have meltdowns.”

Nicole Rogerson’s 25-year-old son, Jack, also lives with autism and took part in the pilot.

Rogerson, the chief executive of Autism Awareness Australia, told Guardian Australia she had “open mind” and understood why the agency had proposed the changes.

But she was so dissatisfied by the process she cut her son’s assessment short.

“It’s just sort of, sit down, the laptop comes out, out comes a manual of questions, and the testing begins,” she said.

“Some of the questions were about his capability in certain areas. And he’d be sitting there saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I can do a lot.’ It was, ‘Do you do all your own cooking?’ and he’d be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I can cook.’ There’s a big difference between whether you can cook something and, ‘Can you live independently?’

“He was answering incorrectly, not meaning to. And she’s noting all this down. My concern was, how good are these assessors? Do they know about autism, and/or intellectual disability? Are these answers going to be considered ‘the answers’?”

Rogerson said her son had been asked to take the garbage out during the assessment and eventually she could see him “starting to feel really low about himself”.

She was worried about how the assessments might impact the mental health of some participants.

“She’s asking him, ‘How does your disability affect your job? And he’s saying, ‘Oh, no, I’ve got a job. I’m fine.’

“And he’s looking at me like, why is this woman asking him to rate his own disability, of which he doesn’t really like talking about or think he has one.”...

Critics have compared the independent assessments to Abbott government reforms introduced for the disability support pension, which helped drive a large reduction in successful claims.

Jordon Steele-John, a Greens senator who lives with cerebral palsy, claimed the government was using the assessments as “a tool to reduce the number of people on NDIS”.

“That is their objective,” he told the Guardian. “They may dress it up in whatever bureaucratic language they want, but they want to knock people off the scheme.”

Labor’s NDIS spokesman, Bill Shorten, told a rally last month the government’s independent assessments plan was “nothing less than a complete all-out assault to undermine the NDIS”.

A spokesperson for Robert said the changes were based on the Productivity Commission’s original design for the scheme and on recommendations from the 2019 Tune review into the NDIS Act.

He rejected suggestions there had been no consultation, adding that over the past three months there had been “additional consultation to support the rollout of independent assessments”.

“These reforms, in addition to the already significant improvements to wait times, deliver on this roadmap and will set up the NDIS for the future – an NDIS that works for everyone,” he said.

All new applicants will need to undergo a mandatory independent assessment under the government’s plan, while the scheme’s existing 440,400 participants will be subjected to an assessment when their plan comes up for review.

The government is expected to release draft legislation shortly, before a bill is introduced to parliament that will allow the changes to come into effect by mid-2021.

Nationals MP for Page Kevin Hogan again reminded of the Federal Government's "lack of effective action on climate change"

Nationals MP for Page Kevin Hogan has been in the Australian House of Representatives since the September 2013 general election and, as far as I can tell has never voted against the wishes of his masters in Canberra.

Which means that Mr. Hogan does not support genuine climate change mitigation measures.  

However, the Knitting Nannas Against Gas (KNAG) have never stopped reminding him that it is his duty to represent the people in his northern NSW electorate not a particular political party.

 

Knitting Nannas Against Gas

Grafton Loop

C/- PO Box 763

Grafton 2460

__________________________________________________________

4th March 2021

---- COPY ----

Mr Kevin Hogan MP

Member for Page

63 Molesworth St

LISMORE 2480

Email: kevin.hogan.mp@aph.gov.au

Dear Mr Hogan

Grafton Nanna Concerns

The Grafton Nannas have written to you a number of times over the years expressing their concern about the Federal Government’s lack of effective action on climate change.

We are dismayed that your Government is still ignoring the scientific advice about the need for urgent action on reducing Australia’s carbon emissions.

Your Government is at odds with the States and Territories which are all committed to net zero emissions by 2050 - irrespective of the party in government. Furthermore these governments are all taking action to ensure that they achieve this important goal.

Your Government is also at odds with many major companies in the private sector which understand that they need to make changes in their operations to survive – and prosper – in a carbon-constrained world.

It’s way past time that your Government stopped pandering to the fossil fuel lobby, dropped its ridiculous and damaging “gas-led recovery” and pursuit of futile pie in the sky nonsense such as carbon capture and storage and took its responsibility to the Australian people and future generations of Australians seriously.

We Nannas are particularly concerned for today’s young people who will inherit a world which is set to be irretrievably damaged by the selfishness and folly of you and your Coalition colleagues.

Do you, Mr Hogan, feel any personal responsibility for your Government’s failure to act effectively for our young people?

Yours sincerely

Leonie Blain

On behalf of the Grafton Nannas

Cartoons of the Week

David Pope

Mark David

Cathy Wilcox

Tweets of the Week

The Australien Government has made an ad about the new media legislation it just passed, and it's surprisingly honest and informative! pic.twitter.com/iD5KRenxGT

— theJuiceMedia (@thejuicemedia) February 25, 2021

Who else needs to see this? pic.twitter.com/Y2B66ZOWaI

— Kailas Wild 🐨 (@kailaswild) March 1, 2021

Saffin points out underspending by Deputy Premier & Minister for Regional New South Wales John Barilaro on the 2019 promise of faster mobile and internet coverage in regional areas

 

Office of NSW Labor MP for Lismore Janelle Saffin, media release, 3 March 2021:

Saffin applauds action group for tackling digital divide

A RECENT Parliamentary speech by Lismore MP Janelle Saffin on the digital divide in rural and regional New South Wales has put her in touch with an action group helping isolated communities to access suitable broadband.

During a public interest debate on regional mobile and digital connectivity, Ms Saffin took NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro to task for only delivering $50 million of $400 million the Nationals promised in February 2019 for faster mobile and internet coverage in regional New South Wales.

Ms Saffin said health was one area where the digital divide can mean life or death, so for that reason we have to ensure good connections.

“How many times can the Deputy Premier announce this? We have heard announcement after announcement, but we want to see runs on the board. We want to see connectivity.

 “All members must work together to ensure that the people of rural and regional New South Wales have strong digital connectivity for jobs, business, health and safety.”

Coverage of the debate found its way into the Information Age as an article titled, "Rural MPs lambast Govt. broadband 'BS’”, prompting Jon Gough, of the Wamboin Communications Action Group (WCAG), to contact Ms Saffin.

“WCAG has done a lot of good work over some four years and is now in the process of obtaining suitable broadband for their rural community,” Ms Saffin said.

“Their particular focus has been on the Wamboin, Bywong and Sutton region around the ACT, which had a particular satellite NBN allocated to their area and which the local community stated was not fit for purpose for the residents of the area.

“They have focused on obtaining a service that could traverse challenging terrain and how to deliver fibre connectivity to rural areas at a similar price point to that of city residents.

“Their website contains information about WCAG that I found very interesting: https://sites.google.com/site/wamboincommunications/home

“When I spoke with Jon Gough, he asked me if there any communities in our area which would be interested in receiving assistance from them.

“The WCAG secured an Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) grant to help them document what they had done and success with the NSW Government.

“The purpose of this is to help other, similar, rural communities get recognised by both government and non-government organisations to deliver suitable, robust, future-proof digital communications.

“WCAG were successful in this endeavour and are now reaching out to find other communities that need assistance in raising their profile such that they are recognised as being in need of assistance.”

Ms Saffin said if there are any groups in the Electorate of Lismore who are interested and have the capacity to work on such a project, please contact her on 02 66 213 624 and she shall put them in touch with WCAG.

A perennial problem of dirty water in the Clarence Valley

 

The Clarence Valley hasn't had an official "boil water alert" in any of its towns or villages since January through to May 2013. 

Although in the chaos of the 2019-20 bushfire season water could not be drawn from a number of local water sources for a while due to ash, debris and fish kills.

However, that doesn't mean there aren't times in uneventful months when the house water coming out of the taps is discoloured, tastes musty or has a slight odour, which has some of us reaching for the emergency stash of bottled water and deciding that doing the laundry is not on the agenda.

Clarence Valley Council is again discussing the dirty water situation and I wince on reading of this discussion - because some of the worst episodes of dirty water tend to occur after a 'fix' has been applied.

The Daily Telegraph, 24 February 2021:

Surrounded by plentiful river systems, a large scale water supply dam and a longing for a time when anecdotally we had the best water in the country, many have questioned what Clarence Valley Council are doing about the ongoing issue.

Councillor Karen Toms took the opportunity at last week’s committee meetings to question general manager Ashley Lindsay about proposed plans to help with fixing the issue for residents.

Mr Lindsay explained that items in the upcoming budget would help address the problem, and that a much talked about water filtration system would not be a definitive solution to all the problems.

In response, The Daily Examiner put forward a series of questions to Council, to which manager of water Cycle Greg Mashiah responded.

It was said there were items coming up in the budget to do with fixing the water problem – what specifically will be proposed?

There is a proposal in the draft 2020/2021 operational budget for targeted air scouring of mains in Yamba and Iluka to reduce sediment deposits.

Do you believe there is a water quality issue?

One of the most challenging water quality issues faced by council is a dirty water event which is impossible to predict in duration, frequency and location through the pipeline. During these events, the water quality exceeds the aesthetic criteria of the Australian Drinking Water Guideline and creates numerous problems for the end user. Council’s main goal is to provide drinking water that is in compliance with the Australian Drinking Water Guideline and in line with our adopted standard of service which means the water is less than 5NTU (a measure of turbidity) 95 per cent of the time. In order to address the issue, council undertakes routine and targeted flushing of the mains, selectively draws water from the source with the best quality, monitors chlorine residual to the end of the pipeline and strategically plans water mains to reduce dead ends where possible.

Why is a $40 million filtration system being bandied around in the community as a solution?

Having a water source that is both clean and secure is one of the most important factors contributing to drinking water quality. The majority of Clarence Valley is privileged to have access to the water of the Nymboida River and the storage capacity of Shannon Creek Dam which provides us with valuable water security.

However, our existing treatment methods do not entirely protect us from the potential risk of poor water quality resulting from the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. For example, council is restricted under its license from taking water from the Nymboida River when the flow is less than 225ML/day, which historically has occurred 5 per cent of the time.

During these periods, Council relies on the Shannon Creek Dam storage as a water source. The Shannon Creek Dam holds plenty of water, however the quality of the water is reliant on many factors including weather (especially rain), environmental contamination, algal growth and bush fires which could make the water unsuitable for use with our existing treatment system.

Our existing methods of treatment have a limited capacity to adjust to raw water changes. The main way Council currently manages its water quality is by “selective extraction”, where water is generally only taken when the turbidity is less than 5NTU. As outlined in Table 11 of the interim Drought Management Plan adopted by Council in October 2020 (page 35 of https://www.clarence.nsw.gov.au/page.asp?f=RES-GKQ-61-55-36), in the period 2013-2020 the Nymboida flow and turbidity was only suitable for extraction (ie flow >225ML/day and turbidity <5NTU) 76.5 per cent of the time, and if the Nymboida volume limit where extraction is permitted is changed to 430ML/day (which is foreshadowed in the Shannon Creek Dam water licence), Council could only have extracted water 44.2 per cent of the time in the last 7 years.

Council is undertaking a “secure yield study” as the first stage of updating its Integrated Water Cycle Management (IWCM) strategy which we believe will demonstrate that an upgraded treatment plant is required to enable extraction of water when turbidity is >5 NTU to ensure the system has sufficient capacity for current and future demands. The state government regulator (DPIE – Water) will require Council to adopt its IWCM strategy to demonstrate there is a requirement for a major treatment upgrade.

The investigation of further treatment (filtration) was also included as a risk management strategy in the new Drinking Water Management System which was adopted by Council in May 2020.

Council has allocated funds in the 2020/2021 budget for scope and design of Rushforth Road 32ML replacement reservoir, and the scoping study includes concept design of a possible future treatment upgrade including filtration to ensure future treatment is feasible with the replacement reservoir.

Will it fix the problem, or is there another underlying matter?

There are many contributing factors associated with dirty water events in the pipeline including but not limited to historical accumulation of sediment in the pipeline, a vast distribution system which challenges chlorine residuals in areas, changes in flow rates during peak periods of usage, seasonal fluctuations in water temperature, natural biofilms forming in the pipeline and natural and added minerals in the water. A filtration plant will improve water quality by reducing the turbidity of the treated water, improve our capacity to remove potential pathogens in the raw water, improve water colour and organics, improve taste and odour associated with algae and our protection against potential algal toxins.

While a filtration plant will improve water quality as a whole, Council cannot guarantee that it will completely eliminate all dirty water events due to the additional contributing factors, but there should be a significant improvement. Even if a filtration plant is constructed, because the natural water supply is very soft Council will need to continue to add lime to the water to increase its hardness. Council has added lime to its water supply since 2008 because the soft water means that over time the water dissolves metals such as iron, zinc and copper that make up water pipelines and fittings.

Even with the added lime, our water is still classified as “soft”. Properties which have water sitting in their household pipelines may still have these metals dissolved out due to the soft water. Customers may see the lime as a brown scale in their kettles or, if they have a water filter installed, the filter generally removes the lime which is why water filters clog up so quickly in the Clarence. Even if a filtration plant was constructed, because we will continue to add lime customers will still find they have a brown scale in their kettles and their filters will still clog up quickly. The best way to remove the iron scale from kettles is to boil vinegar in the kettle……..