[dbaust] Re: New interest in braille on smart phones
- From: "P Tarrant" <tarrp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <dbaust@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 9 May 2012 19:01:38 +1000
Re-formatted and try:
Dear Blind Citizens Australia (BCA) members,
Below is a summary of the key announcements of the Federal Budget which are
of direct relevance to people who are blind or vision impaired. BCA will be
seeking further information regarding some of the below initiatives and will
circulate more information once it is available to us. There have been no
proposed changes to the status of the DSP Blind that we have been alerted
to.
National Disability Insurance Scheme
$1 billion has been committed over 4 years to start rolling out the first
stage of a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
The first stage of an NDIS will begin in mid-2013 and will provide care and
support to around 10,000 people with significant and permanent disabilities
in up to four locations across the country. From mid-2014, the reach of an
NDIS will be expanded to bring the total number of eligible people up to
20,000.
These individuals will have their needs assessed and be supported to develop
individual plans to deliver ongoing personalised care and support over their
life-times.
The Government's commitment includes:
. $342.5 million over three years from July next year for individually
funded packages for people with significant and permanent disability.
. $154.8 million over three years from July next year to employ Local Area
Coordinators to provide an individualised approach to delivering care and
support to people with a disability.
. $58.6 million over three years from July next year to assess the needs of
people with a disability in the launch locations.
. $122.6 million over four years to start preparing the disability sector
for the new way of delivering disability services, particularly in the
launch locations in the first stage of roll out.
. $240.3 million over four years to build and operate an NDIS information
technology system.
. $53 million over four years to establish a new National Disability Launch
Transition Agency to coordinate implementation and manage the delivery of
care and support to people with a disability and their carers in launch
locations from 2013-14.
The Australian Government's initial investment will cover the total
administration and running costs for the first stage of an NDIS. States and
territories that host the initial locations will also be required to
contribute to the cost of personal care and support for people with
disability. The NDIS is being delivered a year ahead of the timetable set
out by the Productivity Commission.
Changes to the Disability Support Pension
The amount of time individuals can travel overseas while continuing to
receive their income support payments will be reduced from 13 weeks to six
weeks, effective from 1 January 2013.
This change will affect the Disability Support Pension, Parenting Payment,
Carer Payment, Carer Allowance, Widow B Pension, Wife Pension, Widow
Allowance,
Partner Allowance, Youth Allowance (Student), Austudy, Mobility Allowance,
Telephone Allowance, Pension Supplement, Utilities Allowance, Seniors
Supplement, Clean Energy Supplement, Low Income Supplement, Pharmaceutical
Allowance, Rent Assistance, Pensioner Education Supplement, Family Tax
Benefit A, Family Tax Benefit Part B, Single Income Family Supplement and
Paid Parental Leave and concession cards.
This is unless (a) it is a part of a course of study or (b) the person has a
manifest disability and no forecast capacity for work. This will be assessed
under new rules which will take effect from 1 July 2012. Blindness is
currently considered to be a manifest disability.
Trial of Audio Description on ABC
$1.5 million has been committed for a trial of audio description on ABC1
which is great news.
Employment
Australian Disability Enterprises will receive $59 million over four years
to sustain their sector in 2012-2013. This ongoing investment brings total
Australian Government funding for ADEs to more than $210 million a year.
From 1 July this year, the Government are introducing further reforms to
encourage greater participation in the workforce by DSP recipients,
including:
a.. Introducing new participation requirements for recipients under the
age of 35 with some capacity to work;
b.. Providing more generous rules to allow all people receiving the DSP to
work up to 30 hours a week and still receive DSP, subject to income and
assets tests; and
c.. Supporting employers to take on more DSP recipients through new
financial incentives.
The Government is delivering a range of new employer incentive initiatives
across Australia to encourage businesses to employ long-term unemployed and
people with disabilities. New initiatives include Wage Connect which enables
employers to offset the costs of wages and training for the first six months
a person is employed. This commenced on 1 January 2012.
The Disability Employment Broker program is a $1 million discretionary
grants program will start from 1 July 2012 to fund up to 10 projects to
improve employment outcomes for Disability Employment Services participants.
The projects will target small-to-medium employers in regional locations and
build relationships with employers and industry groups.
The Government is also supporting the Australian Chamber of Commerce and
Industry to deliver the 'Think Outside the Box Campaign' and is providing
funding for Disability Employment Australia to raise awareness with
employers of the benefits of a diverse workforce.
National Disability Agreement
The Commonwealth disability funding to the States under the National
Disability Agreement rises from $1,208.7 m to $1,277.6 m in 2012-13. This
will be in addition to the funding for the NDIS.
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers
will be expanded and will now be conducted every three years, rather than
every six years, from 2014-15.
Joint Standing Committee on Migration Report
Responding to the Joint Standing Committee on Migration report on the
migration treatment of disability, the Government will make changes to the
health criteria that applicants must meet to obtain an Australian visa.
Under current arrangements, visa applicants are refused entry to Australia
where the estimated costs of treating a pre-existing health condition are
above the Significant Cost Threshold set at $21,000. This threshold will be
raised to $35,000 and will be removed for offshore Humanitarian Visa
applicants from July 2012.
Education
The Review of School Funding has been mentioned, with $5.8 m to be provided
over two years to conduct further policy and technical work around the
recommendations of the review with further stakeholder consultations. $1 m
will be directed to support the implementation of the National Partnership
for More Support for Students with Disabilities. There has been no mention
of the outcomes of the review of the Disability Standards for Education.
Accessibility
$2.6m to improve accessibility at Parliament House
Kind regards,
Jessica Zammit
National Policy Officer
Blind Citizens Australia
Ross House, Level 3, 247-251 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: 03 9654 1400
Mobile: 0437 355 985
Fax: 03 9650 3200
Toll free: 1800 033 660
Web: www.bca.org.au
Email: <jessica.zammit@xxxxxxxxxx>
ABN: 90 006 985 226
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