At Catherine Henry Lawyers, we are excited to be at the coal-face of the roll-out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) across the Hunter region.
On 14 March 2017, Tom Hunter-Leahy (Solicitor – Health Law) of Catherine Henry Lawyers attended the Newcastle Business Club’s NDIS luncheon at the Harbourview Function Centre.
The NDIS was first rolled out in the Hunter on 1 July 2013 in order to provide services to people living with a disability, aged 65 years and younger in Newcastle, Maitland and Lake Macquarie.
According to NDIS panellists – The Honourable Ray Williams (Minister for Disability Services, NSW), Martin Halloran (Executive Director, CBA) and David Carey (CEO, ConnectAbility) – the positive impact of the NDIS has been, and will continue to be, felt across the Hunter with a large boost to the local economy, including the creation of new business opportunities and an injection of roughly 35,000 jobs.
The NDIS is expected to provide an estimated 460,000 Australians, living with a permanent and significant disability, with reasonable and necessary support services needed in order to live an ordinary life.
Panellists at the Newcastle Business Club’s luncheon expressed their confidence that the positive impact of the roll-out of the NDIS would not be limited to claimants or to frontline services.
Rather, we can also expect parallel or related growth in local business in areas such as building and construction, property development and financial services, for example.
Panellists encouraged local Newcastle business owners to invest and to work with local people with disabilities and disability advocacy groups to provide new technology and to consider business opportunities linked to the ongoing roll-out of the NDIS.
We look forward to further updates on the various successes and growing pains of the roll-out of the NDIS. If successful, the NDIS will be a world-first scheme providing first class services to those who need it most.
If you would like to know more about upcoming NDIS events in New South Wales, please follow this link: https://www.ndis.gov.au/news/events/nsw.html
If you would like to subscribe to the NDIS newsletter, please follow this link: https://www.ndis.gov.au/news/subscribe.html
