Proposed reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme have prompted such a backlash that NDIS minister Linda Reynolds said last month they would be put on hold. But this week she announced that “some form” of the planned independent assessments of patients’ needs will go ahead in future. John Gilroy, a Koori man and sociologist at the University of Sydney who lives with disability, argues the proposed framework is disrespectful and discriminatory towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

His research shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people already have a high level of distrust of government systems, due to a history of racism and child removal. Forcing them to meet with a government-appointed health professional – who’s a stranger to them – to assess their eligibility and funding, as is proposed, is likely to worsen this. He says Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability have a right to use health specialists with whom they have an established relationship, and that the federal government should scrap independent assessments and instead put more money into upskilling the current NDIS workforce and the Aboriginal community-controlled services sector.

Here at The Conversation, we’re working harder all the time to help give a voice to Indigenous knowledge and expertise. If you value this too, please consider making a donation so we can continue this important work.

Liam Petterson

Deputy Editor, Health + Medicine

Shutterstock

Here’s why the planned NDIS reforms discriminate against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

John Gilroy, University of Sydney

As a Koori bloke who lives with disability, I believe the proposed framework is disrespectful and discriminatory towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

AAP Image/Supplied by Granville Harbour Wind Farm

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A small child buried almost 80,000 years ago in a cave in Kenya shows how ancient humans treated the dead.

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