Disability can hit anyone at any stage of life out of the blue. If it is as a result of a motor vehicle accident of an accident at work there is cover. If not the situation is currently bleak. Hospital treatment may be covered by Medicare but there is no automatic entitlement to any equipment or services needed to return home. An aged-care nursing home may be the only option. Intensive on-going rehabilitation therapy is unlikely to be available. Families face huge fights to get any help. Lack of basic supports prevent people with disabilities and their carers from working and paying taxes families break down under the strain and they are shockingly overrepresented in jails and homeless shelters.
There are about 2 million Australian voters with disabilities along with their carers families and friends and thousands of people working in the disability field.
The lack of core support services such as early intervention therapy and essential equipment means people often end up far more disabled than would otherwise be the case and it is driving more and more families into severe emotional psychological and financial crisis.
The lack of proper planning and integrated service delivery is a national disgrace.