Dr Michael Curtin, coordinator of CSU’s occupational therapy course, believes the proposed scheme would promote the equal and active participation of all people with disability.

 

“The UN convention acknowledges the basic human rights of people with disability to be full citizens in society, rather than being kept in the margins of society. Sadly, the latter is often still the case in everyday activities that most of us take for granted, such as education, work, leisure, and recreation,” contends Dr Curtin, who is with CSU’s School of Community Health. 

 

“A national disability insurance scheme will go some way to ‘levelling the playing field’ for people with disability and their families. It is no secret that the emotional and financial costs of living with a disability are extraordinarily high. Families with a child with disabilities experience many inequalities compared to families with non-disabled children, despite considerable improvement in social care over recent decades.

 

“The lack of funding, inflexible care arrangements and prejudices of others, disables young people with impairments and their families. This can cause stress to the parents and siblings and can adversely affect families.

 

“The unequal opportunities and consequences affect many facets of family life, including work, leisure, finance and quality of life.  UK research has found that the standard of living of families of children and young people with disabilities fell below that necessary for these children and young people to achieve adequate physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social well-being. Many families live in unsuitable housing and the cost of raising a young person with disabilities was found to be at least three times greater than the cost of raising a non-disabled young person.

 

“Findings also show that parents were less likely to meet higher costs because as primary carers they were unlikely to find a job that fitted around their caring responsibilities. This resulted in these families being less able to pay for or contribute towards adaptations, equipment, transport or child care. Currently, the maximum financial benefits available to families raising young people with disabilities fall far below the extra costs involved.”

 

Dr Curtin is also concerned for the future needs of people with disabilities as these change during their lifetimes, just as they do for non-disabled people.

 

“A person with a disability will always incur extra costs associated with the impairment, such as housing adaptations, assistive equipment such as wheelchairs and cushions and employing carers.

 

 “Wheelchairs are expensive, as are carers. And people with disabilities should be able to enjoy life just as non-disabled people. But this can come at a price, for example a specialised motorised wheel chair could costs over $26 000, and if a person works these are often not subsidised. Even highly paid professionals would find these costs hard to bear if they have disabilities.”

 

Dr Curtin believes this reinforces the need for a national insurance scheme. “Whether a person has high or low income, no person with a disability should spend money to buy equipment that is essential for providing equal and active participation in the community, such as a wheelchair.”