The 2016-17 Commonwealth Budget contains announcements that impact key areas of government responsibility including the NDIS and My Aged Care, as well as payments for people with disability.
- Disability Support Pension: In a positive step, people who receive the Disability Support Pension (Blind) have been exempted from provisions that could have lost them much needed income support to help them manage their living costs.
- Employment: While people who are blind or have low vision experience higher levels of unemployment, the Australian Government has indicated there may be opportunity through its Try, Test and Learn fund to examine ways to reduce long term welfare dependency. Vision Australia stands ready to implement measures that build opportunities for people who are blind or have low vision and break down barriers to employment.
- NDIS: Despite the $2.1 billion of savings in this budget, set aside to help fund the NDIS, there is still a $5 billion shortfall. There is still no major support coming from the Government to assist the sector including service providers like Vision Australia to transition, as was indicated in the original Productivity Commission report.
- My Aged Care: There is more funding allocated towards the operation of the My Aged Care gateway – the Australian Government’s intake point for aged care services – to deal with increasing demand. However, the significant cut to funding for nursing homes may impact on the capacity of operators to provide services to residents with vision impairment. The issue of blindness and low vision among older Australians is a sleeping giant that must be addressed.
- Audio description on television: The Australian Government has turned its back on the real need to build from the achievements of the 2012 audio description trial broadcast on ABC1, and following the conclusion of the ABC iView trial in July this year. Lack of action on this front means Australians with vision impairment continue to be excluded from the experience of television.
The Budget now clears the way for an election on Saturday, 2 July 2016.
Vision Australia will seek commitments from all political parties, during the election campaign, to act on vital matters impacting Australians who are blind or have low vision.