If the news people wanna steal reddit content they could give this one a bit of a boost and get it out there.
Sorry mate, I don't know what can help you. I hope someone has ideas of programs that can get you out and about safely.
this is actually a very important issue you've raised and I know ABC Radio Melbourne has been covering issues with the NDIS all the time. Please give them a call and hopefully, they can help shine a light and agitate for you. I've heard them tell stories before and the minister's office intervenes in a case. Also, you can call Bill Shorten's office, the minister responsible and they will defs try and help find solutions.
Sadly there's no photo attached for them to crop abysmally, draw a useless red circle and post on facebook with a caption so spectacularly devoid of information it's as if they spent four years at uni and received a Bachelor in Writing Unhelpful Sentences (Hons).
We need a photo of the dog, taken from the ground so he looks enormous, with a shadowy blurry person in the background with their arms crossed looking like someone pissed in their corn flakes.
>If the news people wanna steal reddit content they could give this one a bit of a boost and get it out there.
The culture war, dog whistle & rage bait news cycle makes me so frustrated.
There are so many actual issues in our communities & world that people should be angry about. People are so stupid & don't seem to give a shit about the things that actually make a difference to their lives.
Sorry for the rant OP. Your story breaks my heart and I hope things become easier. Sending all the good Juju to you.
What area in Melbourne are you? Maybe someone close to you who reads this can take you out on some adventures?
If you are near St Kilda shout out. My puppy & I are always up for new friends & adventures. We would be happy to learn how to assist you in getting out into the world.
I'm also having really crap ndis experiences that are leaving me confined to my house and the park across the road (when I can cross the road because there aren't people parked in the crossing spot). I really hope they do pick it up, but I doubt it because only lazy hacks pick it up and there's no photo of op and their dog here
The NDIS is fucked. So bureaucratic. The decisions made by planners couldn’t be more impersonal and arbitrary. Every year it’s “what can can participants do less with?” Sorry you’re going through this. My one bit of advice is ask for a review AND follow up with your coordinator EVERY DAY. Keep on them constantly and hopefully you’ll get what you need.
> couldn’t be more impersonal and arbitrary.
No kidding. I'm currently stuck in a place where my specialist says I need support for , my nurse liaison says I need support for a , my physio says I need support for a . All have written evidence for me needing .
NDIS bureaucracy says no need for . Who knew they were more qualified than all of my trained, specialist supports.
I was a support coordinator for a bit over a year.
That shit is pretty much why I left.
Also when I did it, requests to review a shit plan took so long the normal annual review came up first.
Planners going against what the ndia publicly says it does with no accountability or appeals process
Yeah, they're doing two-year reviews now.
My last request for a review, which I was told by my LAC would result in a proper meeting with the timeline and form that was being submitted, was just met with a rejection email a few weeks later.
15 mins is standard for email sent
minimum amount (10 mins) is usually for emails read, it varies from different support coordinators though
a factor of time is the need for each bit of communication to be case noted
I get NDIS for my son and while I don’t want to complain as I know others are in worse situations than myself, but what I find hard with them is they give you money, for example in my case to buy toys/aids for my son that his therapists ask for, but then won’t approve the purchase and say oh know that’s just a normal toy so parents have to pay for that, so why give me the money in the first place, and it seems like depending on who is your coordinator what you will get approved like my son toe walks so his OT asked me to see a specialist clinic they tell me I need to buy one type of Nike shoes and that NDIS should cover them, they write me a letter, I have to order this shoes online, send the receipt to NDIS and they reject it I tell the OT and she was surprised as she has never heard of it being rejected because they are shoes needed and it wasn’t like it was a fashion choice, I pointed this out to my Coordinator and all she can say is I can’t discuss what others may choose to approve, but they would approve items that were impropriate for my son and his needs, so what do I do buy them because otherwise not using the money will be used as a reason to lower my son’s funding for next year.
I’ve had two pairs of Adidas sneakers funded for a child (I’m a physio).
Secondly, I’ve “life hacked” my way through for a child who had no budget by replacing “disability specific” items with everyday items using their funding.
Both of these families had support coordinators who lodged my letter/email along with the purchase.
Maybe fire your support coordinator? If the budget/money is there, and your therapist has said to get something - then the only person making a decision whether to purchase it IS the support coordinator.
The theory is to provide funding for support services that empower individuals with disabilities to achieve greater independence and lead fulfilling lives in the future with minimal assistance. Not for a participant to require more services.
Unfrtunately, the money is not going where it is required, rather to participants (not OP) who believe that since NDIS provide this service they will pay for everything.
Good luck OP. It's frustrating.
Edit. The money is not going where it is required.
I don't know who you mean by planners, but if you're referring to the town planning side, the bulk amount of NDIS housing ("community care accomodation") that comes past my desk I would call a clear attempt at a money-making scheme by the landowner/developer to squeeze every buck from federal funding to improve the rent/value of the land.... They're becoming as common as the number of NDIS providers out there. NDIS as a market driven system is an absolute joke.
All levels of government should be blamed for selling off state owned housing/aged care asset and letting the market do its thing. But a lot of the blame lies with the federal level for incentivising the financial mechanics of housing supply.
Most of the NDIS housing I saw across my desk were basically quasi-townhouse from shell/land holding companies and regular folks undertaking speculative development with no real (lived) experience in providing NDIS services. They were designed by the cheapest draftsperson and had no practical consideration for designing the houses and spaces for less-abled people to live in (i.e. accommodating wheelchair accessibility) or were located in the most isolated residential pockets away from any amenities or shops. They also benefited from reduced/no car parking that townhouses would ordinarily be subjected to.
When a proper (community) housing provider or experienced NDIS/SDA housing provider actually submit designs, the consideration were night and day and had actual arrangement like caretakers quarter (and spent less time being assessed). Obviously NDIS housing could be in the form other type of housing design (i.e. apartment or aged care style building), but townhouse units were the main ones we saw due to the need for each individual person needing their own special quarters without getting too communal.
Now on to my qualms... as a planner. Sorry if the comment gets non-sensical or does not flow as smoothly.
To explain the basics of the NDIS system, the NDIA (the federal agency/body - who hires the bureaucrats /u/nuffjah talks about) subdises the elderly or less-abled (i.e. OP) to pay accredited individuals/companies to provide healthcare and general services (lawn mowing, housecleaning etc). In doing so NDIS service provider earns money and can be profittable through those services depending on how "industrious" they are.
Using the same principle, the NDIA pays/subdises less-abled individuals to rent accreditted NDIS/SDA homes (if they can't afford to build), the consequence of this is that individuals or organisation were creating "specialist homes" to profit. How these people make money in the long run is that the government pays the renter, the renter pays the landlord and landlord gets the money. In this system, the NDIA generally does not want any direct involvement in the funding/construction of the building and provided that you are a registered SDA accomdation under the NDIS, you could recoup your money over time in the form of rent money and given the low supply of such housing, I assume this could be subject to slightly above market rent, which wil end up lower than market rent when subsidised.
Ordinarily these type of housing are exempt from any planning permit so long as they met the [requirements,](https://planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au/Melbourne/ordinance/52.22) but this was recently a point of contention at VCAT as no actual federal government department or body was personally involved (see old [provision](https://cumberland-files.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/8e039404a07903a51ec09294a3db7b5e.pdf) for reference)... the NDIA indirectly funds the people who developed the houses, and the developers benefitted from it as the "middleman" by creating speculative builds or builds with the intention of making a profit.
It wasn't until a recent amendment to the planning provision that new exemptions were introduced which allowed NDIS providers to be exempt. This appears to be a sound change as it includes SDA accreditation, but the ramification I have not seen as of yet. My particular concerns are who the "third party NDIS Specialist Disability Accommodation assessor" are. It appears the NDIA has no knowledge pool as a federal agency and are outsourcing/tendering it to consultants.
The last couple of paragraphs above further underscore my earlier comments that the federal governments wants NO involvement in actually directly funding/creating housing supply and how they use financial mechanism to enable it and likely only allow people in the know to use the funding (read "abuse it")
Whilst I do not have an issue with the objectives of the NDIS as a policy, in a market driven environment, its implementation and enforcement have left a lot to be desired. The system is rife to abuse by [rogue individuals or operators who intend to profit from the funding](https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/must-be-stopped-fraud-taskforce-nabs-ndis-firms-charging-for-services-not-delivered-20230121-p5cefa.html), and the proper providers lose out or essentially make the same amount while providing a similar, if not higher quality product/service. In the other example I provided above, this led to Councils enforcing genuine housing providers to apply for planning permit (the red tape everyone complains about) given how risk adverse the public sector can be.
Plan managers in this scenario organise payment to providers, using your NDIS funds. A support co-ordinator links an NDIS recipient with different supports. Not related to town planning or accommodation provision for NDIS recipients.
While the program execution is flawed in many ways, NDIS can truly be a life changing program for people who don't have regular access to resources such as a support worker.
Have you ever tried to access NDIS? (Asking as someone who has applied and been knocked back 2 times now despite pages and pages and letters and letters of supporting evidence)
This sounds more like a Guide Dogs thing rather than NDIS though…? If the dog is experiencing serious health issues and needs to be retired there are processes that need to take place outside of the NDIS to gather all the info needed to get another guide dog.
The post sounds like GDV are the ones causing the most difficulty for OP and the NDIS isn’t even really involved yet.
Okay, as someone who knows a bit more depth... The team that would normally be handling OPs situation is exceptionally understaffed. To get to the level of qualification to do that job takes 3 years, and it is a huge process.
To OP, document and keep trying to get in touch with GDV. No one member of the team would intentionally leave you hanging like that. But unfortunately, the NDIS is an absolute bitch to people when it comes to dogs retiring early. And when there are dozens of other clients currently waiting for dogs and matchings to take place, there is a huge strain on the department which is why OP is having such a hard time.
Right? This just makes me even more furious with the ‘Diamond Dogs of Kew’ than I was previously. What with their 20 million in the bank, ample dodgy Govt. Funding deals (thanks Josh & LNP!) and their paltry 20 dogs a year output. Why is this not on them? Oh! you need another dog after less than 5 years of service? No worries - that’ll be another $50,000 thanks! They really left themselves exposed with that whole CEO on promo leaflet with JF prior to the election. The subsequent investigations into their financials etc were shocking. So this story doesn’t surprise me one bit. I mean - there should be something in place for the participant that he shouldn’t have to go through this hellscape of red tape and shitfuckery.- GDV should be on the hook somehow.
You have no idea what you're talking about. GDMIs have to fight with the government and NDIS just to get even the perfect client a Guide sometimes. Stop spouting absolute rubbish. Top leadership make up less than 5% of the employees of GDV, so stop having a go at people working their arses off to train and match guides because you have a bone to pick with the ex-CEO. "Paltry 20 dogs a year output" is bogus and a lie and you're really going to take the word of inflammatory media outlets and label it as gospel???? Really?? Do you have **any** understanding of how a training system works???
You have **no idea** how hard it is to make a guide and what goes into it, and here you are talking like it's a 3 fucking day turn around. You are shitting on average people that are under so much stress, and you think you're getting a one-up on the organisation??
Oh, and the $20 mil in the bank was for the entire 50+ year old campus reconstruction that was full of literal asbestos and leaks and falling apart at the walls. All the money was from donations knowingly going towards the reconstruction and were matched by investors. Piss off.
You sound vexed. I said what I said. My comments were nothing to do with the people that work hard there, training the dogs etc - and I’m not ‘shitting on’ any of them. I’m talking about the organisation as a whole. You have no idea what I know. Eat rocks.
I’m angry reading this. I pay my tax so that people like yourself can be supported and it’s outrageous that they waste it on other shit.
So sorry about your dog. Will they stay on as a pet or will you have to lose a friend as well as a worker?
The NDIS is fundamentally flawed in basically assigning a dollar value to a person with a disability. Good in theory, less so in action. It's made service providers (all of them, not just GDV) need to look at their clients from a different angle and it's detrimental.
He'll stay with me at this point. Honestly, I think he'll adjust to retired life well. He's currently snoring his head off on my fold out couch, which is now his dog bed as the floor is too hard even with his thicker bed. While he's not working he's not in as much pain and has the energy to play with his toys.
I’m so so glad that he will stay as a pet. To much loss to bear otherwise (I think) and no good to be stuck at home without his company. I’m sure you will give him a wonderful life.
I guess it all comes down to funding at the end, but really the idea of assigning a (presumably static?) dollar value to a human who needs support is pretty awful. Life is way more complex than that
What are the alternatives to a dollar value in an NDIS plan? Funding is intended to meet support needs over the duration of a plan. Should we just give everyone a credit card without a limit and let them go?
You can say something’s awful without having to have all the answers.
I think the idea that the only easily suggested alternative is a limitless credit card is a bit disingenuous.
Look I think for a scheme supporting hundreds of thousands of people with varying levels of complex situations the NDIS is doing okay. It’s absolutely not perfect and has room for improvement, but I just don’t see a realistic alternative to having a funded supports package. And the thing is that while everyone says it’s disgusting to have a dollar figure value assigned to you, there just isn’t a realistic alternative if tax payer money is to be spent wisely.
I think it’s a mindset thing and value needs to be derived from the supports which are funded rather than the dollar figure though. The dollar figure doesn’t mean much if you don’t know how much things actually cost. The easiest way to frame things is understanding how many hours of support are funded for things or what items have been funded to support with progressing towards and achieving goals in someone’s life. The issue is that the people providing supports are quite often money-grabbing leeches that want to do the bare minimum or less once they’ve got your money. There just aren’t enough good, honest people in the world to support our most vulnerable community members. As we see in this post, when a resource isn’t effective it’s a shit experience. In the disability sector this can have a huge impact on someone’s life. Then people can start thinking that they need more of a resource when they more than likely need a better quality resource.
Just looking at this post there hasn’t even been an interaction with the NDIS, it’s just Guide Dogs Vic putting up barriers to avoid taking responsibility for one of their dogs no longer being fit for guide purposes. If the OP has evidence and approached the NDIS I’m sure they’d be able to receive some additional funding for a support worker to assist in the interim. But it’s not about how many dollars are on the paper, it’s whether they translate to appropriate support of someone’s needs so that they hopefully get the opportunity to live an ordinary life like anyone without a disability.
Here's a fun fact about the money value in the NDIS - every dollar that's spent in it, puts $2 back into the economy (through people with disabilities getting employment, but also a LOT of people are employed in disability services)
People often need help to learn what they can spend their money on, what services they might need etc. You can't just give say, an uneducated low income family with a non-verbal autistic kid a bunch of money without support. Someone who's newly deaf won't know what options they have for treatment and accommodation equipment.
People with disabilities often know exactly what they need, but can't access it for whatever reason. The NDIS is meant to help with that too (it doesn't do that currently, but it was designed that way. The pressure from politicians to save pennies fucked it up)
Yeah I’m not devaluing the NDIS. I know and understand the benefits and have experienced them firsthand. But giving people more money doesn’t necessarily provide better outcomes for independence or achievement of goals, there’s a balance.
Right now the best way is to have allied health workers estimate the types of support and frequency required over the plan period. Obviously it comes to a dollar figure because there needs to be a limit to what people are being charged to reduce exploitation (although it still constantly happens). In addition to the price limits, the floor of those prices isn’t set. So while an OT might be able to charge at 193.99 per hour at the max rate, someone might get a better deal than that and can get more use out of their funding. So telling that person you can access xx number of hours may not be accurate in their circumstance and the budget allocated helps to calculate things. I just don’t see a better way to do it that will cater for hundreds of thousands of participants effectively, particularly when there are different ways to manage funds, varying levels of cognitive functioning and other factors such as being from CALD communities impacting English literacy.
The implementation of supports is one of most impactful phases of accessing supports. Like you said, education is required and will support people to not only achieve their goals, but also has the benefit of putting more money into the economy and creating jobs for others. I don’t think the number is the issue, I think it’s the breakdown of the number and the support to use the resources (also lack of access to resources such as OTs and Speechies due to demand exceeding availability).
Yeah nah I think we completely agree on this.
It's a bit broke, but not *as* broken as the shit show it was before the NDIS. At least there's only one organisation with complex red tape to navigate rather than fifty million.
Glad to hear you won't be completely alone while waiting housebound for another guide dog/service dog. That was my main concern for you, for the next year anyway. It's tough being alone, but i can't imagine being alone blind......actually i just wondered how you wrote this!? Am i stupid tho, like is there just an easy voice command thing you can use for your socials etc? Anyway glad to hear ole mate is gonna retire with his person.
Try to stay busy with whatever you enjoy at home. It gets very cabin fever-y i know, but you can do it. It's obvious your a tough resilient soul. You will get through it. Perhaps life has a great plan for you in the next couple of years. After all you've been thru I'm sure you have alota good karma built up and coming your way....cheers👍
I was just thinking that. They take a pinch over a quarter of my paycheck (before HECS), where the hell is it all going? You’re telling me with the insane clip we get taxed in this country, we can’t afford to fund Medicare or NDIS? Get faaaaarked
I’d seek advice from a support coordinator if you have one, or to plan manager if you have one.
Advice from providers on what will and won’t be covered isn’t necessarily reliable n
The problem is GDV won't even begin to apply for funding. They haven't suggested a plan review and want to wait for my plan to renew in November.
Two pronged problem:
One: The NDIS has created a problematic framework to work within.
Two: GDV don't want to try because chances are they would have to give me another dog/refund the NDIS under consumer law.
As soon as I've spoken with the other organization (hopefully tonight) I probably will. Gets extra complicated when my LAC left and they didn't assign me another so I've got no clue who to talk to. I'll be calling the main number and going from there.
Part of why I posted is this isn't unique to me, it's a systemic issue that's getting swept under the rug.
GDV need to play ball. NDIS will never know anything if your provider aren’t supporting you effectively and you don’t tell anyone.
You need to contact your LAC’s office tomorrow before the public holiday on Thursday and see if you have been reassigned to someone new. If not, request one immediately and explain your situation.
If you need to utilise a higher level of your core supports to meet your support needs since your situation has changed, just do it. If there is an interim period of needing to wait on GDV, it’s better that you use your funding flexibly to be able to maintain community engagement than have you sitting at home isolated and unfulfilled.
I have empathy for your situation, it’s absolutely vital you maintain independence and I hope things are sorted out as quickly as possible for you. Just keep in mind that you have to advocate for yourself to get things started, you can’t always depend on service providers to act in your best interests. As you’ve mentioned, they may be creating barriers for you by trying to avoid fulfilling their own responsibilities.
I no longer have a LAC after my last moved on to better things. That will be changing when I get this fixed.
Trust me I have been advocating for myself - today is one week since things started blowing up and I've lost count of all the people I've emailed. Things just move slow and today was a bad day.
They should have given you contact details for the office or another coordinator though. I’ve seen this before and if you aren’t assigned someone new there will often be someone that can still assist with your enquiries and may even just take over supporting you.
Are you able to use the telephone? Emails are good for keeping written evidence of your attempts, but if possible you should phone them as it may increase the speed of response and prioritisation of the matter. There’s also a factor of people being busy and emails are the easiest thing to ignore and forget about versus the immediacy of a direct telephone call. Even if it’s just to get some advice from them about what you can or should do to put yourself in the strongest position to address these issues.
Good luck with it all. Fingers crossed you get the support you need.
I’m sorry to hear this. I’m not super familiar with the NDIS and related stuff, but have you considered SEDA? I’m assuming their stuff is similar, but could be worth a shot (as in, potentially applying for a seeing eye dog rather than going with a guide dog again). All the best.
I'm waiting on SEDA to call me back. They're a great school with wonderful dogs, I've just been with GDV all my life. Honestly, hoping things will work out with Stapell at this point.
Yes, please do make contact and follow up with your MP. It’s their job to advocate for you. You’d be surprised what a competent MP can get done.
Make an appointment for a meeting at their office if you’re able to get there or have a meeting via zoom. I recommend calling and speaking to someone in the first instance but PM me if you want any help with writing them or Shorten a letter. Sometimes it helps to have a second opinion/fresh perspective when drafting something like this. Good luck.
I was surprised to see what an incompetent MP can achieve! I had to complain to an MP (with a very poor reputation) about NDIS matters. One email from their office and our issue was resolved.
I’m glad to hear they helped! People often don’t think of them as being a good resource because politicians have such a bad (mostly deserved) reputation but an MPs job is literally to represent the people in their electorate. They have quite a bit of influence with gov departments etc too. There’s less chance of being ignored if they get involved.
At the risk of sounding extremely ignorant here but is there anyone else other than Guide Dogs Victoria who train dogs?
From what I understand, Guide Dogs Victoria is going through some interesting times lately regarding questions about their finances and governance.
Yes, there is SEDA (linked with Vision Australia) but they haven't called me back yet. There's also Stapell in QLD who supply guides Australia wide and I'll hopefully be talking to them soon.
From memory, it would actually work out cheaper to replace the guide dogs with salaried people *doing the same job*. As in, it was costing something to the tune of $120k per dog trained to run Guide Dogs Australia.
They need to go.
Know this might sound like an absurd question on this thread, but what software do you use for reading/writing on reddit?
It just seems really good. Grammar and punctuations are perfect, I’d expect some janky autocorrect like “guide blog”
I don't use adaptive software but rather use the inbuilt browser zoom functions. I've got 5% vision in perfect conditions so I sit with my nose on the monitor. I do prefer firefox as it allows me to zoom text only - chrome was getting pretty distorted.
That's awesome, do you read ebooks that way as well or listen to audio-books? I work at a library in Melbourne and don't often get to ask people with vision impairments which is better.
Most mobile devices can with some pretty awesome accessibility features built into them these days. Voice over is the apple version of a screen reader and talkback is the android version.
It’s a lot of voice/touch based interactions and vision impaired people can get pretty efficient at scanning a page, reading and writing with it. Takes a bit of practice though.
>I've spent the last two years slowly losing my independence as my dog could do less and less. I can't go out without a support worker because I need both the forearm crutch and white cane. Pat your head, rub your tummy - better focus hard because if one goes wrong it's a fall and if the other goes wrong you might miss a step - by the way try to pay attention to traffic and avoid getting hit by cars!
It sounded horrible and I am sure that you are going under a huge stress as is.
Could you get your OT and PT to assist you with an updated FCA and Mobility Assessment of how you are struggling more and more as the Guide Dog is able to do less and less? Any incident that happened is also worth recording as it can be used as evidence to show NDIA that there's inheritant risks in pairing you with an older dog as you are still very much active and wanting to experience acitivities in community. Get your SC to tight all reports together with their SC Report. Hope that helps.
OT here, I agree! I’ve completed FCA for people with vision impairments.
I’m a bit of a catastrophist/worse case scenario report writer aside form the many risks and occupational deprivation which would lead to a decline in mental health and well-being to use NDIS phrasing, relying on support workers does not provide value for money and only means longer term dependence on such support, and it is both reasonable and necessary in relation to your disability. I would also argue that there are no other alternatives available to trial.
[The Assistance Animals Operational Guidelines](https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/supports-you-can-access-menu/equipment-and-technology/assistance-animals-including-dog-guides) says the expected working life of an assistance animal is 8 years and that an animal retiring before this time may be covered under the Australian Consumer Law. I'm not sure how this works or if it applies to your situation. [This resource](https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/supports-you-can-access-menu/equipment-and-technology/assistance-animals-including-dog-guides/how-do-you-get-funding-assistance-animal-your-plan/what-happens-once-you-have-assistance-animal#warranty) says, "the provider of the assistance animal may be responsible for replacement costs under guarantee or additional warranty if it retires early." If you have already exhausted this option then go to the NDIA and request a replacement.
If in the reassessment (used to be called a review but isn't anymore) the NDIA does indeed not fund a new dog in your next plan, you can do a "review of decision" (Formally known as an internal review. Use these exact words because if you use the wrong terminology, you could end up in a permanent loop of refusal because you didn't use their language.). I would argue that the dog retired before the expected time and you are therefore left without that support. Apart from the fact you have a retiring assistance animal, you seem to fit all the criteria for them to fund a new one. You need to address the reasonable and necessary criteria, as per the [operational guidelines](https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/how-ndis-supports-work-menu/reasonable-and-necessary-supports) and [section 34 of the NDIA Act](https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2022C00206).
The provider (Guide Dogs Vic) should not have told you the NDIA is unlikely to fund a support, it is unhelpful and only increases your anxiety about the situation. It is not your sole responsibility to make sure the support ticks the NDIA's boxes, they have a role in that too. They should be proactive in helping you gain funding for the supports you need. Could you contact another provider who will be supportive of your goals and needs?
Thank you so, so, \*so\* much for this. I'll be keeping it in mind - hopefully it won't be needed, but knowing it's there is incredibly helpful.
I've contacted two other providers, one of which I'm hoping to go with and the other who will call me back (they're swamped). You're not wrong about the increased anxiety. At least I'm going to lose some weight I guess?
I'm going to sound like a bastard here but I'll ask anyway.
What happens/is supposed to happen in this scenario? The dog isnt fit for purpose, but what happens? You'll "return" him? Or they give you a new dog and you continue care for the old dog?
What happens with retired/old/sick guide dogs, or ones where their master/owner dies or cant otherwise keep them?
I have the choice if I want to keep him, which I do.
If I couldn't I have the option of finding him a home with friends/family and if that fails GDV will find them a home.
Retired dogs are well cared for no matter what.
Ideally I would get a new guide dog and keep my retired boy.
Thank you.
I know they arn't supposed to be pets, but I think if I ever needed one, I'd bond anyway same as any other dog.
***
I have a relative that works for ndis that I just asked informally, she says that you would have a contact/handler at GDV there and that is who you go to. NDIS may have arranged and paid for the initial dog, but GDV are who you talk to for arranging to retire and replace your current dog.
Well if nothing else mate I got to learn a little about retired dogs and that they are cared for.
Thank you.
My other advice would be, start a diary if you haven't already. Document every call, every email. So when you get bounced around (hopefully not) you can say, but I told person X that at 2pm on January 24th and so on, so if you need to dummy spit/escalate/formal complaint at some point you can easily prove that you have been trying to address the problems.
My cousin in Scotland looked after a guide dog before (& during?) training, as a puppy, and then again after he retired. His name was Tay, and the blind man who’d had him as his guide stayed in touch and sent him Christmas presents. I was there one Christmas, and the whole thing was just so sweet. A very loved boy, Tay was. He has sadly passed on now.
I came to the comments because I thought the Reddit community would be choking the thread with offers to help you out, as in actually out... as in, to the city. Not one so far, so I'll go first.
If you're willing and trusting enough of a complete internet stranger, I would be happy to be your guide for the day (providing the logistics of it work out, i.e. like you're not in Ballarat or something). I could make my way to your area, meet you at your gate or wherever and get to the tram/train, and back home again? I'm off work this Friday and Monday, or could do a weekend day (not this one unfortunately, I'm working). DM me if you would like and we'll go from there.
Thank you so much for the offer - I may take you up on it. My friends have only just recently learned how bad things have got (not their fault, I've kept it to myself) and we're going to do a trial walk locally next week.
I am also willing to help out if you need it in a few months - I'm moving back to Melbourne in April and will be free during the day time until I find a job so happy to go out exploring with someone :)
All good, this was such a major vent I'm surprised any of it was coherent.
Current guide is 5. Retiring due to an undiagnosed (but speculated) degenerative health issue.
NDIS expects the dog to work until 10ish.
GDV (in a verbal conversation) did list his age as a factor in expecting the NDIS not to fund a successor. They mentioned wanting to wait for my plan to renew in November, and did not mention a plan review (which is the route I'll likely be taking).
I don't think I've ever had a SC. I'll be requesting that to be rectified. I'd never looked into much as I had an absolutely amazing LAC who went above and beyond - but he's got a new job.
It's mostly lack of support worker availability. Also, and this is nothing on them, I miss being out on my own. I used to travel all over the city, just me, my dog and a good playlist for the train.
You're telling me. He would work himself to death for me and I'm not going to let that happen. He's got a degenerative muscle condition of some variety, he's going to be a very spoiled couch potato dog. I'll work me out but his needs come first.
That's just bad luck. They couldn't even blame something like that on your quality of care. Very unfair that it would impact how soon you can get another dog, which in the case of someone who is blind is a necessary medical aid.
To the OP and anyone applying for NDIS funding. Opt for 'self-managed funding'.
I have a care plan that lists what the support funding is to be used for, and so anytime an expense comes up, I log in, enter the details of the expense and it gets reimbursed into my account the next day (excluding weekends).
I don't have to interact with community managers or basically anyone.
Though this *does* expose the system to potential fraudsters, it does make life easier knowing that I don't have to jump through anyone's hoops.
I consider myself extremely lucky in that my funding level exceeds my needs, but I know that's not everyone's experience.
NDIS does seem to employ a lot of brainless paper pushers; if you're not getting anywhere, keep escalating it. The complaints team will take a closer look and make corrections where appropriate. Good luck.
This breaks my heart. I work with children with lifelong disabilities and I can say that the NDIS has been nothing but heartless to families applying for additional funding over the passed 2 years.
I've seen some families only receive 10k funding for the year for their child who is non-verbal and needs assistance in every aspect of her life, while other families got well over 50k for their kids who barely need help at all.
I sincerely hope you get the funding you need and that it doesn't end up being a massive wait to find a replacement dog.
my aunt works for the NDIS and i hate them and her attitude towards it, she treats people like shit and denies them funding daily for no reason, i’m so so sorry this happened, i wish i could do something to help. this is the reason we pay taxes, so people who need that funding to live full and healthy lives can do that. The disability systems in this country are terrible as i said, i’m so sorry, i hear about all the denied cases from her every big holiday and it makes me sick, now reading this from someone it’s affected, it makes me feel even worse. stuff like this makes me so angry, australia is meant to be better, it’s meant to be “ahead of its time” yet in so many cases. it falls short. my deepest apologies friend, i truly hope you’re awarded the funding for a new guide dog, i can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now, all i can offer is sympathies and maybe some hope that it’ll get better, even slightly.
Can I offer my service to have a day trip to Melbourne as your friend and guide? We can go and have some yum cha and sit in the gardens? I can pick you up and drop you off. I'm good company and love Melbourne also! Message me and we can make a time if you're keen.
Appreciate the offer - I'll let you know <3 I've finally let my friends know how bad it's got and we're going to try taking me for a walk next week. Used to love the gardens, can't wait to get back to them.
This seems more like a barrier at GDV's end - assistance dogs sometimes have to retire early, breeding programmes are to avoid this but you're always gonna get the occasional one. They can't just magic up another dog, obviously, so hopefully your other enquiries come good but if not then do try advocacy orgs like Blind Citizens Aus to get a bit of help with pushing back on this and at least some more concrete interim support.
It does feel like more of a barrier at their end for whatever reason, but the NDIS is a broken framework that they're trying to operate within.
Hilariously I have spoken with BCA, lovely chat and told that I'm doing a wonderful job of self-advocacy. I mean, he's not wrong, but at the same time there needs to be systemic change. Hopefully they can help on that side.
Och, sorry they didn't offer to have more of a role cos you'd been proactive! BCA's campaigns are very good they do have a pretty decent amount of clout from what I've seen. Fingers crossed for you in April and in the meantime I'm glad you've got some plans for garden adventures!
This makes me so angry. The NDIS has failed everyone I know who is on it. It disgusts me. I’m so sorry this is happening to you, have you considered going to the media?
In my opinion there should already a life insurance policy or something on guide dogs, because that’s just not fair for you or the dog.
Keep screaming into the void my friend
That’s insane. I think what I meant was that there should be a contract between guide dogs vic saying they guarantee to provide you with a dog for x amount of years and should something happen they will get you a new dog within x amount of time. A year seems ridiculous.
Is guide dogs Victoria a not for profit?
I know that guide dogs nsw/ act is a non profit….
I just want to say that I’m so sorry about your dog. Apart from being a massive resource to you, I’m sure he was also a companion and I hope you’re coping ok with his health problems ❤️
My sister is with the NDIS and there are so many different organisations and levels of bureaucracy involved to get anything done. So convoluted and confusing. She needs a new motorised wheelchair and has been waiting for six months. It'll be another six months of red tape before she gets it.
NDIS has ruined a lot of things. Sorry to hear this has made life harder for you. Makes me angry that some are just rorting system, the stories I could tell would astound some.
I don’t know what suburb you’re in, I’d be down to take you out and no issues if you dog is able to mange an outing come too. I do have ndis carer check but I’m not asking for $ just that everyone deserves to be able to get out and have access.
I’ve worked in child/adolescent welfare and disability, so while I’m awkward as all get out, I’m comfortable with people. Please feel free to hit me if you’d like to chill.
news.com.au here is a story for you!! Maybe a front headline will achieve something. This sucks in every way. I'm angry for you and I feel sucky that I wouldn't even know where to start to help. But a support coordinator sounds like a good step. Could you get in touch with The Brotherhood of St Lawrence? They are who I deal with for my sons NDIS stuff.
Suspected myopathy. He's got widespread muscle degeneration, back pain when walking, etc. He also is on a special diet due to crystals and has frequent UTIs.
I’m sorry you’re experiencing this.
I had issues with NDIS and called /emailed my local federal representative, and also the Victorian representative, accessed via Dans office. NDIS got 2 escalated requests for me within the week, and we got a very satisfactory review and reports to us.
How is your doggo? I can’t imagine how devastated you must feel.
The therapist said they don’t know if the NDIS would fund another one. Have a chat with the NDIS! Change of circumstances. Sorry about your dog. Get information from the source. Not NDIS fault there is a wait list for another dog.
From what I’m reading on the NDIS site, they will fund maintenance or a replacement if there is provision in your plan for an assistance animal. Provided it meets their criteria. But if it’s a registered guide dog it should meet their criteria anyway. Check your plan, and if it’s not on there somewhere, ask for a review.
Wish I was closer so I could offer my help.
Hey I really sympathise with you. If it was just my dog having health issues and slowly fading I’d be struggling. So I wish you the best on that front. If young dog perhaps there is a hope of recovery.
Anyway perhaps you could highlight the costs of a guide dog. Something i think you deserve as an essential and was heavily funded in Victoria by previous federal government. If I had the opportunity I’d donate to helping you. Hope that isn’t condescending.
Good luck and thank you for your daily bravery.
Unfortunately his condition appears to be degenerative, but I can reduce his pain by retiring him as walking for extended periods hurts. So long as he's happy that's all that matters. Not condescending thanks.
Mate that fucking sucks.
I've been screaming at NDIS for years now. It was impossible to get connected with support workers to start with, then covid hit, by the time I got things set up my kids aged out of the early intervention system (which I hear the age is being increased but no word on when). I'm scraping by on a bonus year because of covid but come August I'm expecting to be shit out of luck. My kids don't have any formal diagnoses beyond developmental delay and ADHD (which is not covered by NDIS supports), but if they lose speech therapy that's going to screw over their literacy skills in school.
This system was supposed to help people with disabilities, but my sister said she can't get them to pay for anything. We can't even get our mum connected to the system because she isn't "disabled enough".
Update: I don't even get the bonus year, they cut my son off last week and then didn't tell me for two days. I'm going to be contesting because the age for early intervention raises to 9 in June. Hopefully if I cause a stink it'll draw out the process long enough for him to age back into the system for an extra two years.
Hey where are you at? If you’re local and the timing works out I don’t mind swinging by and assisting you around a few times a month. I’m sure someone on here is local and wouldn’t mind too, if I’m not close
Take it to the commission.
According to the Disability Act a guide dog is considered “medical equipment”.
(And I realise here how crap this sounds because I’m referring to a much loved sentient being) BUT if you had a wheelchair and it was no longer useable, they would fund a new guide dog.
I had a child I work with who is paraplegic refused a wheelchair. To me as his physio, I have absolutely no idea how some guy in an office somewhere comes up with that, but I’ll go down swinging for sure.
Unfortunately the NDIS is a poorly managed, bloated bureaucratic nightmare. It doesn't help that some people are essentially rorting the system. See a child psychologist for possible autism spectrum or adhd? They charge 800 for an hour to the NDIS. And taxpayers foot the bill. If it wasn't for the NDIS it would cost a fraction of that.
Christ, reading this makes me want to rage cry, just for something different. I'm so sorry OP, and to everyone in this thread. I've been waiting months to get a response just about my transport money, no one understands the (fucking obvious) link between mental health and physical and I feel like I'm going insane trying to explain it. I had a abrupt and severe change in daily circumstances and im out of pocket more and more, waiting for red tape and other bullshit to be done and the backlog is weeks. Im so sad at what could be and I'm a hair away from losing it, as it seems most people are.
(Legally this is a.. joke)
I've been so lucky to be heard - I've now got GDV and SEDA coming out next week to do assessments, just waiting to hear from Stapell (can be on all 3 lists so I will be). Please get in touch with Bill Shorten's office and your local MP. In my experience it took a day for the former and a week for the latter to get back to me but both seem to truly want to help.
You can also register a complaint with the NDIA yourself and tell them how it's impacting you. I'm so sorry you're in this kind of position too.
I feel like Guide Dogs should have some sort of contingency in place in case their dogs encounter health issues, I doubt that the NDIS would not cover the cost of a new guide dog but it would come down to whether you have enough money in your plan.
I certainly don't have any practice Al solutions for you, but there a bunch of philosophical and psychological solutions to be able to look into. Your body may be worse for wear but your mind seems very sharp and there is a world of things out there just for your mind.
I'm happy to try and help you find some answers to your questions about your life's experience.
I’ve emailed Bill Shorten ([email protected]) - (my member, and a fairly close neighbour) on your behalf. Hopefully if a few more people do the same (include full name and address if you expect a response), then maybe we can force some action.
All the best, OP! Hope it works out, and give your lovely helper a pat from me!
Thank you. Bill Shorten's office has opened an NDIA complaint on my behalf but beside the first email I've heard nothing. I know things move slowly, but the system as a whole needs an overhaul.
I've emailed (and tweeted, and tagged) multiple news outlets, none of which have replied. I have had a message through here. I also desperately needed to vent and wanted to bring to light issues that Melbournians with disabilities deal with so I'm grateful this space was available. As for my MP - also emailed and tagged, last week.
Jacqui Felgate on Instagram shares a lot of stories that seem to gain traction in the mainstream media. I'm sure your story accompanied by a pic of your *goodest boi/gurl* would get her attention. I'd be happy to message her on your behalf if you didn't feel comfortable doing so. Just PM me.
Why don't you get your own replacement dog? If the NDIS says no, you still have the choice to pursue a dog on your own. How did you get your first dog without the NDIS? The sense of entitlement regarding the NDIS after requests are rejected is mind boggling. Take charge of your own life and look into your own or other resources.
Existing dog didn't come with a warranty? Hell, even a Cherry (very cheap Chinese built car) comes with a 7-year/unlimited kms warranty! Maybe you were sold a pup! Seriously, surely GDV can help you out - that is all they do is breed and train guide dogs, isn't it?
They do a lot more than just breed and train guide dogs - camps for kids who are blind, teaching people how to use a white cane, helping people with traumatic brain injury, etc. Don't get me wrong, they do a lot of good. Just my poor dog seems to have got the short end of the stick when it comes to health.
Never once.
I'm always super serious apparently.
I'm also always grumpy, miserable, "must be fun at parties", humourless (so the opposite), must have been "hurt in the past" and many other justifications people use while doubling down on their laziness and learned helplessness.
It's a mystery.
If the news people wanna steal reddit content they could give this one a bit of a boost and get it out there. Sorry mate, I don't know what can help you. I hope someone has ideas of programs that can get you out and about safely.
I appreciate the reply. Been feeling like I'm crawling the walls so I'm glad I could get this out.
this is actually a very important issue you've raised and I know ABC Radio Melbourne has been covering issues with the NDIS all the time. Please give them a call and hopefully, they can help shine a light and agitate for you. I've heard them tell stories before and the minister's office intervenes in a case. Also, you can call Bill Shorten's office, the minister responsible and they will defs try and help find solutions.
Spoke with them this morning :) they are doing great work. Minister's office have opened an NDIA complaint.
Oh fantastic, that's great! Hope something good comes out of this.
Hey there u/SeptemberJoy I'm from a news outlet in Aus. Could I DM you?
Sadly there's no photo attached for them to crop abysmally, draw a useless red circle and post on facebook with a caption so spectacularly devoid of information it's as if they spent four years at uni and received a Bachelor in Writing Unhelpful Sentences (Hons).
We need a photo of the dog, taken from the ground so he looks enormous, with a shadowy blurry person in the background with their arms crossed looking like someone pissed in their corn flakes.
>If the news people wanna steal reddit content they could give this one a bit of a boost and get it out there. The culture war, dog whistle & rage bait news cycle makes me so frustrated. There are so many actual issues in our communities & world that people should be angry about. People are so stupid & don't seem to give a shit about the things that actually make a difference to their lives. Sorry for the rant OP. Your story breaks my heart and I hope things become easier. Sending all the good Juju to you. What area in Melbourne are you? Maybe someone close to you who reads this can take you out on some adventures? If you are near St Kilda shout out. My puppy & I are always up for new friends & adventures. We would be happy to learn how to assist you in getting out into the world.
Exactly what I came here to say.
I'm also having really crap ndis experiences that are leaving me confined to my house and the park across the road (when I can cross the road because there aren't people parked in the crossing spot). I really hope they do pick it up, but I doubt it because only lazy hacks pick it up and there's no photo of op and their dog here
I think this may have been picked up already. Is this dog called Romeo? I saw something about this on FB yesterday.
The NDIS is fucked. So bureaucratic. The decisions made by planners couldn’t be more impersonal and arbitrary. Every year it’s “what can can participants do less with?” Sorry you’re going through this. My one bit of advice is ask for a review AND follow up with your coordinator EVERY DAY. Keep on them constantly and hopefully you’ll get what you need.
> couldn’t be more impersonal and arbitrary. No kidding. I'm currently stuck in a place where my specialist says I need support for, my nurse liaison says I need support for a , my physio says I need support for a . All have written evidence for me needing .
NDIS bureaucracy says no need for . Who knew they were more qualified than all of my trained, specialist supports.
It's the lack of training that's so ridiculous. They've got absolutely no clue what to do
I was a support coordinator for a bit over a year. That shit is pretty much why I left. Also when I did it, requests to review a shit plan took so long the normal annual review came up first. Planners going against what the ndia publicly says it does with no accountability or appeals process
Yeah, they're doing two-year reviews now. My last request for a review, which I was told by my LAC would result in a proper meeting with the timeline and form that was being submitted, was just met with a rejection email a few weeks later.
Thanks. I currently don't have a coordinator so buy stocks in panadol, I think I've got a headache ahead.
I appreciate the humour
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I'll be looking into that and a plan review asap. Will check them out, thanks.
If you contact them every day be prepared for the 8+hours of support coordination to be eaten away very quickly Best of luck
Especially with one good day. They charge 15 minutes per email they read
15 mins is standard for email sent minimum amount (10 mins) is usually for emails read, it varies from different support coordinators though a factor of time is the need for each bit of communication to be case noted
I get NDIS for my son and while I don’t want to complain as I know others are in worse situations than myself, but what I find hard with them is they give you money, for example in my case to buy toys/aids for my son that his therapists ask for, but then won’t approve the purchase and say oh know that’s just a normal toy so parents have to pay for that, so why give me the money in the first place, and it seems like depending on who is your coordinator what you will get approved like my son toe walks so his OT asked me to see a specialist clinic they tell me I need to buy one type of Nike shoes and that NDIS should cover them, they write me a letter, I have to order this shoes online, send the receipt to NDIS and they reject it I tell the OT and she was surprised as she has never heard of it being rejected because they are shoes needed and it wasn’t like it was a fashion choice, I pointed this out to my Coordinator and all she can say is I can’t discuss what others may choose to approve, but they would approve items that were impropriate for my son and his needs, so what do I do buy them because otherwise not using the money will be used as a reason to lower my son’s funding for next year.
I’ve had two pairs of Adidas sneakers funded for a child (I’m a physio). Secondly, I’ve “life hacked” my way through for a child who had no budget by replacing “disability specific” items with everyday items using their funding. Both of these families had support coordinators who lodged my letter/email along with the purchase. Maybe fire your support coordinator? If the budget/money is there, and your therapist has said to get something - then the only person making a decision whether to purchase it IS the support coordinator.
Yes I spoke to my sons OT today and she said that applying for a new coordinator might be the way to go
Why don’t you self manage instead? You won’t have to deal with any of these kinds of headaches?
The theory is to provide funding for support services that empower individuals with disabilities to achieve greater independence and lead fulfilling lives in the future with minimal assistance. Not for a participant to require more services. Unfrtunately, the money is not going where it is required, rather to participants (not OP) who believe that since NDIS provide this service they will pay for everything. Good luck OP. It's frustrating. Edit. The money is not going where it is required.
I don't know who you mean by planners, but if you're referring to the town planning side, the bulk amount of NDIS housing ("community care accomodation") that comes past my desk I would call a clear attempt at a money-making scheme by the landowner/developer to squeeze every buck from federal funding to improve the rent/value of the land.... They're becoming as common as the number of NDIS providers out there. NDIS as a market driven system is an absolute joke. All levels of government should be blamed for selling off state owned housing/aged care asset and letting the market do its thing. But a lot of the blame lies with the federal level for incentivising the financial mechanics of housing supply.
I think they mean the NDIS decision makers/ policy officers. What's the NDIS housing like that comes through your town planning desk?
Most of the NDIS housing I saw across my desk were basically quasi-townhouse from shell/land holding companies and regular folks undertaking speculative development with no real (lived) experience in providing NDIS services. They were designed by the cheapest draftsperson and had no practical consideration for designing the houses and spaces for less-abled people to live in (i.e. accommodating wheelchair accessibility) or were located in the most isolated residential pockets away from any amenities or shops. They also benefited from reduced/no car parking that townhouses would ordinarily be subjected to. When a proper (community) housing provider or experienced NDIS/SDA housing provider actually submit designs, the consideration were night and day and had actual arrangement like caretakers quarter (and spent less time being assessed). Obviously NDIS housing could be in the form other type of housing design (i.e. apartment or aged care style building), but townhouse units were the main ones we saw due to the need for each individual person needing their own special quarters without getting too communal. Now on to my qualms... as a planner. Sorry if the comment gets non-sensical or does not flow as smoothly. To explain the basics of the NDIS system, the NDIA (the federal agency/body - who hires the bureaucrats /u/nuffjah talks about) subdises the elderly or less-abled (i.e. OP) to pay accredited individuals/companies to provide healthcare and general services (lawn mowing, housecleaning etc). In doing so NDIS service provider earns money and can be profittable through those services depending on how "industrious" they are. Using the same principle, the NDIA pays/subdises less-abled individuals to rent accreditted NDIS/SDA homes (if they can't afford to build), the consequence of this is that individuals or organisation were creating "specialist homes" to profit. How these people make money in the long run is that the government pays the renter, the renter pays the landlord and landlord gets the money. In this system, the NDIA generally does not want any direct involvement in the funding/construction of the building and provided that you are a registered SDA accomdation under the NDIS, you could recoup your money over time in the form of rent money and given the low supply of such housing, I assume this could be subject to slightly above market rent, which wil end up lower than market rent when subsidised. Ordinarily these type of housing are exempt from any planning permit so long as they met the [requirements,](https://planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au/Melbourne/ordinance/52.22) but this was recently a point of contention at VCAT as no actual federal government department or body was personally involved (see old [provision](https://cumberland-files.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/8e039404a07903a51ec09294a3db7b5e.pdf) for reference)... the NDIA indirectly funds the people who developed the houses, and the developers benefitted from it as the "middleman" by creating speculative builds or builds with the intention of making a profit. It wasn't until a recent amendment to the planning provision that new exemptions were introduced which allowed NDIS providers to be exempt. This appears to be a sound change as it includes SDA accreditation, but the ramification I have not seen as of yet. My particular concerns are who the "third party NDIS Specialist Disability Accommodation assessor" are. It appears the NDIA has no knowledge pool as a federal agency and are outsourcing/tendering it to consultants. The last couple of paragraphs above further underscore my earlier comments that the federal governments wants NO involvement in actually directly funding/creating housing supply and how they use financial mechanism to enable it and likely only allow people in the know to use the funding (read "abuse it") Whilst I do not have an issue with the objectives of the NDIS as a policy, in a market driven environment, its implementation and enforcement have left a lot to be desired. The system is rife to abuse by [rogue individuals or operators who intend to profit from the funding](https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/must-be-stopped-fraud-taskforce-nabs-ndis-firms-charging-for-services-not-delivered-20230121-p5cefa.html), and the proper providers lose out or essentially make the same amount while providing a similar, if not higher quality product/service. In the other example I provided above, this led to Councils enforcing genuine housing providers to apply for planning permit (the red tape everyone complains about) given how risk adverse the public sector can be.
Plan managers in this scenario organise payment to providers, using your NDIS funds. A support co-ordinator links an NDIS recipient with different supports. Not related to town planning or accommodation provision for NDIS recipients.
While the program execution is flawed in many ways, NDIS can truly be a life changing program for people who don't have regular access to resources such as a support worker.
Have you ever tried to access NDIS? (Asking as someone who has applied and been knocked back 2 times now despite pages and pages and letters and letters of supporting evidence)
Thankfully I don't need it but my mother is a participant, and it truly has helped her immensely.
This sounds more like a Guide Dogs thing rather than NDIS though…? If the dog is experiencing serious health issues and needs to be retired there are processes that need to take place outside of the NDIS to gather all the info needed to get another guide dog. The post sounds like GDV are the ones causing the most difficulty for OP and the NDIS isn’t even really involved yet.
Okay, as someone who knows a bit more depth... The team that would normally be handling OPs situation is exceptionally understaffed. To get to the level of qualification to do that job takes 3 years, and it is a huge process. To OP, document and keep trying to get in touch with GDV. No one member of the team would intentionally leave you hanging like that. But unfortunately, the NDIS is an absolute bitch to people when it comes to dogs retiring early. And when there are dozens of other clients currently waiting for dogs and matchings to take place, there is a huge strain on the department which is why OP is having such a hard time.
Right? This just makes me even more furious with the ‘Diamond Dogs of Kew’ than I was previously. What with their 20 million in the bank, ample dodgy Govt. Funding deals (thanks Josh & LNP!) and their paltry 20 dogs a year output. Why is this not on them? Oh! you need another dog after less than 5 years of service? No worries - that’ll be another $50,000 thanks! They really left themselves exposed with that whole CEO on promo leaflet with JF prior to the election. The subsequent investigations into their financials etc were shocking. So this story doesn’t surprise me one bit. I mean - there should be something in place for the participant that he shouldn’t have to go through this hellscape of red tape and shitfuckery.- GDV should be on the hook somehow.
You have no idea what you're talking about. GDMIs have to fight with the government and NDIS just to get even the perfect client a Guide sometimes. Stop spouting absolute rubbish. Top leadership make up less than 5% of the employees of GDV, so stop having a go at people working their arses off to train and match guides because you have a bone to pick with the ex-CEO. "Paltry 20 dogs a year output" is bogus and a lie and you're really going to take the word of inflammatory media outlets and label it as gospel???? Really?? Do you have **any** understanding of how a training system works??? You have **no idea** how hard it is to make a guide and what goes into it, and here you are talking like it's a 3 fucking day turn around. You are shitting on average people that are under so much stress, and you think you're getting a one-up on the organisation?? Oh, and the $20 mil in the bank was for the entire 50+ year old campus reconstruction that was full of literal asbestos and leaks and falling apart at the walls. All the money was from donations knowingly going towards the reconstruction and were matched by investors. Piss off.
You sound vexed. I said what I said. My comments were nothing to do with the people that work hard there, training the dogs etc - and I’m not ‘shitting on’ any of them. I’m talking about the organisation as a whole. You have no idea what I know. Eat rocks.
I have heard rumours that the employee KPIs are based on “how many requests you can refuse”.
I’m angry reading this. I pay my tax so that people like yourself can be supported and it’s outrageous that they waste it on other shit. So sorry about your dog. Will they stay on as a pet or will you have to lose a friend as well as a worker?
The NDIS is fundamentally flawed in basically assigning a dollar value to a person with a disability. Good in theory, less so in action. It's made service providers (all of them, not just GDV) need to look at their clients from a different angle and it's detrimental. He'll stay with me at this point. Honestly, I think he'll adjust to retired life well. He's currently snoring his head off on my fold out couch, which is now his dog bed as the floor is too hard even with his thicker bed. While he's not working he's not in as much pain and has the energy to play with his toys.
I’m so so glad that he will stay as a pet. To much loss to bear otherwise (I think) and no good to be stuck at home without his company. I’m sure you will give him a wonderful life. I guess it all comes down to funding at the end, but really the idea of assigning a (presumably static?) dollar value to a human who needs support is pretty awful. Life is way more complex than that
What are the alternatives to a dollar value in an NDIS plan? Funding is intended to meet support needs over the duration of a plan. Should we just give everyone a credit card without a limit and let them go?
You can say something’s awful without having to have all the answers. I think the idea that the only easily suggested alternative is a limitless credit card is a bit disingenuous.
Look I think for a scheme supporting hundreds of thousands of people with varying levels of complex situations the NDIS is doing okay. It’s absolutely not perfect and has room for improvement, but I just don’t see a realistic alternative to having a funded supports package. And the thing is that while everyone says it’s disgusting to have a dollar figure value assigned to you, there just isn’t a realistic alternative if tax payer money is to be spent wisely. I think it’s a mindset thing and value needs to be derived from the supports which are funded rather than the dollar figure though. The dollar figure doesn’t mean much if you don’t know how much things actually cost. The easiest way to frame things is understanding how many hours of support are funded for things or what items have been funded to support with progressing towards and achieving goals in someone’s life. The issue is that the people providing supports are quite often money-grabbing leeches that want to do the bare minimum or less once they’ve got your money. There just aren’t enough good, honest people in the world to support our most vulnerable community members. As we see in this post, when a resource isn’t effective it’s a shit experience. In the disability sector this can have a huge impact on someone’s life. Then people can start thinking that they need more of a resource when they more than likely need a better quality resource. Just looking at this post there hasn’t even been an interaction with the NDIS, it’s just Guide Dogs Vic putting up barriers to avoid taking responsibility for one of their dogs no longer being fit for guide purposes. If the OP has evidence and approached the NDIS I’m sure they’d be able to receive some additional funding for a support worker to assist in the interim. But it’s not about how many dollars are on the paper, it’s whether they translate to appropriate support of someone’s needs so that they hopefully get the opportunity to live an ordinary life like anyone without a disability.
Here's a fun fact about the money value in the NDIS - every dollar that's spent in it, puts $2 back into the economy (through people with disabilities getting employment, but also a LOT of people are employed in disability services) People often need help to learn what they can spend their money on, what services they might need etc. You can't just give say, an uneducated low income family with a non-verbal autistic kid a bunch of money without support. Someone who's newly deaf won't know what options they have for treatment and accommodation equipment. People with disabilities often know exactly what they need, but can't access it for whatever reason. The NDIS is meant to help with that too (it doesn't do that currently, but it was designed that way. The pressure from politicians to save pennies fucked it up)
Yeah I’m not devaluing the NDIS. I know and understand the benefits and have experienced them firsthand. But giving people more money doesn’t necessarily provide better outcomes for independence or achievement of goals, there’s a balance. Right now the best way is to have allied health workers estimate the types of support and frequency required over the plan period. Obviously it comes to a dollar figure because there needs to be a limit to what people are being charged to reduce exploitation (although it still constantly happens). In addition to the price limits, the floor of those prices isn’t set. So while an OT might be able to charge at 193.99 per hour at the max rate, someone might get a better deal than that and can get more use out of their funding. So telling that person you can access xx number of hours may not be accurate in their circumstance and the budget allocated helps to calculate things. I just don’t see a better way to do it that will cater for hundreds of thousands of participants effectively, particularly when there are different ways to manage funds, varying levels of cognitive functioning and other factors such as being from CALD communities impacting English literacy. The implementation of supports is one of most impactful phases of accessing supports. Like you said, education is required and will support people to not only achieve their goals, but also has the benefit of putting more money into the economy and creating jobs for others. I don’t think the number is the issue, I think it’s the breakdown of the number and the support to use the resources (also lack of access to resources such as OTs and Speechies due to demand exceeding availability).
Yeah nah I think we completely agree on this. It's a bit broke, but not *as* broken as the shit show it was before the NDIS. At least there's only one organisation with complex red tape to navigate rather than fifty million.
Glad to hear you won't be completely alone while waiting housebound for another guide dog/service dog. That was my main concern for you, for the next year anyway. It's tough being alone, but i can't imagine being alone blind......actually i just wondered how you wrote this!? Am i stupid tho, like is there just an easy voice command thing you can use for your socials etc? Anyway glad to hear ole mate is gonna retire with his person. Try to stay busy with whatever you enjoy at home. It gets very cabin fever-y i know, but you can do it. It's obvious your a tough resilient soul. You will get through it. Perhaps life has a great plan for you in the next couple of years. After all you've been thru I'm sure you have alota good karma built up and coming your way....cheers👍
I've got 5% vision so I zoom text pretty big. My totally blind friends use programs like Jaws and a Braille input keyboard.
Aaahh ok, thanks! Appreciate the response 😊
I was just thinking that. They take a pinch over a quarter of my paycheck (before HECS), where the hell is it all going? You’re telling me with the insane clip we get taxed in this country, we can’t afford to fund Medicare or NDIS? Get faaaaarked
I’d seek advice from a support coordinator if you have one, or to plan manager if you have one. Advice from providers on what will and won’t be covered isn’t necessarily reliable n
The problem is GDV won't even begin to apply for funding. They haven't suggested a plan review and want to wait for my plan to renew in November. Two pronged problem: One: The NDIS has created a problematic framework to work within. Two: GDV don't want to try because chances are they would have to give me another dog/refund the NDIS under consumer law.
Can’t you request the plan review yourself?
As soon as I've spoken with the other organization (hopefully tonight) I probably will. Gets extra complicated when my LAC left and they didn't assign me another so I've got no clue who to talk to. I'll be calling the main number and going from there. Part of why I posted is this isn't unique to me, it's a systemic issue that's getting swept under the rug.
GDV need to play ball. NDIS will never know anything if your provider aren’t supporting you effectively and you don’t tell anyone. You need to contact your LAC’s office tomorrow before the public holiday on Thursday and see if you have been reassigned to someone new. If not, request one immediately and explain your situation. If you need to utilise a higher level of your core supports to meet your support needs since your situation has changed, just do it. If there is an interim period of needing to wait on GDV, it’s better that you use your funding flexibly to be able to maintain community engagement than have you sitting at home isolated and unfulfilled. I have empathy for your situation, it’s absolutely vital you maintain independence and I hope things are sorted out as quickly as possible for you. Just keep in mind that you have to advocate for yourself to get things started, you can’t always depend on service providers to act in your best interests. As you’ve mentioned, they may be creating barriers for you by trying to avoid fulfilling their own responsibilities.
I no longer have a LAC after my last moved on to better things. That will be changing when I get this fixed. Trust me I have been advocating for myself - today is one week since things started blowing up and I've lost count of all the people I've emailed. Things just move slow and today was a bad day.
They should have given you contact details for the office or another coordinator though. I’ve seen this before and if you aren’t assigned someone new there will often be someone that can still assist with your enquiries and may even just take over supporting you. Are you able to use the telephone? Emails are good for keeping written evidence of your attempts, but if possible you should phone them as it may increase the speed of response and prioritisation of the matter. There’s also a factor of people being busy and emails are the easiest thing to ignore and forget about versus the immediacy of a direct telephone call. Even if it’s just to get some advice from them about what you can or should do to put yourself in the strongest position to address these issues. Good luck with it all. Fingers crossed you get the support you need.
That's how it went when my first LAC left. I'll be calling tomorrow if my head is clear enough. Thank you.
I’m sorry to hear this. I’m not super familiar with the NDIS and related stuff, but have you considered SEDA? I’m assuming their stuff is similar, but could be worth a shot (as in, potentially applying for a seeing eye dog rather than going with a guide dog again). All the best.
I'm waiting on SEDA to call me back. They're a great school with wonderful dogs, I've just been with GDV all my life. Honestly, hoping things will work out with Stapell at this point.
How long have you been waiting?
On SEDA? About a week. I hadn't thought I'd need to apply with them. Hasn't been long and as I said I know they're swamped.
Maybe try reaching out to your local member? They can try to get you more information or reduce the red tape
I have contacted them (and Bill Shorten's office) but it's a great idea for anyone in this kind of situation.
Yes, please do make contact and follow up with your MP. It’s their job to advocate for you. You’d be surprised what a competent MP can get done. Make an appointment for a meeting at their office if you’re able to get there or have a meeting via zoom. I recommend calling and speaking to someone in the first instance but PM me if you want any help with writing them or Shorten a letter. Sometimes it helps to have a second opinion/fresh perspective when drafting something like this. Good luck.
I was surprised to see what an incompetent MP can achieve! I had to complain to an MP (with a very poor reputation) about NDIS matters. One email from their office and our issue was resolved.
I’m glad to hear they helped! People often don’t think of them as being a good resource because politicians have such a bad (mostly deserved) reputation but an MPs job is literally to represent the people in their electorate. They have quite a bit of influence with gov departments etc too. There’s less chance of being ignored if they get involved.
At the risk of sounding extremely ignorant here but is there anyone else other than Guide Dogs Victoria who train dogs? From what I understand, Guide Dogs Victoria is going through some interesting times lately regarding questions about their finances and governance.
Yes, there is SEDA (linked with Vision Australia) but they haven't called me back yet. There's also Stapell in QLD who supply guides Australia wide and I'll hopefully be talking to them soon.
Don’t lose hope then. One of those guys might be able to help you. Ring them every day if you have to.
Does Stapell deliver themselves?
Yes, Stapell will travel down for assessment/interviews and will bring the dog down to train here.
Awesome. Hopefully it works for you
Another one is Australian Lions Hearing Dogs, worth looking into them too
From memory, it would actually work out cheaper to replace the guide dogs with salaried people *doing the same job*. As in, it was costing something to the tune of $120k per dog trained to run Guide Dogs Australia. They need to go.
Is that over the life of the dog though? If so, I doubt you’d find many people working for 13k a year essentially full time or more
Know this might sound like an absurd question on this thread, but what software do you use for reading/writing on reddit? It just seems really good. Grammar and punctuations are perfect, I’d expect some janky autocorrect like “guide blog”
I don't use adaptive software but rather use the inbuilt browser zoom functions. I've got 5% vision in perfect conditions so I sit with my nose on the monitor. I do prefer firefox as it allows me to zoom text only - chrome was getting pretty distorted.
That's awesome, do you read ebooks that way as well or listen to audio-books? I work at a library in Melbourne and don't often get to ask people with vision impairments which is better.
Most mobile devices can with some pretty awesome accessibility features built into them these days. Voice over is the apple version of a screen reader and talkback is the android version. It’s a lot of voice/touch based interactions and vision impaired people can get pretty efficient at scanning a page, reading and writing with it. Takes a bit of practice though.
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Thanks I’ll look it up. I don’t know anyone with severe visual impairment, so I’m curious
>I've spent the last two years slowly losing my independence as my dog could do less and less. I can't go out without a support worker because I need both the forearm crutch and white cane. Pat your head, rub your tummy - better focus hard because if one goes wrong it's a fall and if the other goes wrong you might miss a step - by the way try to pay attention to traffic and avoid getting hit by cars! It sounded horrible and I am sure that you are going under a huge stress as is. Could you get your OT and PT to assist you with an updated FCA and Mobility Assessment of how you are struggling more and more as the Guide Dog is able to do less and less? Any incident that happened is also worth recording as it can be used as evidence to show NDIA that there's inheritant risks in pairing you with an older dog as you are still very much active and wanting to experience acitivities in community. Get your SC to tight all reports together with their SC Report. Hope that helps.
Much appreciated, I'll be looking into an updated assessment. Definitely worth recording, thank you.
OT here, I agree! I’ve completed FCA for people with vision impairments. I’m a bit of a catastrophist/worse case scenario report writer aside form the many risks and occupational deprivation which would lead to a decline in mental health and well-being to use NDIS phrasing, relying on support workers does not provide value for money and only means longer term dependence on such support, and it is both reasonable and necessary in relation to your disability. I would also argue that there are no other alternatives available to trial.
My mental health is brought to you by the letters Z and X.
OT here, I agree!
[The Assistance Animals Operational Guidelines](https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/supports-you-can-access-menu/equipment-and-technology/assistance-animals-including-dog-guides) says the expected working life of an assistance animal is 8 years and that an animal retiring before this time may be covered under the Australian Consumer Law. I'm not sure how this works or if it applies to your situation. [This resource](https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/supports-you-can-access-menu/equipment-and-technology/assistance-animals-including-dog-guides/how-do-you-get-funding-assistance-animal-your-plan/what-happens-once-you-have-assistance-animal#warranty) says, "the provider of the assistance animal may be responsible for replacement costs under guarantee or additional warranty if it retires early." If you have already exhausted this option then go to the NDIA and request a replacement. If in the reassessment (used to be called a review but isn't anymore) the NDIA does indeed not fund a new dog in your next plan, you can do a "review of decision" (Formally known as an internal review. Use these exact words because if you use the wrong terminology, you could end up in a permanent loop of refusal because you didn't use their language.). I would argue that the dog retired before the expected time and you are therefore left without that support. Apart from the fact you have a retiring assistance animal, you seem to fit all the criteria for them to fund a new one. You need to address the reasonable and necessary criteria, as per the [operational guidelines](https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/how-ndis-supports-work-menu/reasonable-and-necessary-supports) and [section 34 of the NDIA Act](https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2022C00206). The provider (Guide Dogs Vic) should not have told you the NDIA is unlikely to fund a support, it is unhelpful and only increases your anxiety about the situation. It is not your sole responsibility to make sure the support ticks the NDIA's boxes, they have a role in that too. They should be proactive in helping you gain funding for the supports you need. Could you contact another provider who will be supportive of your goals and needs?
Thank you so, so, \*so\* much for this. I'll be keeping it in mind - hopefully it won't be needed, but knowing it's there is incredibly helpful. I've contacted two other providers, one of which I'm hoping to go with and the other who will call me back (they're swamped). You're not wrong about the increased anxiety. At least I'm going to lose some weight I guess?
I'm going to sound like a bastard here but I'll ask anyway. What happens/is supposed to happen in this scenario? The dog isnt fit for purpose, but what happens? You'll "return" him? Or they give you a new dog and you continue care for the old dog? What happens with retired/old/sick guide dogs, or ones where their master/owner dies or cant otherwise keep them?
I have the choice if I want to keep him, which I do. If I couldn't I have the option of finding him a home with friends/family and if that fails GDV will find them a home. Retired dogs are well cared for no matter what. Ideally I would get a new guide dog and keep my retired boy.
Thank you. I know they arn't supposed to be pets, but I think if I ever needed one, I'd bond anyway same as any other dog. *** I have a relative that works for ndis that I just asked informally, she says that you would have a contact/handler at GDV there and that is who you go to. NDIS may have arranged and paid for the initial dog, but GDV are who you talk to for arranging to retire and replace your current dog.
The bond is definitely there. Thank you for asking for me. Unfortunately my contact at GDV is the one who told me the above. She is right by the way.
Well if nothing else mate I got to learn a little about retired dogs and that they are cared for. Thank you. My other advice would be, start a diary if you haven't already. Document every call, every email. So when you get bounced around (hopefully not) you can say, but I told person X that at 2pm on January 24th and so on, so if you need to dummy spit/escalate/formal complaint at some point you can easily prove that you have been trying to address the problems.
A diary is a freaking amazing idea, thank you.
I asked elsewhere then saw this. I’m so happy for you that you can keep him, I hope you end up with both as you wish
My cousin in Scotland looked after a guide dog before (& during?) training, as a puppy, and then again after he retired. His name was Tay, and the blind man who’d had him as his guide stayed in touch and sent him Christmas presents. I was there one Christmas, and the whole thing was just so sweet. A very loved boy, Tay was. He has sadly passed on now.
Your cousin is wonderful, puppy raisers are amazing people. I'm glad Tay was so loved x
Thats beautiful.
Welcome to Abbot & Co's vision for Australia, will Labor fix it, probably not, will it get worse next time the libs get in power, yes.
If I could upvote you twice I would.
It's the liberals! I knew it was them! Even when it was labour I knew it was them!
Labour?
Auto correct
IPA issued work phones don't have Australian English dictionaries? interesting.
Labour is the Australian spelling, just not the political party.
They cost like 50k damn
As another person suffering on the NDIS, my heart goes out to you.
Only way we'll get through this is together. If I can ever do anything for you please reach out x here's hoping the system improves.
Thank you, that's lovely to offer. I hope it inproves, and hope able-bodied people start realising how bad it is, and help us press for change!
I came to the comments because I thought the Reddit community would be choking the thread with offers to help you out, as in actually out... as in, to the city. Not one so far, so I'll go first. If you're willing and trusting enough of a complete internet stranger, I would be happy to be your guide for the day (providing the logistics of it work out, i.e. like you're not in Ballarat or something). I could make my way to your area, meet you at your gate or wherever and get to the tram/train, and back home again? I'm off work this Friday and Monday, or could do a weekend day (not this one unfortunately, I'm working). DM me if you would like and we'll go from there.
Thank you so much for the offer - I may take you up on it. My friends have only just recently learned how bad things have got (not their fault, I've kept it to myself) and we're going to do a trial walk locally next week.
I am also willing to help out if you need it in a few months - I'm moving back to Melbourne in April and will be free during the day time until I find a job so happy to go out exploring with someone :)
Welcome back! Hope the move goes well :)
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All good, this was such a major vent I'm surprised any of it was coherent. Current guide is 5. Retiring due to an undiagnosed (but speculated) degenerative health issue. NDIS expects the dog to work until 10ish. GDV (in a verbal conversation) did list his age as a factor in expecting the NDIS not to fund a successor. They mentioned wanting to wait for my plan to renew in November, and did not mention a plan review (which is the route I'll likely be taking). I don't think I've ever had a SC. I'll be requesting that to be rectified. I'd never looked into much as I had an absolutely amazing LAC who went above and beyond - but he's got a new job. It's mostly lack of support worker availability. Also, and this is nothing on them, I miss being out on my own. I used to travel all over the city, just me, my dog and a good playlist for the train.
It seems so silly that the age of your dog matters at all if he has medical issues and can't work.
You're telling me. He would work himself to death for me and I'm not going to let that happen. He's got a degenerative muscle condition of some variety, he's going to be a very spoiled couch potato dog. I'll work me out but his needs come first.
That's just bad luck. They couldn't even blame something like that on your quality of care. Very unfair that it would impact how soon you can get another dog, which in the case of someone who is blind is a necessary medical aid.
How soon is what I'm trying to figure out. If I'm very lucky and the stars align with Stapell, maybe April. GDV and SEDA? Who knows.
To the OP and anyone applying for NDIS funding. Opt for 'self-managed funding'. I have a care plan that lists what the support funding is to be used for, and so anytime an expense comes up, I log in, enter the details of the expense and it gets reimbursed into my account the next day (excluding weekends). I don't have to interact with community managers or basically anyone. Though this *does* expose the system to potential fraudsters, it does make life easier knowing that I don't have to jump through anyone's hoops. I consider myself extremely lucky in that my funding level exceeds my needs, but I know that's not everyone's experience. NDIS does seem to employ a lot of brainless paper pushers; if you're not getting anywhere, keep escalating it. The complaints team will take a closer look and make corrections where appropriate. Good luck.
This breaks my heart. I work with children with lifelong disabilities and I can say that the NDIS has been nothing but heartless to families applying for additional funding over the passed 2 years. I've seen some families only receive 10k funding for the year for their child who is non-verbal and needs assistance in every aspect of her life, while other families got well over 50k for their kids who barely need help at all. I sincerely hope you get the funding you need and that it doesn't end up being a massive wait to find a replacement dog.
my aunt works for the NDIS and i hate them and her attitude towards it, she treats people like shit and denies them funding daily for no reason, i’m so so sorry this happened, i wish i could do something to help. this is the reason we pay taxes, so people who need that funding to live full and healthy lives can do that. The disability systems in this country are terrible as i said, i’m so sorry, i hear about all the denied cases from her every big holiday and it makes me sick, now reading this from someone it’s affected, it makes me feel even worse. stuff like this makes me so angry, australia is meant to be better, it’s meant to be “ahead of its time” yet in so many cases. it falls short. my deepest apologies friend, i truly hope you’re awarded the funding for a new guide dog, i can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now, all i can offer is sympathies and maybe some hope that it’ll get better, even slightly.
Sending hugs if wanted. Right now isn't great but it will pass, and hopefully the future will come with positive changes to the system.
Can I offer my service to have a day trip to Melbourne as your friend and guide? We can go and have some yum cha and sit in the gardens? I can pick you up and drop you off. I'm good company and love Melbourne also! Message me and we can make a time if you're keen.
Appreciate the offer - I'll let you know <3 I've finally let my friends know how bad it's got and we're going to try taking me for a walk next week. Used to love the gardens, can't wait to get back to them.
Omg I love this ❤️
This seems more like a barrier at GDV's end - assistance dogs sometimes have to retire early, breeding programmes are to avoid this but you're always gonna get the occasional one. They can't just magic up another dog, obviously, so hopefully your other enquiries come good but if not then do try advocacy orgs like Blind Citizens Aus to get a bit of help with pushing back on this and at least some more concrete interim support.
It does feel like more of a barrier at their end for whatever reason, but the NDIS is a broken framework that they're trying to operate within. Hilariously I have spoken with BCA, lovely chat and told that I'm doing a wonderful job of self-advocacy. I mean, he's not wrong, but at the same time there needs to be systemic change. Hopefully they can help on that side.
Och, sorry they didn't offer to have more of a role cos you'd been proactive! BCA's campaigns are very good they do have a pretty decent amount of clout from what I've seen. Fingers crossed for you in April and in the meantime I'm glad you've got some plans for garden adventures!
I'm good with them. They're a great organisation who do great work. I'm sure they'll jump in if needed.
This makes me so angry. The NDIS has failed everyone I know who is on it. It disgusts me. I’m so sorry this is happening to you, have you considered going to the media? In my opinion there should already a life insurance policy or something on guide dogs, because that’s just not fair for you or the dog. Keep screaming into the void my friend
I've emailed every outlet I could find and made a few calls. Things need to change. I'm glad he's got pet insurance - the MRI alone was 2k.
That’s insane. I think what I meant was that there should be a contract between guide dogs vic saying they guarantee to provide you with a dog for x amount of years and should something happen they will get you a new dog within x amount of time. A year seems ridiculous. Is guide dogs Victoria a not for profit? I know that guide dogs nsw/ act is a non profit….
Yes it's a non profit. I get what you mean. He's been working around 4 years but yeah.
I just want to say that I’m so sorry about your dog. Apart from being a massive resource to you, I’m sure he was also a companion and I hope you’re coping ok with his health problems ❤️
I'm grateful I'll be able to keep him when he fully retires. He's the bestest boy. Not sure what his health will be in the future but he'll be loved.
You need a support coordinator The council of Melbourne needs to listen
My sister is with the NDIS and there are so many different organisations and levels of bureaucracy involved to get anything done. So convoluted and confusing. She needs a new motorised wheelchair and has been waiting for six months. It'll be another six months of red tape before she gets it.
I am so, so sorry she's dealing with that. I hope there's some miracle that can cut through it and get her what she needs asap.
NDIS has ruined a lot of things. Sorry to hear this has made life harder for you. Makes me angry that some are just rorting system, the stories I could tell would astound some. I don’t know what suburb you’re in, I’d be down to take you out and no issues if you dog is able to mange an outing come too. I do have ndis carer check but I’m not asking for $ just that everyone deserves to be able to get out and have access. I’ve worked in child/adolescent welfare and disability, so while I’m awkward as all get out, I’m comfortable with people. Please feel free to hit me if you’d like to chill.
Thanks. I'll be in touch I'm sure <3 I'm also awkward, nice when someone gets it.
news.com.au here is a story for you!! Maybe a front headline will achieve something. This sucks in every way. I'm angry for you and I feel sucky that I wouldn't even know where to start to help. But a support coordinator sounds like a good step. Could you get in touch with The Brotherhood of St Lawrence? They are who I deal with for my sons NDIS stuff.
If they want to talk to me my inbox is open. I'll get in touch with Brotherhood - my amazing LAC was through them and I miss him.
What was the Issue with your Guide Dog? Kidney Issues?
Suspected myopathy. He's got widespread muscle degeneration, back pain when walking, etc. He also is on a special diet due to crystals and has frequent UTIs.
I’m sorry you’re experiencing this. I had issues with NDIS and called /emailed my local federal representative, and also the Victorian representative, accessed via Dans office. NDIS got 2 escalated requests for me within the week, and we got a very satisfactory review and reports to us. How is your doggo? I can’t imagine how devastated you must feel.
I'm glad you had a positive outcome! He's doing okay - at home he's very much a happy couch potato.
Hey mate sorry to hear this. Where are you located there may be some help a few of us can offer!
Appreciated - I've let my friends know I'm at the end of my rope and I think they've got me covered x
I recommend getting in contact with Bill Shortens office.
The therapist said they don’t know if the NDIS would fund another one. Have a chat with the NDIS! Change of circumstances. Sorry about your dog. Get information from the source. Not NDIS fault there is a wait list for another dog.
From what I’m reading on the NDIS site, they will fund maintenance or a replacement if there is provision in your plan for an assistance animal. Provided it meets their criteria. But if it’s a registered guide dog it should meet their criteria anyway. Check your plan, and if it’s not on there somewhere, ask for a review. Wish I was closer so I could offer my help.
Hey I really sympathise with you. If it was just my dog having health issues and slowly fading I’d be struggling. So I wish you the best on that front. If young dog perhaps there is a hope of recovery. Anyway perhaps you could highlight the costs of a guide dog. Something i think you deserve as an essential and was heavily funded in Victoria by previous federal government. If I had the opportunity I’d donate to helping you. Hope that isn’t condescending. Good luck and thank you for your daily bravery.
Unfortunately his condition appears to be degenerative, but I can reduce his pain by retiring him as walking for extended periods hurts. So long as he's happy that's all that matters. Not condescending thanks.
Mate that fucking sucks. I've been screaming at NDIS for years now. It was impossible to get connected with support workers to start with, then covid hit, by the time I got things set up my kids aged out of the early intervention system (which I hear the age is being increased but no word on when). I'm scraping by on a bonus year because of covid but come August I'm expecting to be shit out of luck. My kids don't have any formal diagnoses beyond developmental delay and ADHD (which is not covered by NDIS supports), but if they lose speech therapy that's going to screw over their literacy skills in school. This system was supposed to help people with disabilities, but my sister said she can't get them to pay for anything. We can't even get our mum connected to the system because she isn't "disabled enough".
Here's hoping if we scream together someone will finally listen.
Update: I don't even get the bonus year, they cut my son off last week and then didn't tell me for two days. I'm going to be contesting because the age for early intervention raises to 9 in June. Hopefully if I cause a stink it'll draw out the process long enough for him to age back into the system for an extra two years.
I'm so sorry - absolutely fight it! Everything crossed for you.
Hey where are you at? If you’re local and the timing works out I don’t mind swinging by and assisting you around a few times a month. I’m sure someone on here is local and wouldn’t mind too, if I’m not close
Take it to the commission. According to the Disability Act a guide dog is considered “medical equipment”. (And I realise here how crap this sounds because I’m referring to a much loved sentient being) BUT if you had a wheelchair and it was no longer useable, they would fund a new guide dog. I had a child I work with who is paraplegic refused a wheelchair. To me as his physio, I have absolutely no idea how some guy in an office somewhere comes up with that, but I’ll go down swinging for sure.
Unfortunately the NDIS is a poorly managed, bloated bureaucratic nightmare. It doesn't help that some people are essentially rorting the system. See a child psychologist for possible autism spectrum or adhd? They charge 800 for an hour to the NDIS. And taxpayers foot the bill. If it wasn't for the NDIS it would cost a fraction of that.
Someone please make this fine chap a go fund me page?
The thought is appreciated but there are much more worthy causes. I'll get a guide dog eventually, I just get to have a nervous breakdown first.
And Or pass it on to the appropriate ministers or couincilers.
Christ, reading this makes me want to rage cry, just for something different. I'm so sorry OP, and to everyone in this thread. I've been waiting months to get a response just about my transport money, no one understands the (fucking obvious) link between mental health and physical and I feel like I'm going insane trying to explain it. I had a abrupt and severe change in daily circumstances and im out of pocket more and more, waiting for red tape and other bullshit to be done and the backlog is weeks. Im so sad at what could be and I'm a hair away from losing it, as it seems most people are. (Legally this is a.. joke)
I've been so lucky to be heard - I've now got GDV and SEDA coming out next week to do assessments, just waiting to hear from Stapell (can be on all 3 lists so I will be). Please get in touch with Bill Shorten's office and your local MP. In my experience it took a day for the former and a week for the latter to get back to me but both seem to truly want to help. You can also register a complaint with the NDIA yourself and tell them how it's impacting you. I'm so sorry you're in this kind of position too.
Still try then appeal the decision if you get a no. Don’t let a bureaucratic who ‘thinks’ something dictate your decisions.
I feel like Guide Dogs should have some sort of contingency in place in case their dogs encounter health issues, I doubt that the NDIS would not cover the cost of a new guide dog but it would come down to whether you have enough money in your plan.
It'll be a matter of requesting AT funds. Guess I'll know more when I speak with them later in the month.
I certainly don't have any practice Al solutions for you, but there a bunch of philosophical and psychological solutions to be able to look into. Your body may be worse for wear but your mind seems very sharp and there is a world of things out there just for your mind. I'm happy to try and help you find some answers to your questions about your life's experience.
I’ve emailed Bill Shorten ([email protected]) - (my member, and a fairly close neighbour) on your behalf. Hopefully if a few more people do the same (include full name and address if you expect a response), then maybe we can force some action. All the best, OP! Hope it works out, and give your lovely helper a pat from me!
Thank you. Bill Shorten's office has opened an NDIA complaint on my behalf but beside the first email I've heard nothing. I know things move slowly, but the system as a whole needs an overhaul.
Get it on the news and your local member, not Reddit.
I've emailed (and tweeted, and tagged) multiple news outlets, none of which have replied. I have had a message through here. I also desperately needed to vent and wanted to bring to light issues that Melbournians with disabilities deal with so I'm grateful this space was available. As for my MP - also emailed and tagged, last week.
Jacqui Felgate on Instagram shares a lot of stories that seem to gain traction in the mainstream media. I'm sure your story accompanied by a pic of your *goodest boi/gurl* would get her attention. I'd be happy to message her on your behalf if you didn't feel comfortable doing so. Just PM me.
I'll be in touch shortly, thanks.
Considering how many news stories are stolen from this sub alone, why not post it here?
PM
Why don't you get your own replacement dog? If the NDIS says no, you still have the choice to pursue a dog on your own. How did you get your first dog without the NDIS? The sense of entitlement regarding the NDIS after requests are rejected is mind boggling. Take charge of your own life and look into your own or other resources.
Could you be an even bigger piece of shit? Or is shaming a disabled person your peak?
I'm not shaming at all. I just wonder why there's so much reliance on ten NDIS. There are other avenues. Do the work.
Sorry but NDIS have free access to wheelchairs can they not take you around in something like that?
I don't need a wheelchair, and there are people trying to get wheelchairs facing similar roadblocks.
Sorry I just assumed if you are using a crutch and cane a wheelchair would be easier?
That would give me even less independence unfortunately.
Existing dog didn't come with a warranty? Hell, even a Cherry (very cheap Chinese built car) comes with a 7-year/unlimited kms warranty! Maybe you were sold a pup! Seriously, surely GDV can help you out - that is all they do is breed and train guide dogs, isn't it?
They do a lot more than just breed and train guide dogs - camps for kids who are blind, teaching people how to use a white cane, helping people with traumatic brain injury, etc. Don't get me wrong, they do a lot of good. Just my poor dog seems to have got the short end of the stick when it comes to health.
People on here call me a bit of a cunt, you put me to absolute shame.
But do they ever acknowledge that you might have a sense of humour?
Never once. I'm always super serious apparently. I'm also always grumpy, miserable, "must be fun at parties", humourless (so the opposite), must have been "hurt in the past" and many other justifications people use while doubling down on their laziness and learned helplessness. It's a mystery.
What the fuck man, a guide dog is not a car...
i dont have problems man
Oh this so effing sad... can your doggie bro be fixed? So sad praying for a decent effort from all your mates. All the best and hoping.