NDIS hot take: NDIS eligibility is broken. Helen Haines misses out. People who don't need it (yet) get it, so they have it when they do (eventually) need it. My elderly father has always missed out on NDIS benefits because he was too old when it came into existence. He is a lifelong amputee, who, for decades, had to alter cars at his own expense to enable him to drive. Fair enough - he was grandfathered out of the scheme. Helen Haines has been tragically injured in a horrific attack, and will have life altering changes as a result - and will need to alter her home to adjust for life without legs. Ramps for wheelchairs, for example. Lower benches. Accessibility changes. These will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ongoing, expensive, time consuming medical care. Even if fully publicly funded, all consuming rehabilitation, taking time and effort from family and friends to take her to rehabilitation sessions. She will need to modify her car - when she is able to drive again - for hand controls. She is (by a month) too old to apply for NDIS. NDIS would pay for this, if she were younger. She is a year short of qualifying for the traditional parliamentary pension. If she can't return to parliament, she will be funding these costs herself. NDIS would fund this for anyone who applies who is under 65 when they apply. People over 65 have to fend for themselves. People under 65 - who are currently able-bodied but expect to lose capacity (e.g. with multiple sclerosis) have to apply for NDIS support before they actually need it - so they have it when they need it. Specialists recommend that their patients apply so that they can get into the program before they need it, so they can ensure that they are not locked out later. #auspoI #NDIS