Kerri-Anne blasts ‘heartless’ NDIS over age restriction
SHOWBIZ veteran KerriAnne Kennerley has revealed she spent $2m nursing her late husband due to “heartless” age limits in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
John Kennerley, her husband of 35 years, was left a quadriplegic after slipping and falling from a low balcony at the age of 77.
Ms Kennerley urged elderly
Australians with disabilities to launch a class action against the NDIS, which only admits disabled Australians aged between seven and 65.
Disabled people who join the NDIS before the age of 65 can stay in the scheme for the rest of their life – but anyone disabled through an accident or illness after that age must rely on the aged care system.
“It’s dreadfully unfair,’’ Ms Kennerley said. “My husband, through an accident that was no fault of his own, became a quadriplegic but the only help I could get from the government was aged care.
“He was entitled to eight or nine hours a week of care, even though he was assessed as needing a minimum of 53 hours a week.’’
Ms Kennerley said the couple spent more than $2m on seven-day nursing care for John over three and a half years, before he died in 2019.
She said the NDIS paid for up to 60 hours a week of nursing care for two disabled men her husband met in hospital – a 20-year-old who broke his back snowboarding and a 63year-old who was left wheelchair-bound after a wave dumped him at the beach.
“John fell off a veranda that didn’t have a railing because it was only 85cm (off the ground),’’ she said. “It is pure age discrimination and it’s not fair – it’s completely heartless.’’
The government amended the Age Discrimination Act in 2013 to make it legal to discriminate against NDIS participants on the grounds of age.
NDIS Minister Linda Reynolds said the scheme was based on a Productivity Commission recommendation that participants must acquire their disability and request access before turning 65.