Opinion
On the first anniversary of Ann Marie Smith’s death, questions remain about the NDIS and quality of disability care given to recipients. Robbi Williams says a podcast by one Adelaide NDIS recipient reveals daily, ongoing concerns.
News
Uniting Communities has been appointed as the advocacy service for vulnerable South Australians living with disability, following a number of recommendations made by a disability safeguarding taskforce set up following the death of Adelaide woman Ann-Marie Smith.
Get InDaily in your inbox. Daily. The best local news sent straight to your inbox every workday at lunchtime.
Thanks for signing up to the InDaily newsletter.
In the wake of Ann-Marie Smith’s death, disability campaigners have called for greater advocacy and simplified processes within the NDIS, saying without quick change the federal scheme risks becoming “a dual-track system” which may entrench disadvantage.
Disability rights advocates have questioned why Ann-Marie Smith only had one support worker to ensure her welfare across seven days a week, saying it should have raised “huge red flags” about her level of care.
The authors of a report given to state governments 17 months ago suggesting they expand community visitor checks on vulnerable people under the NDIS umbrella say the “disgusting and degrading” death of Ann-Marie Smith was the sort of scenario they were worried about.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme says it wasn’t told about Ann-Marie Smith’s “appalling” death for two weeks – and even then not by the Adelaide agency paid to ensure her welfare – despite it being required to report it within 24 hours.
A former Disability SA staffer says the decision to shut down the state-run agency and not continue to monitor or offer services to disabled clients moved to the federal NDIS may have contributed to the situation which led to Ann-Marie Smith’s “degrading” death while under care.
