Newsletter Dec 2023

NDIS review recommendations 

Among the raft of recommendations from the NDIS Review – the recommendation for NDIS registration of all disability service providers providing services to NDIS funded clients is the most concerning. It seems Bill Shorten is dead set on this change coming into effect – though what that may mean for sex workers providing services to NDIS funded clients is unclear. Minister Shorten has said they want to make it easier to register as a NDIS service providers.

Disability activists like our friend George Taleporos have come out against all service providers being registered as a threat to NDIS participant’s choice and control and we think it is likely that peak disabled peoples’ organisations will fight hard against it. Any proposed changes are going to take some time to work through, with the Minister publicly mentioning a two year timeline for registration changes to occur.

To avoid a whole disability sector backlash against the Government we suspect the Minister will encourage engagement with stakeholders on co-design on any of the NDIS Review recommendations the Government adopts – at least up until the next Federal election.

NEXT STEPS

Touching Base will insist on being engaged in any consultation and discussions and will argue against any form of sex worker registration and seek support from our networks of allies. In the New Year we will pursue consultation with our members as we look to gather evidence of issues and concerns that decision makers need to be aware of, before they consider adopting new measures that could threaten the privacy and safety of sex workers or reduce the choice and control of NDIS participants. 

Updated NDIS Resource 

In the meantime, we are excited to announce the release of an updated version of the Touching Base / Northcott NDIS resource: Frequently Asked Questions on including sex work services in your NDIS plan.

Some of these improvements in this new plainer English edition include:

*  Updated language to reflect the terms being used by the NDIA, such as ‘sex work services’,

*  New line items that may be useful for plan managers processing claims for sex work services, and

* a new section about using support letters to include sex work services in your plan.

We look forward to everyone updating to this latest version as soon as possible and will be promoting it via our social media channels.

Scarlet Alliance National Forum 2023

Saul, Scarlett, Emma and Samuel attended the 2023 Scarlet Alliance National Forum in early November. Besides reporting on Touching Base activities for the past year, we also attended a bunch of workshops, with one of the standouts being a Disabled Sex Worker roundtable. A takeaway we had from the forum was our language usage of ‘people with disability’. We adopted this language from PWDA, but it was pointed out to us that exclusively using ‘people with disability’ is a bit dated. To increase the sense of inclusion for those who identify with their disability and prefer the phrase ‘disabled person’, we have already started alternating our use of these preferred options. We will be bringing these changes to our website and other resources as they are renewed.

After the first day of the Scarlet Alliance National Forum, we had a small gathering at Samuel’s place for Sydney based Committee members and key volunteers.  It was a great opportunity for most of us to meet one another in person for the 1st time, instead of just via online meetings.

Here’s a photo of (from left to right) Saul, Jill, Rose, Emma (from Perth), Samuel and Scarlett all kicking back on Samuel’s couch.

Seasons greetings

As we head off into the holiday period, wishing you all the best for 2024 from the team at Touching Base.