Villamanta is one of 25 disability advocacy organisations who have written and endorsed joint responses to the NDIA’s consultation on proposed reforms. These have been submitted to the NDIA. You can read the submissions below. Download “Response to Consultation on Proposed NDIS Reforms- Access and Independent Assessments“ Download “Response to Consultation on Proposed NDIS Reforms-…
The Office of the Public Advocate (OPA) has prepared a guideline for health practitioners, service providers and medical treatment decision makers on the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. In brief, administration of the COVID-19 vaccine is considered to be medical treatment. If a person has decision-making capacity, they can consent to or refuse the COVID-19…
We are pleased to announce our 2019-2020 Annual Report is now available. You can see it here
The Commission website provides comprehensive information about the aims and role of the Commission and options for providing a submission: https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/. Legal Rights Prior to making a submission, it is recommended that legal advice is sought to ensure the legal rights of the participants are acknowledged. Your Story Disability Legal Support provide free legal advice: …
Joint media release: Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service Inc and Gippsland Disability Advocacy Incorporated AAT rejects NDIS Independent Assessment In a recent decision the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has commented on the NDIA’s use of an independent assessor, stating “this type of therapist is not appropriately qualified” (for the purposes of disgnosis) and that the assessor’s…
Advocacy support for Disability Royal Commission now available throughout Victoria 19/8/2020 People with disability living in Victoria who have experienced violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation can now access free and independent advocacy support. Around 4.4 million Australians have disability and research shows they are more likely to experience violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation than people…
We have received a number of queries about transport payments recently.* Yes, there was a system-wide delay in payments a couple of weeks back (after a public holiday in the ACT), but payments should be back to normal now. The issue being raised is that people: have transport funding in their NDIS plan have a…
We have received quite a bit of feedback on this issue. People are being told that they are “on the NDIS for x, but not for y”. “They say I am only eligible for psycho-social and not physical disability.” “I was told I need to provide evidence of my other conditions so they can be…
Our Telephone Advice Service has seen an increase in the number of calls about legal matters outside of our area of practice. We know you are looking for information, so we are posting links below that can help answer your questions. Access to shared disability accommodation The Department of Health and Human Services website explains…
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR VILLAMANTA CLIENTS AND FAMILIES As you know, there is ongoing and growing concern about the spread of COVID-19, also known as Coronavirus. This is impacting on us here at Villamanta, and as a disability legal service, we have very specific vulnerabilities: We support many people with suppressed or vulnerable immune systems Many…