The Law Handbook 2024

780 Section 8: Disability, mental illness and the law • protections from abuse including those in the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic), Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), Evidence Act 2008 (Vic) (‘ Evidence Act ’) and Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic) (‘ CP Act ’). • particular criminal offences and criminal justice system responses to disability. This includes the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997 (Vic) (‘ CMIUT Act ’), and the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic). Disability Support Pension The Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) does not define disability, but provides eligibility for the Disability Support Pension for people who have a physical, intellectual or psychiatric impairment and the person’s impairment is of 20 points or more under the Impairment Tables. For more Information about the Disability Support Pension see Section 5: Managing your money. National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) The National Disability Insurance Scheme was established by the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth) (‘NDIS Act’) to provide support to eligible people with disability. Specifically the NDIS aims to support the independence and social and economic participation of people with disability; provide reasonable and necessary supports, including early intervention supports, for NDIS participants; and enable people with disability to exercise choice and control in the pursuit of their goals. Eligibility for access to the NDIS is limited to people who meet all of the following criteria: • Australian residents who hold Australian citizenship, permanent visa or special category protected visa • who are under age 65 at the time of application • meet the disability requirements The term ‘meet the disability requirements’ is defined in section 24 of the NDIS Act, as follows: Disability requirements 1 A person meets the disability requirements if: a the person has a disability that is attributable to one or more intellectual, cognitive, neurological, sensory or physical impairments or to one or more impairments attributable to a psychiatric condition; and b the impairment or impairments are, or are likely to be, permanent; and c the impairment or impairments result in sub­ stantially reduced functional capacity to undertake, or psychosocial functioning in undertaking, one or more of the following activities: i communication; ii social interaction; iii learning; iv mobility; v self-care; vi self-management; and d the impairment or impairments affect the person’s capacity for social and economic participation; e the person is likely to require support under the National Disability Insurance Scheme for the person’s lifetime. 2 For the purposes of subsection (1), an impairment or impairments that vary in intensity may be permanent, and the person is likely to require support under the National Disability Insurance Scheme for the person’s lifetime, despite the variation. Once a person becomes a participant of the NDIS, they meet with a planner from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to develop an individualised plan of supports. The ‘reasonable and necessary’ test outlined in section 34 requires that the funded supports: • will assist the participant to pursue their stated goals, objectives and aspirations; and • will facilitate the participant’s social and economic participation; and • represent value for money; and • are effective and beneficial for the participant, having regard to current good practice; and • take account of what it is reasonable to expect families, carers, informal networks and the community to provide; and • are most appropriately funded by the NDIS rather than other general systems (as part of a universal service obligation or as reasonable adjustments). An NDIS plan may include supports under any or all of the following categories: