Sent April 2021 - Dietitians Australia wrote to congratulate Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds on her appointment as Minister of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and to highlight the role dietitians play in supporting NDIS participants. A similar letter was also sent to Shadow Minister for the NDIS, the Hon Bill Shorten MP.

Letter excerpt

Dietitians Australia advocates for the rights and needs of people with disability to safe and enjoyable food and fluids, and access to nutrition and dietetic supports and services to meet their needs. The disability sector is undergoing rapid reform and we would like to draw your attention to these pressing issues:

• Independent Assessments – the proposed toolkit fails to recognize the presence or risk of malnutrition and the corresponding impact on function, further increasing the risk of avoidable deaths. (See submission to the Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS- Independent assessments)
• Policies and training for NDIA planners – there remains the ongoing issue of significant variability between planners when allocating funding for dietitians and nutrition support products in NDIS plans with some delegates inappropriately recommending participants rely upon Medicare to meet this need.

For more read the full letter.