What about DLD?! 1 in 14 Australians have a hidden disability called Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and they feel invisible. 

DLD is not currently a disability included on List A or B. The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has advised The DLD Project this should not be a barrier to a person with DLD or their family from applying to access the NDIS. According to the NDIA, access to the NDIS is not driven by diagnosis of health condition or disorder. Rather each application must be assessed against the access criteria set out in the NDIS Act 2013, which takes into consideration the evidence provided by an applicant and their treating professional(s). However, people with DLD and their advocates continue to advise The DLD Project that they are being declined access despite providing extensive reports and evidence from health professionals confirming the functional impacts of their lifelong disability. This is not acceptable.

The DLD Project has tried on numerous occasions to meet with The Hon. Bill Shorten, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to discuss the rights and needs of people with DLD. We have also offered over the past two years to train NDIS staff on DLD (for FREE) to ensure they are aware of the functional impacts of this hidden disability. Unfortunately, these offers have not been actioned.

We are calling on the Minister for the NDIS to:

1. Immediately meet with The DLD Project, people with DLD plus DLD advocates to discuss access issues and implement a plan to overcome these roadblocks.
2. Hold an internal review investigating the mishandling of NDIS applications submitted by people with DLD and their families and publicly share the results.
3. Immediately roll out evidence based DLD training to all NDIA staff delivered by a reputable external body.

The Australian Government MUST make these changes now and accept that DLD is a prevalent, significant, neurological disability that is a lifelong challenge and is not curable, requiring early intervention and support.

Please support our campaign to ensure that the NDIS listen to and support people with DLD. We would love for you to share your 'why' for signing this petition. We've heard many stories of what we deem to be discrimination against people with DLD in addition to ongoing examples of evidence provided by qualified health experts being disregarded by lesser qualified NDIS staff. Let's make this our collective voice to the NDIS. Enough is ENOUGH!