Cat Walker
@kelpieunicorns.bsky.social
She/her • #AuDHD & #EDS • Champion of lived experience evidence in disability policy & research • #NDIS Squeaky Wheel in #Auspol • MAnimalSc • Mother of unicorns & a red kelpie
To summarise NDIA day at #Estimates:
December 4, 2025 at 9:16 AM
To summarise NDIA day at #Estimates:
The NDIA seriously thought showing up to #Estimates and telling us they have no idea where that legal advice a senior exec told staff about came from was going to fly?
#NDIS #Auspol
#NDIS #Auspol
Some impressive dancing around Estimates questions on Kate Lyons’ excellent NDIA needs assessment journalism.
Why dodge straight answers when it was a direct quote about legal advice, presumably… | ...
Some impressive dancing around Estimates questions on Kate Lyons’ excellent NDIA needs assessment journalism.
Why dodge straight answers when it was a direct quote about legal advice, presumably fro...
www.linkedin.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:07 AM
The NDIA seriously thought showing up to #Estimates and telling us they have no idea where that legal advice a senior exec told staff about came from was going to fly?
#NDIS #Auspol
#NDIS #Auspol
Reposted by Cat Walker
"a director .., later interjected to make it clear that under the new system, once the I-CAN generates a budget for a participant there is no way for the NDIS staff member to alter it, only to request a new assessment is done by the I-CAN tool."
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
NDIS plans will be computer-generated, with human involvement dramatically cut under sweeping overhaul
Exclusive: Staff were told of major changes to the way NDIS funding and support plans will be made during a recent internal briefing
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:05 AM
"a director .., later interjected to make it clear that under the new system, once the I-CAN generates a budget for a participant there is no way for the NDIS staff member to alter it, only to request a new assessment is done by the I-CAN tool."
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Cat Walker
They really do want to remove as much choice and utility from the NDIS as they possibly can, don't they?
EXCLUSIVE: Funding and support plans for national disability insurance scheme participants will be generated by a computer program and staff will have no discretion to amend them, under a major overhaul of the NDIS to be rolled out next year, @australia.theguardian.com can reveal.
December 3, 2025 at 1:18 AM
They really do want to remove as much choice and utility from the NDIS as they possibly can, don't they?
Reposted by Cat Walker
Roboplans that can't be edited by agency staff or the Tribunal, exclude external supporting information, and technically aren't counted as a "decision" by a decision-maker under law and policy? What could go wrong?
#NDIS #AusPol
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
#NDIS #AusPol
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
NDIS plans will be computer-generated, with human involvement dramatically cut under sweeping overhaul
Exclusive: Staff were told of major changes to the way NDIS funding and support plans will be made during a recent internal briefing
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Roboplans that can't be edited by agency staff or the Tribunal, exclude external supporting information, and technically aren't counted as a "decision" by a decision-maker under law and policy? What could go wrong?
#NDIS #AusPol
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
#NDIS #AusPol
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Cat Walker
Oop, there it is. God forbid a disability scheme actually cost the government anything. Are we just going to magically have fewer people with disabilities needing assistance when this kicks in? No wait, don't tell me LET ME GUESS
December 3, 2025 at 5:30 AM
Oop, there it is. God forbid a disability scheme actually cost the government anything. Are we just going to magically have fewer people with disabilities needing assistance when this kicks in? No wait, don't tell me LET ME GUESS
Reposted by Cat Walker
Big red flags in leaked NDIA plans:
A computer tool would decide NDIS budgets. No human review. No independent reports considered. No real right to appeal.
Full response: everyaustraliancounts.com.au/eac/every-au...
#ProtectOurNDIS #EveryAustralianCounts
A computer tool would decide NDIS budgets. No human review. No independent reports considered. No real right to appeal.
Full response: everyaustraliancounts.com.au/eac/every-au...
#ProtectOurNDIS #EveryAustralianCounts
December 3, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Big red flags in leaked NDIA plans:
A computer tool would decide NDIS budgets. No human review. No independent reports considered. No real right to appeal.
Full response: everyaustraliancounts.com.au/eac/every-au...
#ProtectOurNDIS #EveryAustralianCounts
A computer tool would decide NDIS budgets. No human review. No independent reports considered. No real right to appeal.
Full response: everyaustraliancounts.com.au/eac/every-au...
#ProtectOurNDIS #EveryAustralianCounts
Reposted by Cat Walker
“People with a disability and our families deserve a fair #NDIS, not a system where a computer decides our funding and there is no real way to challenge mistakes. These decisions shape whether we can live safely in the community, avoid institutionalisation and participate in society.”
#Auspol
#Auspol
Big red flags in leaked NDIA plans:
A computer tool would decide NDIS budgets. No human review. No independent reports considered. No real right to appeal.
Full response: everyaustraliancounts.com.au/eac/every-au...
#ProtectOurNDIS #EveryAustralianCounts
A computer tool would decide NDIS budgets. No human review. No independent reports considered. No real right to appeal.
Full response: everyaustraliancounts.com.au/eac/every-au...
#ProtectOurNDIS #EveryAustralianCounts
December 3, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Reposted by Cat Walker
I think award season is now over. Mean Streak just won the Walkley Book Award to cap it off and I’m so thankful. Buy or borrow, the story is more fucked up than you think.
November 28, 2025 at 8:51 AM
I think award season is now over. Mean Streak just won the Walkley Book Award to cap it off and I’m so thankful. Buy or borrow, the story is more fucked up than you think.
Meanwhile, in Australia, another NDIS Bill has just been tabled without the most basic protection omitted last year: The ability to challenge debts.
Ministers urged to apologise after review finds systemic failures led to carer’s allowance crisis
Unpaid carers were pushed into debt and distress and hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money wasted
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Meanwhile, in Australia, another NDIS Bill has just been tabled without the most basic protection omitted last year: The ability to challenge debts.
Reposted by Cat Walker
So Labor and the Liberals teamed up to pass legislation to give police the power to recommend cancellation of Centrelink payments of people who have not been found guilty of a crime by a court of law. It’s discriminatory financial punishment of people in poverty who are already over-policed
November 26, 2025 at 1:36 AM
So Labor and the Liberals teamed up to pass legislation to give police the power to recommend cancellation of Centrelink payments of people who have not been found guilty of a crime by a court of law. It’s discriminatory financial punishment of people in poverty who are already over-policed
NDIS Bill No.2 ("Integrity and Safeguarding") will be tabled in the Senate tomorrow.
What isn't in it will be as telling as what is.
How much more power will the NDIA be granted before we get essential powers to hold them accountable to basic tenets like procedural fairness?
#Auspol #NDIS
What isn't in it will be as telling as what is.
How much more power will the NDIA be granted before we get essential powers to hold them accountable to basic tenets like procedural fairness?
#Auspol #NDIS
Friendly reminder that “NDIS integrity” is a false promise until participants can dispute Section 46 determinations that they have misused funds.
No government acting in good faith should fear scrutiny of whether NDIS debts are both lawfully and fairly raised.
#Auspol #NDIS
No government acting in good faith should fear scrutiny of whether NDIS debts are both lawfully and fairly raised.
#Auspol #NDIS
Nothing says “solidarity” with NDIS participants like Labor running to Sky News with the unofficial scoop on new NDIS legislation ‘cracking down’ on fraud to whip the general population into a… | Cat ...
Nothing says “solidarity” with NDIS participants like Labor running to Sky News with the unofficial scoop on new NDIS legislation ‘cracking down’ on fraud to whip the general population into a frenzy....
www.linkedin.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Reposted by Cat Walker
Relying on algorithms to assist NDIS support planning can cause significant harm to people living with disability, says Dr Georgia van Toorn from UNSW’s School of Social Sciences www.unsw.edu.au/arts-design-...
Automating NDIS support planning can dehumanise and harm people living with disability
www.unsw.edu.au
November 18, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Relying on algorithms to assist NDIS support planning can cause significant harm to people living with disability, says Dr Georgia van Toorn from UNSW’s School of Social Sciences www.unsw.edu.au/arts-design-...
Reposted by Cat Walker
Government using machine learning to help create draft plans for NDIS participants, documents reveal www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Government using machine learning to help create draft plans for NDIS participants, documents reveal
Exclusive: NDIA defines machine learning as a subset of AI that uses algorithms to learn from data and make decisions or predictions
www.theguardian.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Government using machine learning to help create draft plans for NDIS participants, documents reveal www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
"I will introduce a bill that strengthens the NDIA and the #NDIS Commission’s hand... Our goal [is] to create an integrated system where compliance is easy and non-compliance is hard."
Only Commission measures were consulted on. What NDIA plans are they sitting on?
s46 review rights, now.
#Auspol
Only Commission measures were consulted on. What NDIA plans are they sitting on?
s46 review rights, now.
#Auspol
Friendly reminder that “NDIS integrity” is a false promise until participants can dispute Section 46 determinations that they have misused funds.
No government acting in good faith should fear scrutiny of whether NDIS debts are both lawfully and fairly raised.
#Auspol #NDIS
No government acting in good faith should fear scrutiny of whether NDIS debts are both lawfully and fairly raised.
#Auspol #NDIS
Nothing says “solidarity” with NDIS participants like Labor running to Sky News with the unofficial scoop on new NDIS legislation ‘cracking down’ on fraud to whip the general population into a… | Cat ...
Nothing says “solidarity” with NDIS participants like Labor running to Sky News with the unofficial scoop on new NDIS legislation ‘cracking down’ on fraud to whip the general population into a frenzy....
www.linkedin.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Friendly reminder that “NDIS integrity” is a false promise until participants can dispute Section 46 determinations that they have misused funds.
No government acting in good faith should fear scrutiny of whether NDIS debts are both lawfully and fairly raised.
#Auspol #NDIS
No government acting in good faith should fear scrutiny of whether NDIS debts are both lawfully and fairly raised.
#Auspol #NDIS
Nothing says “solidarity” with NDIS participants like Labor running to Sky News with the unofficial scoop on new NDIS legislation ‘cracking down’ on fraud to whip the general population into a… | Cat ...
Nothing says “solidarity” with NDIS participants like Labor running to Sky News with the unofficial scoop on new NDIS legislation ‘cracking down’ on fraud to whip the general population into a frenzy....
www.linkedin.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Reposted by Cat Walker
International Day of People With Disability is coming up, and as a rural non-binary person with disability who works in disability support I would like to suggest your organisation please invite me to speak (or at least invite me to the brunch)
November 6, 2025 at 9:08 AM
International Day of People With Disability is coming up, and as a rural non-binary person with disability who works in disability support I would like to suggest your organisation please invite me to speak (or at least invite me to the brunch)
Reposted by Cat Walker
While I appreciate the aim of these efforts to use AI to simplify reporting of human rights breaches, I think it fundamentally misses the fact there is a psychological component to seeking justice: most victims want to be heard *by other people* www.justice.org.au/national-jus...
National Justice Project leads global discussion on AI and justice at the United Nations | National Justice Project
The National Justice Project presented at a United Nations conference, showcasing its proposal for an AI-powered platform to improve justice.
www.justice.org.au
November 6, 2025 at 10:15 AM
While I appreciate the aim of these efforts to use AI to simplify reporting of human rights breaches, I think it fundamentally misses the fact there is a psychological component to seeking justice: most victims want to be heard *by other people* www.justice.org.au/national-jus...
Reposted by Cat Walker
ATO is paying private debt collector $42m to pursue taxpayers, including welfare recipients www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... cc. @maximumwelfare.bsky.social @jeremypoxon.bsky.social
ATO is paying private debt collector $42m to pursue taxpayers, including welfare recipients
The tax office’s increased reliance on Recoveriescorp has coincided with a spike in complaints to the watchdog
www.theguardian.com
November 2, 2025 at 2:40 PM
ATO is paying private debt collector $42m to pursue taxpayers, including welfare recipients www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... cc. @maximumwelfare.bsky.social @jeremypoxon.bsky.social
Reposted by Cat Walker
#NDIS strikes again:
Letter received today, October the 28th, dated the 16th, saying that new medical information and reports from therapists have to be received by the 30th.
This is one example of the impossible demands placed on disabled people by the NDIA, and we are powerless to stop it.
Letter received today, October the 28th, dated the 16th, saying that new medical information and reports from therapists have to be received by the 30th.
This is one example of the impossible demands placed on disabled people by the NDIA, and we are powerless to stop it.
October 28, 2025 at 2:04 AM
#NDIS strikes again:
Letter received today, October the 28th, dated the 16th, saying that new medical information and reports from therapists have to be received by the 30th.
This is one example of the impossible demands placed on disabled people by the NDIA, and we are powerless to stop it.
Letter received today, October the 28th, dated the 16th, saying that new medical information and reports from therapists have to be received by the 30th.
This is one example of the impossible demands placed on disabled people by the NDIA, and we are powerless to stop it.
Reposted by Cat Walker
“after inquiries from Guardian Australia […] she received a new NDIS plan including enough support worker hours to allow her to move back into the apartment and out of hospital”.
Shouldn’t need a media exposé to get the support people need
Shouldn’t need a media exposé to get the support people need
ah, we're back to NDIS fixing jurisdictional fights, plan delays and cuts via media
'‘I’m being punished’: Emily is healthy enough to leave hospital but she can’t because of NDIS funding cuts'
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
'‘I’m being punished’: Emily is healthy enough to leave hospital but she can’t because of NDIS funding cuts'
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
‘I’m being punished’: Emily is healthy enough to leave hospital but she can’t because of NDIS funding cuts
Government cuts to the NDIS are forcing some disabled Australians to choose between living at home in an unsafe environment or staying indefinitely in hospital
www.theguardian.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:01 PM
“after inquiries from Guardian Australia […] she received a new NDIS plan including enough support worker hours to allow her to move back into the apartment and out of hospital”.
Shouldn’t need a media exposé to get the support people need
Shouldn’t need a media exposé to get the support people need
Turns out those short funding periods were a budget measure endorsed by NDIA leadership back on 31 March 2025 and workshopped for legal defensibility to meet the intended May deadline sprung on #NDIS participants.
The follow-up I didn't get to ask the Acting CEO this week 👇
#Auspol #HarmCostsMore
The follow-up I didn't get to ask the Acting CEO this week 👇
#Auspol #HarmCostsMore
#harmcostsmore #ndis #auspol | Cat Walker
Last week, FOI documents confirmed what everybody consulted on an understanding of 12mth funding periods being the default said back in May.
Three-month default* funding periods DID NOT come from us....
www.linkedin.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Turns out those short funding periods were a budget measure endorsed by NDIA leadership back on 31 March 2025 and workshopped for legal defensibility to meet the intended May deadline sprung on #NDIS participants.
The follow-up I didn't get to ask the Acting CEO this week 👇
#Auspol #HarmCostsMore
The follow-up I didn't get to ask the Acting CEO this week 👇
#Auspol #HarmCostsMore
Reposted by Cat Walker
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said the ATO had failed to learn from the robodebt scandal by using strong-arm tactics against vulnerable people www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
ATO rebuked by tax watchdog for using debt collectors on people ‘doing the right thing’
Inspector general of taxation and ombudsman says she is receiving an ‘increasing number’ of complaints about tax office
www.theguardian.com
October 27, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said the ATO had failed to learn from the robodebt scandal by using strong-arm tactics against vulnerable people www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Cat Walker
And why did the ATO go this route?
Because none of the #Robodebt6 are locked up
Because none of those bastards, who knew what they were doing was wrong, immoral, and illegal, not one of them has faced justice
So, @albomp.bsky.social when do the prosecutions start? Because this isn't going away
Because none of the #Robodebt6 are locked up
Because none of those bastards, who knew what they were doing was wrong, immoral, and illegal, not one of them has faced justice
So, @albomp.bsky.social when do the prosecutions start? Because this isn't going away
October 28, 2025 at 7:32 AM
And why did the ATO go this route?
Because none of the #Robodebt6 are locked up
Because none of those bastards, who knew what they were doing was wrong, immoral, and illegal, not one of them has faced justice
So, @albomp.bsky.social when do the prosecutions start? Because this isn't going away
Because none of the #Robodebt6 are locked up
Because none of those bastards, who knew what they were doing was wrong, immoral, and illegal, not one of them has faced justice
So, @albomp.bsky.social when do the prosecutions start? Because this isn't going away
Reposted by Cat Walker
They are already slashing away at NDIS plans in ways they claim they are not.
October 25, 2025 at 11:16 AM
They are already slashing away at NDIS plans in ways they claim they are not.