‘This protest is now a public funeral’: Disability ‘sicko’ activists picket Shorten’s office over NDIS

Disability rights activists operating under the title of the Sicko Liberation Organisation picketed outside the office of NDIS Minister Bill Shorten last Thursday. 

“Ritalin has the mic right now,” said the organiser, leading a small huddle of aggrieved protesters who felt blindsided by Labor’s recent reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). 

After nearly 100 amendments, the final law will change how NDIS participants receive plan budgets, with many services altered or removed. The NDIS head will also have more power to prevent top-up payments on a participant’s budget. People with Disability Australia president Marayke Jonkers has said the changes would limit access to necessary support.