The Newcastle-based president of Polio Australia is scathing of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, saying all survivors will soon be ineligible because they are aged over 65.

Former NSW Liberal Senator John Tierney contracted polio from a doctor in 1946, a decade before the vaccine.

Today is World Polio Day and Dr Tierney is calling on the Federal Government to fund special programs for survivors to help them self-manage the condition.

He said the disease may have been eradicated in Australia thanks to vaccinations, but its effects still live on in 400,000 survivors.

Dr Tierney said he has been lobbying Canberra for more than seven years.

"And then they said a few years ago, we've got this 'you beaut' scheme coming in, that will fix your problem - it's called the NDIS," he said.

"But I'm not eligible because they cut out everyone over 65.

"When this NDIS rolls out right across Australia, it will be the 65th anniversary of the vaccine and, therefore, we're all over 65 and all the polio survivors will not be eligible.

"Now, that's a very cruel blow."

He is calling on the government to start funding support services for sufferers, so they can self-manage the effects of the disease.

He said the condition needs to be carefully managed as people age, and there is an urgent need for more awareness of its effects later in life.

He has praised Rotary Australia, which is funding a series of workshops to teach people about polio and what treatments are available.

"But what's really also needed is funding from the government.

"It needs to be from the government because of the scale of the money that's needed, to assist Australia's 400,000 polio survivors to better self-manage their condition."