The National Disability Insurance Scheme

Scheme overview and implementation update

Presenter name Title

National Disability Insurance Agency

Date

The NDIS is a new way of delivering disability support

• Supports tailored to individual needs

• Insurance approach for more stable long term costs and better outcomes

• Choice and control is central

• Needs driven rather than rationed funding

• Delivered in local community

• Working towards national coverage

We launched the scheme on 1 July 2013

The legislation is the NDIS Act 2013Government agreements are signed• Council of Australian Governments signed intergovernmental

agreement in December 2012• Bilateral agreements were signed in April 2013• There are Heads of Agreement for full scheme in NSW, South

Australia, ACT, Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland

Local arrangements in place• The NDIA has seven regional offices across four launch locations

open as of 1 July• Our systems and processes were tested locally through site

rehearsals prior to launch• We have been focused on talking with people and providers at a

local level and will continue to do so over the period of launch

There are 7 launch sites being established over

the next 3 years

On 1 July 2013, the first stage of the NDIS commenced in• South Australia• Tasmania• The Hunter in NSW and• The Barwon area in Victoria

The ACT and NT will join the first stage on1 July 2014Western Australia will commence a two year launch from 1 July 2014

Our role 1. Delivering the national disability insurance scheme2. Building community awareness of disability3. Ensuring financial sustainability of the scheme4. Collecting, analysing and exchanging data 5. Developing and enhancing the disability sector6. Undertaking research related to disability and

supports

• Give effect to obligations under UNCRPD and certain obligations in other conventions

• Support independence, social and economic participation – not passive• Provide reasonable and necessary supports, including early intervention• Enable people to exercise choice and control in pursuit of goals, and in

planning and delivery of their supports• Facilitate nationally consistent approach to access, planning and funding of

supports• Promote provision of high quality, innovative supports to maximise

independent lifestyles and full inclusion in the community

Principles expand on the objects for implementation and guide administration

Principles and objects of the NDIS Act 2013 underpin delivery

A primary aim of the scheme is to increase participation • Consistent with UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities - aim to achieve full social and economic participation of people with disability

• Scheme design assumes people with disability will participate to the extent they are able

• Increased economic participation translates to better long term outcomes for individuals and communities

• Higher participation rates will permanently deal with social constraints of disability

• Scheme will work to ensure that other supports, such as employment assistance, that are provided by other systems are accessible

• Scheme will fund reasonable and necessary disability supports required to achieve participation

Feature Former system NDIS

Access criteria Vary from state to state Nationally consistent as set out in legislation

Choice and control Varies from state to state - most people have little say over the supports they receive

Individual has control over the type and mix of supports, delivery and how their funding is managed

Level of assistance Capped – people may be eligible but can spend years on waiting lists

Demand driven – people with disability get the support they need, when they need it, to make progress towards goals

Funding Multiple programs within and across governments

Single funding pool (pooling contributions from Commonwealth, States, Territories) administered by NDIA

How things are changing under the National

Disability Insurance Scheme

Accessing the scheme

• People with disability who meet the access requirements will become participants in the scheme

• NDIS has a wide gateway to introduce people to the scheme through multiple channels and touch points

• People can use MyAccess Checker to get an indication about whether they will be able to access assistance from the scheme

• Gradual intake of participants into the scheme, starting with people in launch locations

Early intervention requirements

You may meet the early intervention requirements if:

• You have a permanent impairment

And

• There is evidence that getting supports now (early interventions) will help you by either:

• Reducing how much help you need to do things now and in the future or

• Helping your family and carer to keep helping you

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Developing the Statement of Supports takes into accountSustainable informal care • Records informal care that will be provided• Talk with the family about sustainable

arrangements into the future. • Reasonable expectations of care by family

Optimise mainstream supports• Not funded by NDIS• Plan records nature, referral and support to

access to be provided• NDIS will not provide supports that should be

provided in mainstream

General supports Services provided by Agency e.g. • Provision of information • Local area co-ordination to assist person to

access mainstream or other community services

Identify the Reasonable and Necessary Supports• Provides funding for support reasonable and necessary support to achieve goals • Assist independence, social, economic, community participation• Effective or beneficial for the participant, having regard to current good practice

Management of funding for supports to be resolved with Participant

The type of funds management that the participant chooses can vary depending on their circumstances.

Different options can be chosen for different supports.

Plans may have a combination of the options as shown.

Agency can limit self management where financial or personal risk.

Self management

(by participant or nominee)

Agency Management

National Disability Insurance Agency

Plan Management

Provider

NDIA role to build individual, community and sector capacity• Practical Design Fund projects are available via our

website• My Choice, My Control, My Future: DisabilityCare

Australia conference on 23 and 24 June 2013. The proceedings are available on the NDIA website

• Sector development fund• Likely to be applied to needs of individuals,

community and provider readiness• Building on previous work by jurisdictions

• Roundtable discussions with the not for profit sector, stakeholders and key interest groups have taken place and more are planned

• Transition of people and programs into the scheme will be gradual to allow time to build capacity of individuals and sector

People from diverse backgrounds contributed to designSpecific activities that have included CALD community are:

• Small group sessions in the Barwon Area and Hunter Area

• Participation in the Alliance CALD roundtable

• Federation of Ethnic Communities Council Australia (FECCA) represented at Not For Profit with Minister Macklin

• Agency’s field testing of assessment process with CALD groups

Specific outcomes from these have been:

• Cultural sensitivity training for frontline staff

• Consultants engaged to assist in addressing the particular needs of CALD communities in launch sites including translated materials

• Ongoing engagement with CALD communities will occur.

People with disability from Indigenous backgrounds Indigenous people and organisations - a priority target group for engagement

Experience a significantly higher rate of disability compared to non-indigenous people

Recognised that many Indigenous people with disability do not identify as having a disability

Indigenous planners and LACs employed in each launch site to ensure scheme is accessible to Indigenous people

Scheme launch in Barkly region of NT in July 2014 – will help to inform future roll out to Indigenous people

First People’s Disability Network (Sector Development Fund

People with mental illness

• A person may meet the disability requirements if they have a permanent impairment due to a psychosocial disability

• NDIS will be responsible for non-clinical supports for participants with psychosocial disability. These could include:

• Support for community integration and day-to-day living • Therapy that would manage or reduce the functional impact of the

psychiatric impairment • Support to independently access and maintain participation in

mainstream community resources• Skills and capacity building at the community level• Supported residential accommodation that is non-clinical

Disability requirements

Accessing support from the scheme requires that:

• You have a permanent disability

• Your disability has a big impact on your day to day life and on your ability to participate in your community

• You are going to need supports for the rest of your life

Progress so far has been good

• Over 1,200,000 unique visitors to the website • The website receives between 2,000 and 5,000 visits each

day • More than 40,000 people have visited My Access Checker

with over 25,000 completing it• More than 2000 people have walked into NDIS shopfronts • Received close to 3000 access requests • Over 2,200 plans have commenced or completed• Those who have had their first planning session reported

a high level of satisfaction with the process

Key Achievements:• 116 staff on-boarded and ready

for 1 July 2013• 14% are people with lived

experience• Colac Office opened 5 months

ahead of schedule• Over 280 Registered Providers.• Over 500 people have

developed a plan

Simone, Lynne and Tina:

There is lots of work still to do

• Continued engagement with people, providers and the community

• Movement of National Office to Geelong• Building the capacity of Agency to respond to increase

in participants• Evaluation and feedback about the scheme including

preparation for independent evaluation of first stage• Preparation of 2014 launch sites (ACT, NT and WA) as

well as 2016 rollout in Queensland

Questions?