Embedding people with disability and the NDIS in the community submission
This submission gives recommendations to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Review. It says how the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) practices can align with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
When we use the term ‘mainstream services’, this means other government funded services such as health and education.
The Independent Advisory Council (IAC) wrote this submission. When we say we, we mean the IAC.
Our recommendations
We recommended the following:
Establish a better framework between the NDIA and mainstream services.
Turbocharge community connection and involvement of people with disabilities in community.
Make sure children and young people are connected in community.
Make sure that local area coordinators (LAC) are the key links to local community for people with disabilities.
A closer look at our recommendations
Establish a better framework between the NDIA and mainstream services
The lack of communication and structure between the NDIA and mainstream services has created confusion for participants.
The Applied Principles and Tables of Support (APTOS) are not clear which causes confusion.
What needs to happen:
Upgrade the current APTOS to make it clearer.
Work with people with a disability to re-design the way the NDIA and mainstream services connect.
Use funding from the Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) to create new programs.
Turbocharge community connection and involvement of people with disability in community
Implementation of the NDIS saw a lot of programs and services stop. In some cases, these programs have not been re-established.
LACs began taking on planning roles instead of working with people with disabilities to link with services and community.
What needs to happen:
The NDIA needs to work closely with mainstream services like housing and education.
The role of the LAC needs to be re-designed and brought back to its original purpose.
More resources need to be put into the community sector and the disability workforce.
Make sure children and young people are connected in community
Children and young people thrive when they grow up in well supported families and are connected and involved in their local community.
The NDIA does not understand children and young people and focuses on medical and functional needs.
What needs to happen:
Support must focus on the strengths of family and children and be family centred.
Create a Children and Young People strategy.
NDIA needs to work closely with mainstream services like education.
Ensure that co-design includes children and young people.
Make sure that LACs are the key links to local community for people with a disability
LACs have not been implemented as intended and now focus mainly on planning.
LACs are being delivered through large providers with no previous connection to the community.
What needs to happen:
Create new models of funding programs.
Explore sharing funding with mainstream services to create new programs and pathways.
Re-design the LAC role to ensure it is community focused.