Reforming the disability ecosystem in Australia submission
This submission gives recommendations to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Review. It outlines how the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and mainstream services can give better support for people with disabilities.
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
Short term
We recommend that the Australian Government:
Use the National Cabinet as a forum to progress disability policy.
Create a national body to oversee and coordinate Australia’s Disability Strategy (ADS).
Co-design the program of funding for the ADS.
Review NDIS agreements between all mainstream services.
Create a national network of peer-led organisations to connect people with disabilities with each other and their communities.
Form an agreement between community organisations and government that focuses on social inclusion.
Long-term
We recommend that the Australian Government:
Make the ADS part of other government policy and plans. For example, include the ADS in the Closing the Gap Strategy or other policies.
Co-design priority reform areas with people disability, once there is a national coordinating body for the ADS.
Commit to rebuilding social inclusion.
Improve the evaluation process used as part of ADS reporting.
What we found in our research
Australian disability policy aims for the inclusion of people with disability in all parts of community life. This is hard to do because there are so many community and government services.
Connecting policy and practice on disability has been an issue for government and the community for a long time.
People with disabilities don’t have support outside the NDIS. All governments should make welcoming and inclusive communities for people with disability to thrive.
The Productivity Commission stated in 2017 that NDIS and community and other government services should work together. However, very little has changed since then.
More funding is needed for the ADS to meet its goals.
Many government programs have not helped people with disability as well as they should. This may be because they were not well planned or coordinated across governments.
Disability policy in Australia should be coordinated from one place. Some organisations have suggested a body such as a ‘Disability Inclusion Agency’ to coordinate policy. It would focus on lived experience, data, policy and connection with community and other government services.
Government is not engaging with people with disability and disability organisations as well as they should.