ウィスパリング同時通訳研究会コミュのFuture of the NDIS - Announcement from Minister for the NDIS, Stuart Robert MP

Hi, Stuart Robert's my name - the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Last November I gave a speech that outlined the Government's plan to deliver on the promise of the NDIS and to ensure its long-term sustainability.

Since that time a lot has happened, not least of all the impact of COVID on the lives of all of us but importantly on people with disability, their family, carers and all Australians.

It's been significant.

Now our focus since early 2020 has been on ensuring Participants remain safe and continue to receive the essential supports that they rely on but at the same time we've continued to deliver on our commitment on producing and delivering a world-leading NDIS.

As of the first of July this year the NDIS is now available right across Australia.

We now have more than 400,000 Australians, with disability, with an NDIS plan.

175,000 of those are receiving supports for the very first time.

Overall this is an increase of more than 100,000 Participants in the last 12 months.

We've also continued to deliver significant improvements in waiting times and clearing backlogs.

The average number of days to make an access decision is four times faster than 12 months ago.

The average number of days to receive a first plan is just 67 days, 50 percent lower than 12 months ago.

And wait times for children are even lower at 42 days.

Unfortunately, the impact of the Coronavirus has meant that we've had to now delay the consultation on the changes to the NDIS, that have been recommended by a review conducted by Mr. David Tune.

The decision to delay, of course, was based on advice from people with disability and the disability sector that everyone's focus and rightly so, was on dealing with the immediate impact of the Coronavirus.

However, we remain absolutely committed to ensuring that consultation with people with disability and the broader disability community on the proposed improvements to the NDIS occurs.

So today to start this conversation I'm pleased to release the Government response to the Tune Review.

Government supports or supports in principle all of Mr Tune's recommendations and over the next six months the Government, the Department of Social Services, and the National Disability Insurance Agency will continue to consult with you on the implementation of these recommendations.

Later in 2020 we'll also release draft changes to the NDIS Act, to get your feedback on them.

Our aim is to introduce amendments to the Act early next year, to take effect from the first of July next year.

Now a key amendment will be to legislate the NDIS' Participant Service Guarantee which will start to set new services and standards, and time frames for decision making by the NDIA.

Now despite the delay to the legislation due to the Coronavirus, the NDIA will implement and report on the Participant Service Guarantee from 1 July 2020.
This means it's already in action.

The NDIA's new Corporate Plan includes a new Participant Service Charter and Participant Service Improvement Plan which will set out how the Agency will deliver on the Participant Service Guarantee.

Together these initiatives will make the NDIS simpler, easier, and more reliable for people seeking access to the Scheme and for Participants to use the Scheme, once they're in it.

The Agency's commitment is to provide a service that is transparent, responsive, respectful, empowering, and importantly connected.

The Participant Service Guarantee sets clear time frames for the Agency to make decisions so it's easier for you to navigate the Scheme and to have greater certainty about how long, long-term decisions will take.

Over the coming 12 months we'll also work closely with you to deliver a range of improvements to your NDIS experience.

We're working to replace existing processes with a simpler and fairer approach to decide if someone is eligible for the NDIS, and to determine their plan and its budget.

We'll do this by introducing Independent Assessments, paid for by the National Disability Insurance Agency.

Independent Assessments will provide an objective, unbiased approach to understanding how well a person is able to function at home and in the community as well as the overall impact their disability has on their life.

We'll use standardised assessment tools, independently administered by experts, like Occupational Therapists, by Physiotherapists, Psychologists and other health care professionals.

Assessments will be completed when Participants seek access to the Scheme and when changes in a Participant's life means their plan may need to be updated.

The approach to assessment and the assessment instruments that will be used will be tailored for different age groups and Participants will receive a personalised plan budget, informed by their Independent Assessment, ensuring funding is equitable and better reflects Participant's unique needs.

And when that time comes, we'll also support Participants to have greater flexibility over their plan budget.

After all, they know what suits them best.

We'll move away from predetermined plan lengths, dictated by arbitrary dates.

Instead, plans will be based on life stages like: starting school or moving out of home.

The NDIA will frankly check in with Participants on their progress to make sure they're getting the most out of their plan and it continues to meet their functional capacity and needs.

These changes will also be supported by clear and accessible information about the NDIS and new easy to use and more informative Operational Guidelines.

For Participants and people applying for the NDIS, these changes will deliver significant improvements, in-line with the original intent of the NDIS, recommended by the Productivity Commission back in 2011.

People applying for the NDIS will spend less time and money getting reports to demonstrate the impact of their disability, instead they'll have access to free Independent Assessments, that focus on the person, their functional capacity, and their strengths.

Planners and Local Area Coordinators will focus on helping Participants to use their plan budget and connecting them to their community and mainstream services.

Instead of feeling like a negotiation for each and every additional support item, planning meetings will become a conversation about how Participants can make the most of their flexible NDIS plan budget and to meet their needs and achieve their goals.

We won't deliver these improvements all at once.

There's still work to do in design and implementing these changes but we are absolutely committed to working with you and the entire disability community to get these changes right.

We'll continue to test and get feedback directly from Participants about all the ways we can make the Scheme work better.

We'll also continue to make improvements to the Scheme and we'll tell you when we’ve made these changes.

Together we are building a better NDIS, a successful Scheme that will be here for generations of Australians to come.

And I want all Australians to be exceptionally proud of the NDIS and we want you to be proud of the way we're delivering it.

Because the scheme is after all, all about you.