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Family Support: What The NDIS Will Fund
Families can play an important role in participants' lives — both as a critical relationship and as a source of care and support. Some participants and families may need assistance to sustain these relationships.
Participants may need additional support if their family and caring arrangements change. Participants and their families will discuss their goals with the NDIA as part of their planning conversation. The participant's plan will include the supports the Scheme will fund, and any other supports participants and their families may require from the community services system.
Supports Funded by the Scheme
The Scheme funds support that families need because of a family member's disability, as well as supports that enable sustainable taring by family members. This includes:
- Family support and counselling due to a family member's disability
- Building the skills and capacity of other family members to manage the impact of a participant's disability on family life
- Supports that increase the participant's independence, as well as supports that enable the participant to enjoy social and community activities independent of their informal carers
- Supports aimed at increasing the sustainability of family caring arrangements, including personal care and domestic assistance related to the person's disability
- Where a child's caring or living arrangement changes due to child protection order, the Scheme can continue to fund the Child's disability-related supports, such as aids and equipment, therapies, transport, or community access.
Supports funded by the community services system
The community services system continues to have responsibility for broad, population-wide programs and statutory services. This includes:
- Family support and counselling. Parenting skills programs and family relationships services
- All aspects of the statutory child protection system, including assessing and responding to suspected child abuse and neglect
- Arranging out-of-home care for children subject to child protection orders, including making these arrangements sustainable for children with disability
- Guardianship arrangements for people under 18 years of age.
How will a child with disability be supported if they move into out-of-home care?
State governments retain responsibility for protecting children's well-being.
This will include arranging out-of-home care for a child when required. State governments also need to ensure this care arrangement is appropriate and sustainable, including training carers, payments to foster carers, supervised contact, and so on.
The Scheme will continue to support the Child's disability-related needs, such as aids and equipment, support to access the community, and transport.
Generally, entering out-of-home care would be a significant change in a child's circumstances, and as a result, a child's individual plan would be reviewed. This discussion would include any changes to a child's nominees, as well as considering whether the Child's support needs have changed as a result of their change in caring arrangements.
What happens if the community services system doesn't fund the support I need?
The National Disability Insurance Scheme is the biggest social change Australia has seen in more than 30 years. It means people with a disability will have a direct say in their support arrangements. The idea is to create a new environment where people with disabilities can receive tailored support to achieve their goals and live more inclusive lives in their communities.
It also means a big change to the relationship between people with a disability, or NDIS participants, and the workers who support them. Participants will become more like 'customers', and the support industry will become even more service-oriented to meet the participants' specific requirements.
It will mean a stronger person-to-person approach, where support workers engage more closely with participants to help them meet their goals. This is what you know is a person-centred approach.
It can also mean that support workers will be more directly involved in making the NDIS support package work for each person and will have greater flexibility in the day-to-day decisions they make for people with disabilities.
Frequently Asked Questions by Staff
1. What does the NDIS mean to me?
The National Disability Insurance Scheme is the biggest social change Australia has seen in more than 30 years. It means people with a disability will have a direct say in their support arrangements. The idea is to create a new environment where people with disabilities can receive tailored support to achieve their goals and live more inclusive lives in their communities.
It also means a big change to the relationship between people with a disability, or NDIS participants, and the workers who support them. Participants will become more like 'customers', and the support industry will become even more service-oriented to meet the participants' specific requirements.
It will mean a stronger person-to-person approach, where support workers engage more closely with participants to help them meet their goals. This is what you know is a person-centred approach.
It can also mean that support workers will be more directly involved in making the NDIS support package work for each person and will have greater flexibility in the day-to-day decisions they make for people with disabilities.
2. Will this make a difference to the hours I work?
It depends on what you do, but in many cases, it could make a difference. As each plan is individualised, you may have the opportunity to maximise time with the person you support when they most need you, rather than being allocated a block of time that may not reflect their needs.
It can mean working fewer hours with one person but having a greater variety of clients. Because NDIS packages are aligned to each person's needs, they can differ on a case-by-case basis. There will be a greater need for disability practitioners; you will be working in a growing industry.
3. Will I have increased admin responsibilities?
It's likely the same as it is now. Just as the NDIS gives customers ownership of their individual support plans, the onus will also be on support workers to account for the time they spend with each person they support. You will have to use your time-management skills, and the relationship with the people you support will be on a more business-like footing. This can also mean greater efficiency in the service you deliver, and better outcomes for people with a disability.
4. Will I be able to keep supporting the clients I currently work with?
That is up to the people you support. They may wish to choose who they work with, so if you have a good relationship with them, you will likely continue to work together. Consistency is an important part of the support relationship, so where it is in the person's interest to keep working with you, they are likely to do so.
5. What about staff working now for government agencies? Will they have to leave and start working for a not-for-profit or a for-profit organisation?
We know that even before the NDIS, 73% of the disability workforce was already employed by not-for-profit service providers, with 22% employed by the Government and 5% by privately owned for-profit organisations. There are already about 960 not-for-profit service providers in Australia, so these are by far the biggest employers.
6. Is the NDIS going to cost more than the current disability systems to operate?
A 2010 Productivity Commission report found that Australia's disability services were inefficient, fragmented and unfair. The NDIS is being phased in at an estimated cost of $22 billion, but research says it will still be more cost-efficient in the long run.
7. Will all people with disabilities qualify for the NDIS?
No, there are specific criteria that applicants must meet, and the planners will assess this as potential participants apply for the Scheme. The Scheme aims to support people who have a permanent and significant disability.
8. Is it true that the NDIS support package is $35,000?
No, that is not true as packages vary significantly. During the planning period, participants and planners determine what is reasonable and necessary for each participant's support, which support clusters will be used, and how much funding each participant will receive. No two plans will ever have the same budget.
9. How do providers receive payments for services provided?
There are three main ways. If the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) or a Plan Management Provider is managing the funds, the provider can make a claim online, using the claim payment system (payment should be within 2 working days) or send a paper invoice to the NDIA (payment made within 30 days).
If the participant is self-managing the funds, the provider will invoice them directly. Providers will need to ensure the participant understands the terms (e.g., 7, 14, or 30 days) and their preferred payment method (e.g., credit card or EFT).
10. Will most of the disability service providers be NGOs?
The face of disability service in Australia is changing significantly. The Government will no longer play the same role in service provision; it will fund the Scheme, and the new community created by the NDIS will provide the services.
More for-profits are likely to enter the market, and there will be more competition between them, NGOs, and not-for-profits to provide better services as the market becomes more customerfocused.
11. Will the workforce become more casualised?
Currently, there is no definitive answer. As the outcomes of the person-centred approach become clearer, the effect on the workforce will become clearer.
However, initial indications are that experience and skills are valuable to a sector that is becoming more competitive and is predicted to double its workforce. Many participants prefer consistency in support.
12. What are my prospects for career advancement?
As practitioners engage with the NDIS, their skill sets are likely to increase. They are likely to acquire additional IT, time management, and people management skills. Their communication skills will also be vital to their role.
As the disability sector becomes more competitive, its workforce will become even more important to its success. Prospects for career advancement will likely be good for anyone working in this sector who has a strong customer focus.
13. What qualifications will be needed in the future?
For most disability support work, a Certificate III in Disability Services or similar will still be desirable. However, good communication skills and the ability to work with people with disabilities will also be essential.
Some people with disabilities are happy with staff having no formal qualifications, provided the worker is a good fit for them. As an organisation, we need to ensure that our staff keep each client safe whilst giving them as much choice as possible.
15. As the ND'S is implemented, will we be required to implement personcentred approaches and person-centred plans still? Also, will we be required to continue to develop Complex Health Care Plans?
The implementation of the NDIS will not change our application of person-centred approaches. The extent of our in-depth person-centred planning, however, will need to be led by the amount of involvement we have in someone's life.
For example, in shared supported accommodation, we would expect each person to have a person-centred plan. Where we are delivering two hours to someone to assist them in accessing the community, whilst we would use person-centred tools as an important approach in the delivery of our service, the NDIA individualised plan would suffice.
To support someone with complex health care needs, we first need to be clear about where our provider's responsibilities begin and end. We most certainly need to keep people safe, but we also need to ensure we are adequately funded to manage complex health care issues under the NDIS.
Work is currently developing a suite of documents (to be sent to the National Disability Business User Group) outlining the information we need to gather about our customers' pre-service to ensure we keep them and our staff safe.
16. Where and when is the NDIS rolling out in my area?
The NDIS is rolling out to all jurisdictions between July 2016 and June 2019. The details of when this occurs vary across states and territories, depending on agreements reached between each state or territory government and the commonwealth government.
For current dates and details of when the rollout will occur, please keep visiting the disability services intranet page or visit www.ndis.gov.au.
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