Category Disability

On the cusp – What’s holding back SDA?

0 Comments read Disability, Features, NDIS

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 07.07.2022 (The Urban Developer): Delays in funding approvals, rising vacancy rates and lack of clarity on demand for specialist disability accommodation (SDA) are among the challenges facing providers and investors in the sector. By 2027, the specialist disability accommodation asset class is projected to be valued at around $12 billion.

Seventy-eight percent of SDA providers said the time taken by the National Disability Insurance Agency to make SDA decisions was extremely challenging while 48 per cent said it took at least six months to fill a single vacancy. The recent findings, by the Summer Foundation and Housing Hub, surveyed providers representing about half the total current value of the SDA market—approximately $1.5 billion.

“Any providers mobilising new tenancies for SDA participants [people with disability qualifying for specialist housing paid for by the National Disability Insurance Scheme] over the past 18 months would have experienced significant vacancies, especially those providing single residency high physical support (HPS) apartments,” AccessAccom’s managing director Matthew Valenti says.

On the cusp – What’s holding back SDA

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© Copyright Neena Bhandari. All rights reserved. Republication, copying or using information from neenabhandari.com content is expressly prohibited without the permission of the writer and the media outlet syndicating or publishing the article.

For Indigenous people – Is the NDIS lost in translation?

0 Comments read Disability, Indigenous, NDIS
Joseph Archibald, Manager Aboriginal Service Development at Windaan, which services the Gumbaynggirr, Dunghutti and Birpai Nations that covers the mid-north coast of NSW. Photo Credit: ©Windaan

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 07.07.2022 (Hireup News): For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a disability, there are multiple obstacles when trying to access the right NDIS supports. That’s according to Joseph Archibald, Manager Aboriginal Service Development at Windaan, who says a lack of trust and understanding of the scheme, along with the scarcity of culturally appropriate services, are the main barriers.

“For example, a family has had three members on NDIS plans for the past three years, but they haven’t utilised a single dollar from any of the plans. They don’t have a trusted relationship with any of the services within the community, where they live, so they don’t reach out to them,” says Archibald. “When they have reached out to services, the conversation isn’t translated or articulated in a way they can relate to, so no progress is made.”

Windaan services the Gumbaynggirr, Dunghutti and Birpai Nations that covers the mid-north coast of NSW, providing services in remote, regional and interstate locations.

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How Accessible Are Apartments and Do They Stack Up?

0 Comments read Disability, Environment & Development, Features

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 27.06.2022 (The Urban Developer): Accessibility in multi-residential apartment buildings has been wanting, but now developers and architects are incorporating features to make units more liveable for everyone. However, requirements of additional space and automation come at a cost.

“An additional 15 per cent floor area internally is required to fit all of the additional spatial requirements in a high physical support unit,” says Thirdi group’s general manager Ashleigh Button. “In a market where construction costs are rising, every square metre counts. So, spatial constraint is the biggest challenge to incorporate accessibility.”

Access needs in the residential market encompass a larger cohort—people with disabilities, older Australians and families. “We are seeing an overlap between general liveability and disability design in apartment buildings,” says Allen Jack Cottier Architects’ director Brian Mariotti.

How accessible are apartments and do they stack up?

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© Copyright Neena Bhandari. All rights reserved. Republication, copying or using information from neenabhandari.com content is expressly prohibited without the permission of the writer and the media outlet syndicating or publishing the article.