Posts tagged NDIS

Why are First Nations Australians less likely to have a self-managed NDIS Plan?

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 14.07.2022 (Hireup News): Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are less likely to have a self-managed NDIS plan than a plan-managed or an NDIA-managed plan, according to Indigenous disability providers. Self-management offers participants greater control over their funding and choice of supports and services. It allows the flexibility to purchase services and products from providers that are not NDIS registered, for example.

So, what is keeping Indigenous participants from availing this option? “The scheme is complex enough to navigate for most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, let alone the idea of managing the payment for services and budgeting for it,” says Shanelle Beazley, sector development coordinator at the Kurranulla Aboriginal Corporation in Jannali, NSW.

Of the 19,556 participants who received an NDIS plan during the most recently reported quarter, 9.1 per cent identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders. Over the past two years, the proportion of participants who self-manage all or part of their plan has been stable at 30 per cent; those who use a plan manager has increased to 53 per cent; and those who have a fully NDIA-managed plan has decreased to 17 per cent.

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On the cusp – What’s holding back SDA?

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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For Indigenous people – Is the NDIS lost in translation?

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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