NDIS gives people with disability more choices and control over the supports they receive. Under the NDIS, 140,000 people in NSW will receive disability support, including 95,000 existing service recipients. To make this happen, $6.4 billion will be spent on disability support in NSW.
NDIS is a new way of funding disability services and supports in Australia. Highlights of NDIS include:
- Moving away from eight separate State/Territory funding schemes to one uniform, national scheme;
- Changing from block funding for service providers through government, to individualised funding for people with disability based on individual needs assessments; and
- Leaving behind the old welfare and charity model and replacing it with a legislatively guaranteed “insurance” model; whereby all Australians who meet the eligibility criteria are legally entitled to NDIS funding for all ‘necessary and reasonable’ supports.
Timeframe of NDIS roll-out in NSW
The NDIS is scheduled to roll out in NSW over two years between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2018. Your access and start time with the NDIS depends on the area you live in.
You will be able to receive support from the NDIS from 1 July 2016 if you live in the following areas: Central Coast, Hunter and New England, Nepean Blue Mountains, Northern Sydney, South Western Sydney, Southern NSW, and Western Sydney.
You will be able to receive support from the NDIS from 1 July 2017 if you live in the following areas: Illawarra Shoalhaven, Mid North Coast, Murrumbidgee, Northern NSW, South Eastern Sydney, Sydney, Western NSW, and Far West.
Eligibility for receiving NDIS funding
If you have already been receiving specialist disability supports like supported accommodation, day program or case management services you will be transferred to the NDIS in a straightforward way in the first 6 months after its rollout in your area.
If you are occasionally receiving specialist disability support, or for a specific/short amount of time each week, such as respite care or community care programs, you will be assessed by the NDIS when it becomes available in your area in order to determine what types of support you might be eligible for.
If you are not currently receiving disability support from the NSW Government and are in immediate need of assistance, you can still access the NDIS when it starts in your area, if you are eligible.
The services and equipment NDIS will provide
The NDIS provides ongoing funding for all ‘reasonable and necessary’ disability equipment, care and support services. The National Disability Insurance Act, passed by the Commonwealth Parliament in 2012, sets out guidelines to help in decision on available funding types. Generally if eligible, the supports and services provided need to assist a person in:
- Achieving goals;
- Becoming as independent as possible;
- Developing skills for day-to-day and independent living;
- Participating in the community; and
- Working and skills for employment.
In practice, this means providing support, as and if required, in areas including:
- Mobility;
- Communication;
- Self-care and self-management;
- Social interactions;
- Learning; and
- Capacity for social and economic participation.
When thinking about and planning for your own individualised NDIS plan, you need to organise a preplan and consider all of your daily activities and the aids, equipment, training and/or support that would make your life easier, whether currently provided or not.
Who decides what is ‘reasonable and necessary’?
According to the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), ‘reasonable and necessary’ means the NDIS will provide individual participants with whatever is necessary to achieve their life goals and aspirations and participate in the community to the fullest extent possible, whilst at the same time ensuring the funded support must represent “value for money” – meaning the costs of the support are reasonable, relative to both the benefits achieved and the cost of alternative support.
Commonly available disability supports and services the NDIS covers include aids and equipment, home and community care, personal care, domestic assistance, respite, home and vehicle modifications and community access. However, supports which are already available from other mainstream services, including health, housing, education and aged care sectors, are most unlikely to be covered by the NDIS.
If I was approved with NDIS funding, who would be eligible to manage my funding and plan?
Registered providers of disability services and/or supports can also be registered Plan Management Providers, but they need to be able to demonstrate that there is no conflict of interest. It is estimated that around 10% of participants may select this self-management option.
Can I choose CASS Care to manage my funding and plan?
Yes, our organisation, CASS Care, has been approved to be a NDIS provider. The registration number is: 68359785. You are welcome to approach CASS Care to discuss your funding and plan management options.
Will NDIS funding have impact on access to Centrelink subsidies?
There are no changes to arrangements in relation to the Disability Support Pension as a result of the NDIS. This, along with other income support and payments, such as Carer Payment, Carer Supplement, Carer Allowance and the Disability Support Pension, are outside and entirely separate from the NDIS.
