There’s been some big news lately in the Australian disability and community care sector.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme, or the NDIS, a proposed funding method that disability services across Australia have been campaigning for many years, with an official campaign being run over the past year.
The NDIS will be a modern, person-centred support system, helping hundreds of thousands of Australians with disability and their families to have the opportunity to participate actively in their communities by providing targeted supports aligned to need. everyaustraliancounts.com.au
Until recently, funding in Australia for people with a disability has been dependent on where the person lives, the kind of disability that they have and how they came to have it (for instance, if a person’s disability is attained by injury, they currently may be relying on worker’s compensation or private insurance in order to attain the support they need around the home and in the community). This can be difficult for people living with a disability, their families and carers as resources can run out quickly (for instance, a student may have a lot of support during primary school years, but much less while transitioning to high school) rather than a guaranteed supply of lifelong support. The NDIS will change this by providing more choice and will give people access to funding and support, wherever they choose to live in Australia.
(The NDIS) would be individualised and person-centred. Support would be based on the choices of person with a disability and their family. everyaustraliancounts.com.au
This is good news for those working in the sector. As resources strengthen, the person-centred approach (thinking beyond time given to just physical care, and more of a focus on a person’s social and cultural needs also) will become more widely used, which will lead to more jobs within the sector and more enriching work for those who are already a part of it.
The NDIS is being trialled across Australia at particular sites. In NSW, the NDIS will be trialled in the Hunter region from 1 July 2013, where 10,000 people who have a disability will go through new procedures to have their needs assessed and start to receive individual care and support packages.
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