Overview
The Australian Government has invested $63.8 million in the NDIA to implement a new lifetime planning approach.
This initiative will focus on finding ways to make plans more flexible so they can meet the changing needs of participants and families over their lifetime.
This may include:
- outcomes and transition planning in the early childhood pathway (for children under 9 years old)
- planning for changing life circumstances
- building independence through better connections between the NDIS and other government and community services.
What we know so far:
- Participants and their families don’t have clear information about plans, including what funding should be used for and how to use it flexibility to achieve goals.
- Conversations between the NDIS and participants and their families are not focused on how to reduce their need for funded supports by building capacity and accessing other supports and services in their communities.
- It’s difficult to measure and understand if early intervention, particularly for children, is working well.
- Participants and their families are concerned that if their NDIS funding reduces, or they stop accessing the NDIS, they will find it hard to access supports again in the future.
The initiative will look at ways we can:
- Make sure participants receive the funding for supports and services they need when they need them.
- Have a clear definition of ‘early intervention’ and improve transition planning.
- Support people with disability to access information and use mainstream and community supports whether they are a NDIS participant or not.
- Develop early intervention pathways, with a focus on early childhood, for children under 9.
- Have accountability for providers delivering capacity building supports to show the outcomes that result from the services they provide.
Next steps
We will provide updates on the progress of this initiative and any opportunities to share your feedback.
Latest news
Media release: Getting the NDIS budget back on track – 9 May 2022
Participate
If you are interested in getting involved in co-designing improvements to the NDIS, you can sign up to Participant First.
Participants, family members and carers will be paid for participating in accordance with our Participant Engagement Payment Policy.
Contact
For more information, please contact [email protected]