Co-design Advisory Group: April 2025

Meeting Summary

This is a summary of the NDIS Co-design Advisory Group (CAG) meeting on 4 April 2025.

Chairperson

Skye Kakoschke-Moore, Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA).

Welcome and actions

Skye led the meeting and welcomed new members from National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) and Inclusion Australia.

The NDIA addressed actions from previous meetings:

  • The revised Terms of Reference has been finalised and shared.
  • New contracts for all Disability Representative and Carer Organisation (DRCO) members on the CAG are now in place.
  • Meeting placeholders have been shared for the year. Including a proposed in-person meeting in Melbourne in October 2025.

Department of Social Services co-design agenda  

  • The Department of Social Services (DSS) talked about their plan for developing the new NDIS rules, as outlined in their new Engagement Strategy .
  • Members appreciated the opportunity to better understand DSS’ plan and ask questions.
  • Members discussed the importance of telling people what has happened with their feedback, particularly if it leads to different outcomes.

Co-design reset

The NDIA talked about the co-design reset, which was in response to feedback from the sector. People said the current approach is:

  • Time-consuming
  • Information-heavy
  • Not allowing enough opportunities for meaningful co-design
  • Needing to involve more people and hear more diverse voices.

The co-design reset will focus efforts on the priority scheme reforms for 2025, in preparation for the New Planning Framework. This will be done primarily through four working groups:

  • Assessments and Budgeting
  • Participant Pathway Experience
  • Navigators and
  • Participant Safeguarding.

The following working groups will pause:

  • Integrity
  • Home and Living
  • Workforce Capability.

Feedback on changes

Meetings were held with different groups to explain the co-design reset, including participants, DRCOs, and the Independent Advisory Council (IAC). Feedback has been mainly positive: 

  • People support reducing the workload on the sector.
  • There is appreciation for more focused co-design.
  • Some were disappointed with how the reset was communicated.
  • There are concerns about what this means for their future involvement.

The NDIA have been talking directly with participants to help explain the changes and how they can stay involved in co-design and other engagement activities.

Co-design Working Groups participant workshops

The NDIA shared feedback from recent workshops with NDIS participants involved in the co-design working groups. This included four themes around:

  • Accessible meetings.
  • How the meetings are run.
  • How the group members work together.
  • How and what the Agency communicates.

The feedback will be part of a new continuous improvement process that is being developed, to outline what happens with feedback we receive. This will be shared with members before the next CAG meeting.

The NDIA discussed work by the Office of the Participant Advocate (OPA) to support participant engagement and capability including:

  • Regular contact with participants of the working groups.
  • Inductions and support to answer questions and gather feedback on their experiences.
  • Exploring setting up an alumni group to learn from the experience of past participants.

Co-design methodology discussion

This item was postponed. Members will gather insights from their organisations. The group shared the following in advance:

  • Despite genuine intentions to co-design, there are often barriers in government that can’t be avoided.
  • The NDIA has made progress in increasing co-design capability and understanding, but there are still questions around how this is shared and understood by the public.
  • The need to clarify terms such as power sharing, partnerships, and decision-making, so everyone has the same understanding.

Co-design with communities not always heard

In February, the group discussed how to better engage with communities not always heard, noting:

•    We need a clear plan to better understand and engage with different people within these communities.
•    We need to find out who among these communities is often heard, sometimes heard, rarely heard, and never heard. The group supported this idea.

The group discussed the importance of engaging with people who are:

•    Trying to access the scheme
•    Not eligible
•    Facing barriers to engaging.

Members highlighted the challenges faced by cultural and marginalised groups in both engaging with the NDIS and taking part in the co-design process.

Members were asked to share any existing resources on engaging with diverse communities, to support inclusive practice.

Next meeting

Tuesday 17 June 2025, 1:00-3:00pm AEST.

Contact us

For more information about the Co-design Advisory Group, including membership and Terms of References, please visit the Co-design Advisory Group webpage.

If you have any feedback or questions about the Co-design Advisory Group, please email [email protected].