'We need to be the change – all of us' - Group member
What we talked about
Topic 1: New way of planning
- We heard the new way of planning will start to be implemented from the middle of 2026 and will be rolled out slowly. This gives us time to get it right.
- Under the new way of planning, NDIS participants will have a more flexible budget, informed by a support needs assessment.
- We will share what we have learned through our consultations about participant risk and safeguarding to support the implementation of the new planning approach.
What we heard
- More information is needed to understand what the new way of planning means for people, their communities and the sector.
- We need clearer information about what it means for participant budgets, budget flexibility and support lists.
- It is important the people doing support needs assessments meet with participants in person, where possible. Participants should be able to review their support needs assessment.
- Legally, people must be given a copy of their support needs assessment.
- The education and training for people who will be doing the support needs assessments will be very important.
Topic 2: Sector led co-design
- We shared a summary of the sector-led workshops held in August and September. These workshops were with the same people who attended workshops in June and July. Inclusion Australia also ran three workshops this time. The summary included:
- the number of workshops held
- groups of people who came to the workshops
- topics they talked about and common points we’re noticing
- feedback from the organisations running the workshops.
- We also shared key insights from previous workshops.
- We will run a 5th and final workshop with each organisation to thank people, share back key insights and give people a chance to ask questions.
What we heard
- A strong consistency in feedback from across the different groups.
- The importance of the right training for people who are supporting participants.
- It is very important training is delivered by people with disabilities.
- People understand safeguarding in varied ways. It is important to have a shared understanding of what safeguarding and risk is before moving forward with putting safeguards in place.
- Safety features are valuable, like a 'quick exit’ button on the website linked to safeguarding resources and information, to support people when they need it.
- We need to look at different levels of risk and how we work across agencies so we can respond quickly with practical support.
- Some workshop participants said, “for co-design you really have to be in the room with NDIA staff.” We need to be honest about the type of engagement we are doing.
- Our consultation approach is a good model for engaging with people and creating the foundations for co-design. It is important to have the consultation in smaller, targeted cohorts and not have NDIA in room when talking about the problem – next step is working jointly to co-design the solution. Transparency is very important.
What we agreed on
- Inviting the Branch Manager, New Framework Policy, to our next meeting to discuss New Framework Planning and links to Participant Safeguarding.
- The group will talk more about opportunities linked to what we have learnt from recent co-design and consultation.
Next meeting
- The Working Group will meet again on Tuesday, 21 October 2025, from 2-4pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Time).
Who we met with
Participants, Disability Representative and Carer Organisations, Independent Advisory Council and Reference Group members, subject matter experts and NDIA staff.