Co-design Advisory Group: 12 November 2025

Meeting Summary

This is a summary of the NDIS Co-design Advisory Group meeting on 12 November 2025.

Chairperson

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

Welcome

Skye welcomed members including:

  • Carolyn Tetaz, acting Branch Manager, Co-design, NDIA
  • Alex Rosenthal, Branch Manager, Engagement and Inclusion, NDIA
  • Larry Price, Director, Engagement and Inclusion, NDIA.
  • Jordan McArthur, Assistant Director, Engagement and Inclusion, NDIA.

Update on Engagement Framework

The Agency provided an overview of work to update the 2022 NDIA Engagement Framework and the intention behind revisiting the framework. 

The Agency would like to update the framework to:

  • Strengthen our commitment to co-design and engagement
  • Incorporate what we have learned about co-design and engagement since 2022
  • Better contextualise who, what, why, and how we engage
  • Help our teams think about how they approach engagement

  • Develop resources to help plan, prepare, deliver, and evaluate engagement. 

    Members were asked:

  • What they think should be the core purpose of our Engagement Framework?
  • Does explaining why, who, what, when, and how we engage provide a good overview?
  • What kinds of tools or resources would help bring this Framework to life?

What should be included

Members said the following should be considered in the update:

  • Greater clarity of why, who, what, when, and how we engage.
  • Commitment to engage with communities systematically underrepresented or disengaged due to language or access barriers.
  • Reference the evaluation process as an important step in closing the loop, (noting the Agency is looking to develop an Evaluation Framework).
  • Engagement principles are too focused on the Participant - NDIA relationship.
  • Approaches which enable grassroots organisations to engage on behalf of the NDIA.
  • Stronger emphasis on human rights, informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
  • Include the co-design statement from June 2024, with recommitment from the new Ministers, to drive accountability.
  • A strong, clear role for CAG in implementation and governance.
  • Articulation of, and commitment to, process-design principles.

Types of engagement

  • Clearly define the types of engagements, consistent with feedback from Council members and Disability Representative and Carer Organisations (DRCOs).
  • Use existing terminology and engagement spectrums to describe engagement the Agency does, such as the IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum.
  • Be clearer on co-design in the context of the partnership between the government and the disability community.
  • Consider ableism, systemic barriers and the proactive deliberate steps to redress power.
  • Be clear about what happens when transitioning between different types of engagement and what should happen if not everyone agrees. ‘Consensus is not when everyone agrees on the decision, but when everyone can live with the decisions made.’
  • Forms of engagement should not be ranked as superior, rather what form is appropriate.
  • Be transparent if the engagement approach changes and recognising that contribution is still valuable, even if it is not co-design.
  • We need tools and guidance around how scope is developed when engaging, and how to decide which type of engagement to use based on that scope.
  • Members emphasised some of the good things currently happening in the Agency noting there is not one approach that will suit every situation.

Reflection on co-design journey in 2025 

Members requested the final CAG meeting of the year include time for reflection to provide feedback on their experience on the CAG. Due to multiple apologies for this meeting, members agreed for this to be an introductory session for further follow up.

The NDIA gave an overview of the key work the CAG has done this year:

  • Finalised and published the Clear Horizon Codesign Evaluation Report
  • Renewed contracts for the four DRCO members
  • Updated the CAG Terms of Reference
  • Updated the CAG webpage on the NDIS website with meeting summaries, membership and updated Terms of Reference
  • Co-design Continuous Improvement Quarterly Reports and discussed the approach with colleagues from the Participant Outcomes, Evidence and Evaluation team
  • Began discussions around in person meeting, which has now been postponed to 2026.

The role of the Co-design Advisory Group

Members shared the following insights:

  • Recommitment to the agreed ways of working and power-sharing needed.
  • CAG should be involved in conversations in moments of change, not just evaluation.
  • Clarity of purpose matters e.g. confusion about the Implementation Steering Committee.
  • Members noted mapping out a strategic direction of the CAG would be helpful.
  • The CAG webpage is helpful in being transparent about our work.
  • Members would like to see a recommitment to the CAG, noting planned work of the CAG has been limited by some of the changes that have occurred. The CAG is still a good opportunity to observe what is happening from a different perspective.
  • Suggestion to add new members (for example sector co-chairs of the co-design working groups) to be more strategic about how co-design is being run.
  • Discussion around being more deliberate and strategic about how to co-design with different groups of people, and the diversity within those communities.
  • NDIA should provide information about status of paused co-design working groups. 

How the group meets

Members felt the CAG is functioning well and appreciates the Agency being conscious about power-sharing by rotating the chair role across members.

  • There have been challenges with coordinating meetings with busy schedules.
  • Members are happy to continue to meet in 2026. Suggestion to start with an in-person meeting in February 2026, to set positive framing to implement the new way of working.
  • 2026 meetings to be scheduled by the end of 2025, with placeholders for three hours.
  • No in-person meetings the same week, or either side of the DRCO Forum or QRF.
  • Melbourne Airport is a convenient location for people travelling from interstate.

Next meeting

The group agreed to cancel the December meeting. We will next meet in February 2026, as a proposed in person meeting. Members were comfortable with this approach.

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].