The Self-Management Advisory Group met for the fourth time on 24 June 2025.
The meeting was held online.
Focus of the meeting
The focus of the meeting was:
- Flexible budgets and plan management
- Services for one
- Self-management engagement presentation.
Flexible budgets and plan management
The NDIA presented information on plan management preferences and outlined that the key objectives are to understand how to better support participants to make informed decisions about their plan management preferences with the introduction of New Framework Planning.
The NDIA shared a high-level key journey moments summary across the participant experience to highlight where the plan preferences are going to be recorded. The four key journey moments include:
- Prepare for the support needs assessment
- Attend the support needs assessment meeting
- Receive their plan
- Plan implementation.
Key feedback from members included ensuring that participant preferences are recorded once the plan budget is available.
Services for one
The NDIA has commenced a project to understand the challenges participants and families are facing using Services for One arrangements.
Work across the NDIA to address included:
- Understanding the factors that enable choice, control and positive outcomes for participants who self-manage their plan and directly employ their own staff, and how to align these with the NDIA's integrity requirements and ATO, employment law, and Fair Work requirements.
- Improving guidance and resources to support participants and their families in confidently and effectively managing their own supports, in line with relevant policies and legislative obligations.
- Scope and implement improvements that strengthen self-management models, including arrangements where participants – supported by family members where relevant – directly employ staff, to better support sustainable and participant-led approaches.
The NDIA advised that additional work will be undertaken and further consultation with the Group will occur.
Self-management engagement presentation
The NDIA led consultation with the Group on an education program that the Agency will deliver with the aim of assisting participants to understand self-management.
The Agency advised there were updates to the engagement plan in consideration to previous feedback from the Group.
Further feedback was sought and included:
- Members provided suggestions to enhance the NDIA profile for self-management educational communications.
- Promotion of current resources in a concise delivery.
SMAG next meeting
The SMAG’s next meeting will be 12 August 2025.