What is the NDIS?

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was established in 2013 and is a new way of assisting people with a disability to get the support they need, achieve their human rights, and participate in the social and economic life of the nation.

The NDIS’ central objective is for people with disabilities to achieve their life goals.

It is an insurance scheme that recognizes that investing in people with disabilities early improves individual and societal outcomes later in life. The main component of the NDIS is individualized packages of support to eligible people with disabilities. The NDIS is not means-tested. It is funded by all Australians and when rolled out by 2020 it is expected to provide about 460,000 Australians with a permanent and significant disability under the age of 65 with the supports they need to live life.

Key outcomes for NDIS participants include overall increased independence with greater participation in employment, the economy, society, and community life.

Objectives of the scheme outlined in the NDIS Act include:

supporting the independence and social and economic participation of people with disability
providing reasonable and necessary supports, including early intervention supports, for participants
enabling people with disabilities to exercise choice and control in the pursuit of their goals and the planning and delivery of their supports
facilitating the development of a nationally consistent approach to the access to, and the planning and funding of supports for people with disabilities and
promoting the provision of high-quality and innovative supports to people with disabilities.

A welcome change to disability services!

The NDIS represents a revolution in the way people with disabilities, their families, and carers access support. In the past, disability services were a patchwork of government services or state-based, block-funded charities and community groups. Up until the 1980s (and later) people with disabilities were shut away, put into asylums, institutions and separated from mainstream society. People with a disability did not have a say in what services they received, by whom, or where or when they received them.

In 2011, the Productivity Commission recommended that Australia replace the existing patchwork system with a national system capable of providing long-term, high-quality care, and support for all Australians who experience significant disabilities.

It described the existing system as ‘underfunded, unfair, fragmented, and inefficient’, and provided people with disability ‘little choice and no certainty of access to appropriate supports’.

The NDIS commenced in 2013 following an agreement between the Commonwealth Government and states and territories, with a planned 6-year rollout (it has since been slowed down due to administration issues, and disability sector readiness and transition issues).

NDIS enjoys bipartisan political support – one of the major reasons key reason it is up and running. It will cost approximately $22 billion per annum. It is being delivered by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

How the NDIS works

For way too long, people with disabilities have not had a say in what service they received, by whom, or where or when they were able to receive them. The NDIS radically changes this by giving choice and control to participants to make decisions about what services and supports will help them achieve their goals. Participants have:

the flexibility to choose how their plan is managed
a greater say in what service they want
a greater say in what providers they use
the option of having the services delivered to their preferred location, or at a time that better suits them.

The NDIS enables participants to make decisions about what reasonable and necessary services and supports will help them achieve their goals.

Control and Choice

At its heart, NDIS gives people with disabilities control and choice. Under the NDIS a person receiving an NDIS plan is known as a Participant.

Self-direction – the Participant makes decisions about what is important to them, to lead a good life.
How – Funding is held against an individualized Support Plan controlled by the Participant, not given to providers. The Participant has flexibility in how they use the funding.
What – Participant has greater say in what services they get, determined by their goals.
Who – Participants can choose who delivers their services. Previously they were told which provider they had to get services from.
Where and when – instead of having to go to the provider, they can choose to have the services delivered to them, or at a time that better suits them.

The NDIS helps people with disabilities to:

Access specialists as well as mainstream services and supports that are available for all Australians.
Access to community services and supports are available to everyone in a community, such as sports clubs, community groups, and libraries.
Maintain informal support arrangements with family and friends.
Receive reasonable and necessary funded supports that are related to a person’s disability and are required for them to live an ordinary life and achieve their goals.

Most importantly, assistance from the NDIS is not means-tested and has no impact on income support such as the Disability Support Pension or Carers Allowance.

What are reasonable and necessary supports?

The NDIS funds reasonable and necessary supports. NDIS Participants can have a range of supports funded in their plans, according to their situation, needs, and goals. They define reasonable and necessary supports as being those that will help you:

pursue your goals and aspirations
be more independent
take part in social activities and work
actively take part in the community
enjoy an ordinary life.

Specifically, they include:

help with personal care and assistance activities
transport to help you participate in the community, social, economic, and daily life activities
accommodation services
living skills such as shopping, cooking, and self-management
access to social and community activities and events, connect with support groups and mentors
help at work or with studies to allow you to successfully get or keep a job
therapeutic supports like physiotherapy, occupational therapy, communication, and speech therapy
improved relationships, behaviour management with monitoring and intervention
health and wellbeing including exercise and diet
assistive technology, aids, or equipment to help you do things more independently
home modifications and mobility equipment to help you to get about more easily and allow you to remain in your own home
respite services and supports, other supports for family and carers
vehicle modifications to make it easier to get around.

Where is the NDIS available

The NDIS is being rolled out across Australia. The NDIA has a calendar and maps of the locations which are due to be rolled into the National Disability Insurance Scheme.