NDIS Mental Health Network Update - 10 December 2015

In this edition of Mental Health Australia’s NDIS Mental Health Network update, please find information about: 

• a national tender calling for Expressions of Interest to design and deliver NDIS peer education workshops
• the full roll out of NDIS in Tasmania
• a transcript of the NDIA’s webinar on provider readiness to engage with the NDIS
• Mental Health Carers Arafmi Australia key messages on the NDIS.

Calling for Expressions of Interest: NDIS peer education workshops
Mental Health Australia is excited to announce the opening of a national tender requesting Expressions of Interest to design and deliver peer developed and facilitated workshops that will help mental health consumers and carers to engage with the NDIS.

The successful consultant will develop and deliver a NDIS mental health peer education module in each state/territory, tailored to local conditions and designed to:

• improve understanding of the operation of the NDIS and the principles which underpin it among people with psychosocial disability and their carers 
• build the capacity of people with psychosocial disability and their carers to exercise choice and control
• encourage and enable people with psychosocial disability to move towards self-management, greater independence and meaningful community inclusion. 

The successful consultant will also establish mechanisms to enable effective re-delivery of the education module beyond the life of this project, for example through a train-the-trainer component delivered to peer workers, or through drawing on the skills of existing peer facilitators.

Expressions of Interest can be submitted electronically to ndis@mhaustralia.org by COB Friday 15 January 2015 (AEST). For further information and the full selection criteria click here.

These workshops are a core component of Mental Health Australia’s Mental Health Consumer and Carer Capacity Building Plan, which has been developed with the advice of the NDIS Mental Health Consumer and Carer Advisory Group through Mental Health Australia’s NDIS Capacity Building Project. This Project is funded through the Australian Government Sector Development Fund to build the capacity of mental health consumers, carers and service providers to engage with the NDIS. 

Full roll out of NDIS in Tasmania announced
On 3 December 2015, the Commonwealth and Tasmanian governments announced the next steps for the NDIS roll out in Tasmania. The NDIS will roll out progressively by age groups and is expected to be operating state-wide by July 2019, ultimately providing support to over 10,500 Tasmanians with disability.

More information on Tasmania’s NDIS transition can be found on the NDIS website (click here).
 
Transcript of NDIS webinar on provider readiness
The NDIA hosted a webinar on provider readiness to engage with the NDIS on Tuesday 24 November 2015. The webinar included a panel discussion about providers’ experiences in preparing for the NDIS.

A transcript of the webinar is available on the NDIS website (click here).

Mental Health Carers Arafmi Australia (MHCAA) key messages on the NDIS
Together with their member organisations, MHCAA have developed some key messages around the NDIS. They have called on the Australian Government to ensure the human rights of carers are upheld under the NDIS.

More information on MHCAA’s key messages around the NDIS can be found in the November 2015 Special Edition of MHCAA E-News (click here).

Please share your NDIS story
Mental Health Australia is very interested in hearing about your experience with the NDIS, whether you are a person experiencing psychosocial disability, a carer of someone with a psychosocial disability or a service provider.  Your experience helps us form a comprehensive picture of the impact of the NDIS. This information helps us make sure we’re informing government of the right ways to improve the NDIS to make sure you can make the most out of it. So please share your story with us by emailing ndis@mhaustralia.org. 

Stay in Touch
To stay up to date between NDIS Mental Health Network Updates, make sure you like Mental Health Australia’s Facebook page by visiting https://www.facebook.com/AUMentalHealth. 

If you have any questions about the above please email Emma Coughlan at ndis@mhaustralia.org. 

If you would like to subscribe to receive this newsletter, please visit https://mhaustralia.org/form/sign-our-newsletters.