NDIS Capacity Building Project Update 10 – 27 May 2015

Please find below the latest NDIS Network Update. In this issue we discuss a recent Mental Health Australia NDIS Consumer and Carer Advisory Group Meeting; mental health papers published by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA); the National Disability Services (NDS) Innovation and High Performance Workshop; the NDS NDIS Provider Toolkit and measures relating to the NDIS in the Commonwealth Budget.

Mental Health Australia NDIS Consumer and Carer Advisory Group Meeting

Under its NDIS Capacity Building Project, Mental Health Australia has established a NDIS Consumer and Carer Advisory Group, comprising of mental health consumers and carers from each State and Territory. They provide a consumer and carer voice on NDIS development and implementation issues and pass NDIS information back to their networks.

On Wednesday 6 May, the group met to discuss three key issues:

• The Department of Social Services’ consultation on a proposed NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Framework (click here for more information);
• Draft Mental Health Australia NDIS Capacity Building Project Consumer and Carer Capacity Building Plan;
• and An update on consultations relating to the design of individual supports for people with psychosocial disability (click here for the project scope).

Notes on the key issues raised in the meeting will be made available on the Mental Health Australia website shortly.

NDIA Publishes Mental Health Papers

The NDIA has published two papers relating to integration of mental health in the NDIS, which are available on its website (click here).

Clinical psychologist and leading academic, Dr Paul O’Halloran, has written an introduction to the concept of holistic psychosocial disability support. This report recognises the need to integrate the principles of mental health recovery described in the National Recovery Framework, with the need to demonstrate that a person’s psychosocial disability is, or is likely to be permanent in order to access individualised funding through the NDIS.

Mind Australia also commissioned the University of Melbourne Centre for Mental Health to undertake a literature review that examines the current state of evidence relating to the impact of psychosocial disability in the context of the implementation of the NDIS Act 2013. The review was commissioned for the NDIS Independent Advisory Council and provided to government in August 2014.

Registrations Open for the NDS Innovation and High Performance Workshop

On 12 June, National Disability Services (NDS), the national peak for disability service provider organisations, is holding a workshop that will explore options for service and/or workforce reorganisation under the NDIS. At the conference, advocates of transformational social care models will present their international experience. This includes Care and Share Associates UK CEO, Guy Turnbull and Dan Mohr from the Vancouver Fifth Space project. Professor Bill Harley, from the Centre for Workplace Leadership, University of Melbourne will lead a session that tackles the question: ‘What can we learn from the history of high performance work in Australia - its successes and failures?’.

Details for the workshop include:

Date: 12 June 2015

Venue: Canberra and Melbourne

RSVP: Register online for this event ASAP as spaces are limited.

More information about the workshop is available on the NDS website (click here).

NDS NDIS Provider Toolkit

During 2014, Mental Health Australia collaborated with National Disability Services and state and territory mental health peaks to run workshops for mental health sector service providers on the NDIS Organisational Readiness Toolkit in each state and territory. The purpose of the toolkit it is to help organisations understand their readiness for NDIS and identify areas in which then need to make changes. It was well received by participants of the workshops.

The toolkit has now been revised and updated and is available on the NDS website (click here).

Features include:

• a self-assessment and key financial tool, which rates organisations’ current state of transition towards the NDIS
• a key financial ratio tool, which provides an insight into the organisations’ current revenue concentration, liquidity, debt and sustainability

You can find out more about how to fill out the NDIS Provider Toolkit on the NDS website (click here).

Future NDIS capacity building training for Service Providers

Later this week, we will be meeting with NDS to discuss the range of capacity building training and workshops that they offer, to see how we can work together to provide additional training and development options for members. Based on earlier feedback, we are focusing on:

• Unit price costing
• Managing a successful organisation for a market environment
• Training staff for a market environment
• How to engage and manage a flexible workforce
• Workforce planning for an uncertain future
• Building the capacity of potential NDIS participants

If you have any views, suggestions or feedback on what areas you think are important, please let us know.

NDIS in the Commonwealth Budget

The Commonwealth Budget confirmed the earlier announcement of an early NDIS rollout for 2,000 children in the Nepean/Blue Mountains region of NSW, from 1 September 2015. The Government will also provide $143 million over four years for an Information and Communication Technology system for the NDIA to support the full implementation of the NDIS. (see Budget Paper 2 pg163-4)

For further information about any of the above, please email info@mhaustralia.org