Special NDIS Capacity Building Project Update – 30 June 2015

Welcome to this special edition of Mental Health Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Mental Health Network Update. We’re writing to you much sooner than usual to provide you with important information on impending changes to the NDIS pricing and catalogue. We’ve also included links to two recently released parliamentary discussions relating to the NDIS.

NDIS Pricing and Catalogue Changes from 1 August 2015

From 1 August 2015, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) will introduce a “simpler, easier to use catalogue” for funded NDIS supports and services. The Agency is writing to service providers outlining the changes, which include:

• a new catalogue “to enable greater flexibility”, which is supported by a “simpler and shorter price list”;
• indexation arrangements for 2015-16; and
• the introduction of an establishment fee allowance for participants who use more than 20 hours per month of personal care and community support services.

More information about the changes is available on the NDIA website.

The NDIA is providing information sessions in NDIS trial sites for providers throughout July. Details about the sessions are available on the NDIA website.

Joint Standing Committee on NDIS Public Hearings

In our last update, we included a link to the transcript of a public hearing by the Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS on 5 June 2015, with witnesses including the representatives from the NDIS Independent Advisory Council, the NDIS Scheme Actuary, the WA NDIS My Way Scheme Actuary, the NDIA and its Board.

In particular, we think readers of this newsletter will be very interested in information provided by Mr David Bowen (Chief Executive Officer of the NDIA) on the NDIA’s approach to scaling up the NDIS for full implementation (starting on page 18).

We now have the transcript for the latest public hearing on 19 June 2015, with witnesses including the Assistant Minister for Social Services, Senator the Hon Mitch Fifield (starting on page 1), representatives from the Department of Social Services (starting on page 11) and the First Peoples Disability Network (starting on page 14).

The transcript is available on the Parliament of Australia Website.

For further information about any of the above, please contact Daniel Casey, Liz Ruck or Emma Coughlan via email: info@mhaustralia.org