Reference Group members connected with the community to find out about issues that affect them.

This includes issues that affect participants.

Participants are people with disability who take part in the NDIS.

Members shared reports about these issues with the NDIA.

People from the NDIA also shared their response to some of these issues.

Reference Group members said people have questions about support needs assessments.

Support needs assessments help the NDIA work out:

• how a person’s disability affects their life
• what supports a person needs.

People want to know how support needs assessments will work.

Members said people are worried they will have to do more assessments.

Assessments can help the NDIA work out:

• how to support someone
• what funding someone needs.

Funding is money from an NDIS plan that pays for the supports a participant needs.

An NDIS plan has information about:

• a participant and their goals
• what supports a participant needs
• what the NDIS will pay for.

Members said the NDIA should:

bullet trust the assessments people have already hadend of list

and

bullet not make them have a support needs assessment.end of list

Reference Group members said they were happy about the meetings the NDIA has to help participants start using their NDIS plans.

They are happy with how the NDIA talk about therapy supports.

Therapy includes different types of support that can help improve how:

• you think and feel
• your body moves.

Members are also happy with how the NDIA explains stated supports to participants.

A stated support in an NDIS plan has funding set aside that the participant can only use for that support.

Members still worry some participants might not have enough funding for all the therapy supports they need.

Members said NDIS plans need to be clearer about which therapy supports they include.

Reference Group members said people are worried participants are getting less funding.

This happens even though their life has not changed.

Members said the NDIA is changing how some participants manage their NDIS plan.

For example, some people no longer manage their own NDIS plan.

The NDIA now manages their NDIS plan instead.

Members said this can have a big impact on participants.

The NDIA said it is common to check how well NDIS plans are working.

The NDIA also said they have not changed how they create NDIS plans.

Changes will only happen after the Australian Government makes it a law.

Reference Group members said there are reports about the wellbeing of carers and support people.

Carers and support people are feeling very:

bullet tired

bullet stressed.end of list

Reference Group members said participants are worried about changes to NDIS supports.

Participants are worried they will get less funding for support to:

bullet take part in their community

bullet learn to do more things for themselves in their everyday life.end of list

Members talked about how important this funding is to First Nations people with disability.

Reference Group members said it is harder for some people to use the NDIS.

This includes people very far away from cities and towns.

Some support workers will fly in and out to see participants.

But it is harder for these workers to connect with communities than local support workers.