Our Council Members connect with the community to find out about issues that affect them.

Our Council Members shared these issues with the NDIA.

Council Members explained it’s important to keep supports that help people with disability be safe from COVID-19.

They want these supports to keep coming from the:

• government
• NDIA.

Council Members shared that the community is happy Dr Richard Fejo joined the NDIA Board.

Council Members explained there are issues with services in the Northern Territory.

This includes services from:

• local area coordinators (LACs) – who help people find and use supports

• support coordinators – who help people manage their plans.

And includes issues with the skills of people who support people with disability, like support workers.

The NDIA is working with the community to check the prices of NDIS supports.

Council Members shared that people need more time to:

• look at the information
• share their ideas.

Council Members shared that the NDIA should look at the best way for providers to deliver supports in areas far away from:

• cities
• towns.

Providers deliver services and supports to people with disability.

People also want the NDIA to think about the best way to support workers.

This includes how to support a worker’s cultural beliefs.

For example, if something is important to them because of their background and way of life.

And how to support workers when something in their life changes.

This also includes how providers could hire family members to support participants.

Council Members explained there was a meeting for CALD community leaders in February 2023.

Members from these communities shared their experiences.

Council Members explained that some providers don’t believe the NDIS Review is supporting them as it should.

The Australian Government is checking the NDIS.

We call this the NDIS Review.

The NDIS Review checks to see what:

• works well

• could be better.

Some providers are not sure that the NDIS Review can fix issues in some areas of Australia.

For example, issues that affect the Northern Territory.

And some providers worry about how they will afford to change things the Disability Royal Commission suggests.

The Disability Royal Commission is a way to look into the experiences of people with disability.

It’s already harder for some smaller providers to follow all the rules.

This includes the rules from the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission).

The NDIS Commission makes sure people with disability who take part in the NDIS:

• are safe
• get good services.

And the NDIS Commission doesn’t work much with states and territories.

Council Members worry that there isn’t enough information about Justice Liaison Officers (JLOs).

JLOs support prisons to understand how the NDIS can support people with disability in prisons.

Council Members explained that the NDIS doesn’t always support participants to get a prosthetic when they have a physical disability in their arm.

A prosthetic is equipment that replaces a part of your body, like your arm.

Some people shared that the NDIA:

• wouldn’t include it in a participant’s plan

• asked participants to get a specialist to say they need one.

Council Members shared issues with services from:

• LACs

• support coordinators.

Council Members shared that the community is happy that participants are leaving hospital sooner.

But they also shared that some participants can’t use NDIS supports in hospital.

This includes participants who might need more supports.

Council Members shared that some providers tell families to make choices for participants.

But this stops them from taking part in decisions about their own lives.

Council Members explained that some participants can’t get the support technology they need.

Some people who manage plans tell participants that the NDIA will say no to technology.

So they don’t apply for technology that participants need.

Council Members explained that there is a podcast about the NDIS.

And there is a good episode about managing your own plan.

The podcast is Reasonable and Necessary: Making Sense of the NDIS.

Council Members explained that people worry about the type of support LACs deliver.

They worry it doesn’t work well.

Council Members shared that it needs to be easier for participants to ask to check a decision the NDIA made about their plan.

This is important for participants who need support for their behaviour.

Council Members shared that some plans have lots of rules about what supports participants can spend money on.

This can make it harder for participants to use their plan.

Council Members shared there are issues with supported independent living (SIL) for First Nations peoples in the Northern Territory.

SIL is help with day-to-day tasks around your home so you can:

• do things for yourself
• learn new skills.

Some First Nations peoples had to move to Darwin to find and use:

• supports
• services.

Council Members explained that some participants have issues with funding for support at home.

Funding is money from your plan that pays for the supports and services you need.

Most funding is for one support worker for 3 participants.

But this is a problem for participants who need more support.

Council Members shared that participants are losing some of their SIL supports in their plans.

This has been causing stress for:

• participants
• their families.

Council Members explained that the NDIA should:

• share how supports at home should work
• make sure they make decisions the same way every time.

Council Members shared that people want to know how schools use suspensions in Queensland.

Suspension is when the school asks a child not to attend school for a set period of time.

They want to know about this because there are more suspensions of students who are:

• children with disability

• First Nations children.

Council Members explained that people with disability worry they will lose their support payments if they:

• get a job

• start earning more money.

They want the government to change how these support payments work.

This could help more people:

• keep these payments
• work and earn money.