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

Our Council Members shared these issues with the NDIA.

Some plan managers are not letting participants use some supports because they don’t think they need them.

Council Members think this is not part of their job.

And this will stop participants having choice and control.

Participants are getting less support coordination in their plans.

Support coordination helps participants manage the supports in their plan.

When this happens, it’s harder for participants to reach their goals.

Participants face challenges when they’re ready to leave hospital.

But it’s getting a lot better.

Some participants are also getting their problems fixed faster when they ask the AAT to check a decision.

It is hard for people to find and use Justice Liaison Officers (JLOs).

JLOs support prisons to understand how they can use the NDIS.

This is because state and territory governments don’t know:

• what a JLO does
• how to contact them.

The way organisations apply to take part in the Partners in the Community (PITC) program has stopped.

PITC are community organisations the NDIA works with to support participants.

The community aren’t sure about how this will affect people with disability.

And Council Members would like the NDIA to think about how people get support in places far away from cities and towns.

There needs to be more support for people with disability to find a good job.

This includes younger people, and older people.

Disability advocates:

• help people with disability have their say
• give them information and advice.

But there are more people using the AAT than advocates can help.

This is a big problem in the Northern Territory (NT) because there aren’t many advocates there.

The Australian Government wants to review the NDIS.

They will share a list of things they want to focus on.

The document is called the Terms of Reference.

The community are waiting for more information about the Terms of Reference.

And they want the Australian Government to share it soon.

The NDIA and NT Government are working together to make a plan for specialist education – schools for children with disability.

Western Australian Individualised Services (WAiS) shared they will close in June 2023.

WAiS is a provider – an organisation that provides supports and services to people with disability.

Council Members are worried about how this will affect people with disability in Western Australia.

Providers are worried too many people are using short term accommodation – a place for someone to stay for a short time.

They want more people to use other supports instead, like:

• Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA)
• Supported Independent Living (SIL).

These supports focus on what each person needs in their day-to-day life at home.

Registered providers:

• can offer supports and services to participants
• are on a list the NDIA looks after.

Participants worry that having to use registered providers will affect their choice and control.

Some providers are also offering less support coordination services.

Members also shared other things they have shared in past meetings.

Some groups of people find it harder to use the NDIS.

So the NDIA must share information that is easy to find and use.

People with disability face challenges at work.

The NDIA doesn’t always make decisions about plans the same way.

So more participants are asking the AAT to review their decisions.

Children should be given more chances to have their say in the NDIS.

And the NDIA should make early supports better for children.

Some providers make NDIS participants pay more for services than other people.