ndis: what, when, where and making it real for all australians, bruce bonyhady am, chairman,...

Presentation to field AGM

Bruce Bonyhady AM, Chairman, Yooralla

16 November, 2012

NDIS: What, When, Where and Making it Real for all Australians

www.everyaustraliancounts.com.au 2

National Disability Insurance Scheme

Themes and Overview

The NDIS is transformative, complex to implement and not yet secure

Productivity Commission Report Key Findings; a great leap forward

Eligibility

What benefits are included?

“Reasonable and Necessary” Supports

What is not included and “boundary challenges”

Implementation Challenges

Funding-Making it Real for all Australians

Conclusions, Questions, Answers and Discussion



Productivity Commission Report-July 2011

“The current disability system is underfunded, unfair, fragmented and inefficient, and gives people with disability little choice and no certainty of access to appropriate supports”

The NDIS is relevant to everyone, not just those with disability today, as every 30 minutes an Australian is diagnosed with a significant, permanent disability.

A National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) should be established progressively between now and 2018/19 to provide reasonable and necessary support to all Australians with a significant permanent disability under age 65 which affects self-care, mobility, communication or self-management and requires significant on-going support

Alongside the NDIS, a National Injury Insurance Scheme (NIIS) should be established to cover new people who acquire catastrophic injuries and provide an umbrella for existing compensation schemes



NDIS Leapfrogs Current Reform Directions

NDIS builds on current reform directions, including individualised funding and Commonwealth and State agreements to move towards national assessment criteria and portability

Frames disability as an issue for everyone. It is an entitlement scheme, providing “universal” insurance, in an area of market failure. Private insurance is not available, so a Medicare type scheme makes good policy sense

NDIS will take an investment approach. (Minimise lifetime costs, maximise lifetime opportunities, prioritise early intervention, etc)

NDIS will double funding

Fits with the national agenda to boost participation and productivity, where possible; not passive welfare. With rights come responsibility to engage to maximum capacity in work and community. Tough love



NDIS Design, Implementation and Launch

Highly collaborative technical design work is being undertaken by the Commonwealth and States to get ready for launch on 1 July 2013

Five Launch Sites agreed: Victoria (Barwon Region, 5,000 people), NSW (Hunter Region, 10,000 people), ACT (5,000 people), SA (Age 0-14 cohort) and Tasmania (Age 15 -25 cohort)

COAG Select Council Advisory Group has been appointed to advise on Scheme design and work with Commonwealth and States. Four Expert Groups established: Eligibility and Assessment; Quality and Safeguards; Workforce and Sector Capacity; and, Control and Choice

Work is well advanced on defining key terms such as scope of eligibility and “reasonable and necessary” benefits. Little progress on NIIS. Draft legislation due in two weeks. Go to www.ndis.gov.au and for updates and Your Say



NDIS: Tiers and Eligibility

3a

Tier 1 Tier 2

Tier 3People receiving funding support from the NDIS Target = people aged 0 to the pension age with sufficient needs for disability support and early intervention

(3a) People with intellectual, physical, sensory, or psychiatric disabilities who have significantly reduced functioning (330 000)

(3b) Early intervention group (80 000)

Total = around 410 000

(3c) Others optimally supported (unknown, but modest)

3b 3c

Information, referral, web services, and community engagement. Target = all people with disabilities (4 million) and their primary carers (800 000)

Social participation, minimising the impact of disability, insurance (target = Australian population) 22.5 million

3d

(3d) Funded support for some carers



Draft Eligibility Statement1. The individual resides in Australia and is an Australian citizen; and

2. The individual is less than 65 years of age on entry to an NDIS; and

3. The individual has a disability that is attributable to an intellectual, psychiatric, cognitive, neurological, sensory or physical impairment, or a combination of impairments; or is a child with a global developmental delay; and

4. The impairment/s:

a. is permanent or likely to be permanent; and

b. results in a substantially reduced functional capacity of the individual to undertake activities of daily living; and

c. impacts on the individual’s participation in the community or employment; and

d. may be of a chronic episodic nature and result in the need for ongoing or long term episodic support; and

5. The support needs will persist for the foreseeable future and are not more appropriately met by other systems including education, health and/or palliative care.



NDIS: What benefits are included?

“Reasonable and necessary” support package ($ amount) based on agreed goals, independent assessment process and benchmarking

Personal care and support

Therapy, aids, equipment and home modifications

Access to training, development, education, community and work

Families/Carers to receive tailored support, including a choice to work or provide informal care, based on age-appropriate caring roles

Local Area Co-ordinators (including for Tier 2), independent advisers, advocacy and case management to support decisions, if required

Lifetime planning, including early intervention and support at transitions, recognising that needs will change or be episodic



Draft of “reasonable and necessary” supports:

a. are designed to support the individual to achieve their goals and maximise their independence;

b. support the individual’s capacity to undertake activities of daily living to enable them to participate in the community and/or employment;

c. are effective, and evidence informed;

d. are value for money;

e. reflect community expectations, including what is realistic to expect from the individual, families and carers; and

f. are best provided through an NDIS and are not more appropriately provided through other systems of service delivery and support, including services that are offered by mainstream agencies as a part of their universal service obligations to all citizens.



NDIS: What is not included?

Income support (DSP)

Access to complementary systems which must be universal and support people with disabilities:

Education

Health

Employment, aligning the employment goals in the DES with the NDIS, including potentially an additional weighting for Tier 3 in DES

Ageing, should be seamless and allow for aging in place

Housing needs new investment and innovation in accessible social housing, shared equity models, key ring support models, etc



Implementation Challenges

Managing expectations

Rapid implementation timetable

Embedding insurance principles

Cultural change, so that people with disabilities are in control

Diversifying supply, attracting new workers and services

New quality framework for a market

Strengthening safeguards; Care Concerns Unit

Funding



NDIS Funding

In the 2012-13 Budget the Commonwealth Government committed $1 billion to the NDIS, but this is really just more of a lottery!

The Federal Opposition is supportive. Tony Abbott is “Dr Yes”. Andrew Robb is strongly committed. Joe Hockey is now supportive

The Commonwealth and States have not agreed the full scheme funding of $7.5 billion

The last COAG meeting was a watershed in the history of practical disability rights and power in Australia. Many ordinary Australians said “Enough! Just do it!” and this secured launch sites in Victoria and NSW

The Commonwealth will need to fund and underwrite the full Scheme, as recommended by the PC, which is a huge challenge, given declining revenues and other expensive priorities, e.g. Gonski. We will need YOUR support


Budget support for NDIS Budget support for NDIS

Fully funded NDIS in OperationFully funded NDIS in Operation

$10Million2011

$900 Million2014-Budget $363M

$2.4 Billion2015- Budget $363M

$5.9 Billion2017

$7.5 Billion2018

$3.9 Billion2016



Scale of Funding Needed …




Conclusions Very exciting time- we are on the threshold of a transformation built on

universal insurance and entitlement to reasonable and necessary support

The Commonwealth has contributed $1 billion to start the NDIS and five States are participating in Launch Sites

Enormous effort is going into detailed scheme design, which is complex. Keep up to date and have your say by going to www.ndis.gov.au

There is light and hope. Preparing carefully for the NDIS is essential

However, there is still no commitment to full funding so you must keep reminding our politicians, State and Federal, Labor, Liberal, National Party and Greens that they must deliver the FULL NDIS

Thank you for your interest and support. Go to www.everyaustraliancounts.com.au Sign up EVERYONE YOU KNOW!



Questions

&

Discussion