NDIS changes from 1st August

Here’s my quick summary of some important changes introduced to the NDIS from 1st August . Overall the changes are positive and should help develop more personal, flexible supports. But there’s a couple of issues to watch out for.

Change #1. Cut down the catalogue

The agency has reduced the number of line items they fund, and also made it easier to navigate by introducing 14 categories of supports, such as assistance with daily life, transport, improved health and wellbeing, and so forth. These are good changes, although there’s still plenty of detail to work through (see the new price list here).

But we think they should go further.

Under the new rules, funding cannot be transferred between the fourteen categories. But we think this hampers good outcomes: for example, if you can source your necessary personal assistance at lower cost than the market average, why not let you use it on more transport services? More flexibility would be good.

Change #2. Pare back the plans

Planning documents will be simplified from ~16 pages to ~4. Good! Less waffle upfront and simpler descriptions of supports (thanks to the shorter price guide) are great developments.

However we have one concern: you will see your overall budget for funded supports, but not how it was calculated. The reason is sound — to help participants and providers think outside the box and not routinely deliver against budgeted line items.

Our concern is you won’t be able to see how they calculated your package. In our experience, they don’t always get it right...

We’ve seen two examples already (one NDIS, one not) where support budgets were wrongly priced. In one case, we helped a client get thousands of dollars more by independently checking his budget.

Don’t be ripped off by admin mistakes! Make sure you receive the funded support you are entitled to. Feel free to contact us if you want some help with this.

Change #3. Support coordination

They are strengthening the idea of a support coordination role, i.e. someone who helps to implement your plan. The concern is that participants are getting locked into supports from one provider, so aren’t getting good choice and control.

Support coordinators will also help participants build the skills they need to direct and control their own supports. Hear hear!

We believe passionately that the web and other technologies can be used by participants and their supporters to achieve much more control than they have today — they just need the right advice and training to get there.

Let’s hope the support coordinator role is seen in this light.