What is the NDIS?
What is the NDIS?
Many people have asked us, what is the NDIS? According to the NDIS website, the National Disability Insurance Scheme is the new way of providing support to Australians living with a disability, their families and carers. This is the biggest change in the disability sector we’ve ever seen.
The NDIS website describes the scheme as offering “any Australians under the age of 65, who have a permanent and significant disability, with the reasonable and necessary supports they need to enjoy an ordinary life”.
Initial trials were done around Australia from mid-July 2013 and the NDIS officially started on 1 July 2016. It is being rolled out gradually around Australia and is scheduled to be fully implemented by late 2019. Everyone who needs the NDIS should be included by 2020.
WHY THE NDIS?
The National Disability Insurance Scheme aims to help people achieve their goals including reaching independence, community involvement, education, employment as well as health and wellbeing. It was set up to offer people individualised support so that they could have more choice and control over the services they receive.
Before the NDIS, disability funding was paid to service providers. Now the funding is made available to the person who is living with a disability, or their representative. With the funding, they can choose their services and providers to get individualised support. In this way, the NDIS aims to enable individuals to choose which disability service providers they would like to use.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The NDIS is run by the NDIA. The NDIA is the independent agency responsible for implementing the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The NDIA helps both participants and service providers. The agency also raises community awareness and encourages inclusion and better access to the community for people with disability.
HOW DO YOU ACCESS THE NDIS?
To get funding through the NDIS, you must have a plan. The NDIS works with people (and their family or carer as necessary) to develop and implement a plan. This is done by having a conversation with an NDIA representative.
The plan covers items such as the services, disability service providers, treatment and care needed from day to day. In the plan, participants also add goals that they would like to achieve. Once the plan is finalised, it is implemented.
Generally, the plan is implemented and set for 12 months, but this may vary from case to case. After the plan has been in place for this time, the NDIS will get in touch to schedule a review. During the review, participants can find which elements worked well, which ones did not, and they have a chance to make changes to the plan for the next 12 months.
ONCALL IS HERE TO HELP YOUR TRANSITION
For all your questions such as what is the NDIS, get in touch. We provide reliable, personal support, that’s flexible and tailored to your needs, from a market leader in community services. Run by people that have been vocal advocates in disability and have been providing disability support for 40 years. Everything you’ll ever need for the NDIS under one roof delivered by the market leader and a brand you know and trust.