Review Round-Up: 1 February 2023

Fourth edition

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A message from the co-chairs - Prof Bruce Bonyhady AM & Lisa Paul AO PSM

Welcome to our fourth edition of the Review Round-Up. The Round-Up lets you know what the Review has been doing and what is coming up soon.

We hope everyone had a lovely festive season and restful break. It was a great time to reflect on the past year and make plans for the year ahead. We hope you were able to spend time with friends, family and people closest to you.

2022

We finished December 2022 with Review Panel members attending meetings with representatives from local disability organisations in states and territories, along with separate meetings with government officials.

Panel members Dougie Herd, Kirsten Deane and Judy Brewer met with stakeholders from the Northern Territory; Kirsten and Stephen King met with stakeholders from Tasmania; and Bruce joined Dougie for stakeholder meetings from Victoria. Bruce and Lisa also met with stakeholders in New South Wales.

2023

We have hit the ground running for the start of 2023.  Some of our first activities this year include meeting disability support workers to hear about opportunities and challenges from their point of view. We also heard about what it was like to work through the worst of the COVID pandemic.

We also met with First People with Disability Network to explore opportunities to improve disability services in remote communities.

In a couple of weeks the Review Panel is looking forward to attending the Having a Say Conference in Victoria organised by VALID. We are looking forward to meeting with lots of people with disability and their families and hearing them when they have their say! 

The Panel are also preparing for a range of consultations with people with disability in different locations and online over the next few months.  We will also meet key representatives from Western Australia, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. 

Of course you can provide your views to the panel anytime by visiting the Have Your Say page on our website. 

Best wishes,

Bruce and Lisa

Co-Chairs, NDIS Review

Where are we up to?

The Review Panel is continuing to listen and collect information about people's experiences with the NDIS. As well as understanding problem areas, we are really interested in your views and ideas about ways  to improve people's experience with the NDIS.  

We are looking at all the submissions we have received so far at the moment.  We are putting together a summary of what we have heard, and will pop that up on the website soon. We will publish a summary every three months during the term of the Review (up to October 2023).

Having your say

Thank you to the many people and organisations who have shared their experiences of the NDIS with the Review, since we began talking with people with disability, their families, representative organisations and other stakeholders in late last year.

We would like to send out a big thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Review. We know that it can be difficult sometimes to tell your story and share your experiences. We want you to know that everything you have shared with us is important and makes a difference to our work.

If you have not already had your say, there are many ways you can contribute. For example, you can write us a note, record a video or answer some simple questions on our website. You choose the level of privacy we give your information. This means that you can choose to remain anonymous  and still have your say. We always respect your privacy.

Out and about

Some of our first activities in early 2023 involve meeting with more people with disability and their families, and with disability and carer representatives and officials from states and territories.

We're listening to workers too. Panel co-chair Bruce and panel members Stephen and Dougie met with disability support workers from around Australia in late January to hear about their experiences, and their ideas to support worker recruitment and retention.  The goal, of course, is to deliver quality supports to NDIS participants that meet individual needs and help people to live the lives they want.

We are also planning consultations with people with disability and their families at a range of locations and at online events.  These opportunities will be published on our website when we have confirmed safe, accessible and inclusive arrangements.