We have observed that there is a lack of focus on achieving long term outcomes relating to participation, inclusion in communities and employment. A good life is one enriched by connections to family, friends and community. These need to be nurtured by the scheme.
What you told us is not working
From what you told us we understand:
- The planning process is more focused on immediate needs rather than achieving long term outcomes contributing to a good life. There is not enough consideration of what it takes and how long it takes to build a good life.
- Information about the best ways to achieve good outcomes or what good services look like is not always available to people with disability and their families. This means providers are not encouraged or supported to deliver better outcomes or try new things. Even when good or innovative services exist, it’s hard for participants and their families to find them.
- NDIA planners and decision makers, local area coordinators, early childhood partners and support coordinators need better information about best practice or what supports are more likely to deliver good outcomes. They would then be able to encourage the use of evidence-based supports.
- Families of children need more information about family-centred and multi-disciplinary services that can deliver better more inclusive outcomes for children, compared to solely receiving therapy delivered in clinical settings.
- For participants with a psychosocial disability, the lack of a specialist planning pathway with a focus on recovery has contributed to reliance on core support. This has come at the expense of capacity building to enable recovery and improve social and economic outcomes.
- The scheme is intended to help people become more independent, more included in their community and live an ordinary life. But for many, connections to family, friends and community have not been nurtured by the NDIS, resulting in an over-reliance on paid services and increased segregation and vulnerability.
Recognise that there are structural discrimination and barriers for disabled people to access ’normal’ society and earn the ‘normal income’ which facilitates that. Allow people with disability… to use their funding to access ‘normal’ social activities to help overcome this structural barrier to achieve their goals, especially for children and young people…These things improve mental health, along with social participation.
My kids miss out on social/community participation opportunities with kids like them and instead spend huge amounts of their free time and school time doing draining one on one therapy with the clinic's that we can get a spot in - where the practices are not necessarily neuro-affirming.
What we want to know now
How would you like to build better outcomes into your plans?
Prompts to help you answer this question:
- How can the scheme build goals that nurture connections to local community?
- How can you use your funding to help you connect with friends and family, learn new skills or try new things? What is keeping you from doing that now?
- How can you use your funding to help you prepare for, join, or stay in employment? What needs to changes to make this work better?