Submission: Capability and Culture of the NDIA

Reason for submission:

The Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) conducted a number of inquiries into specific aspects of the Scheme. This submission is in response to the inquiry into the capability and culture of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). The Terms of Reference for the inquiry stipulate that it examine:

1. the capability and culture of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), with reference to operational processes and procedures, and nature of staff employment
2. the impacts of NDIA capability and culture on the experiences of people with disability and NDIS participants trying to access information, support and services from the Agency; and
3. any other relevant matters.

The purpose of this submission is to outline issues regarding the capability and culture of the NDIA from the perspective of people living with psychosocial disability, their families, carers and supporters. 

Issues identified:

• The Psychosocial Disability Recovery-Oriented Framework not addressing the capability and culture of the NDIA.
• Psychosocial disability expertise is lacking with the NDIA.
• Participants feeling disrespected and the Agency not utilising their expertise.
• The lack of psychosocial disability lived experience leadership in the NDIA, across the Board, executive and senior management levels.
• The bureaucratisation and complexity of NDIA processes
• Distress and trauma stemming from the Scheme neither yet being recovery-focused nor strengths-based.
• Limited feedback mechanisms results in a lack of individual and systemic accountability across the operation of the Agency.
• Psychosocial disability support engagement needs to be improved.

Recommendations:

That people living with a primary experience of psychosocial disability can access:

• planners who have lived experience expertise of psychosocial disability.
• someone with a lived experience of psychosocial disability and/or peer worker to support them through the access and/or planning processes if desired.

That the NDIA:

• ensures that the Psychosocial Disability Expert Advisors proposed under the Framework include people with lived experience of primary psychosocial disability and those who have experience supporting them.
• upskills its workforce on the issues affecting people living with psychosocial disability from a lived experience perspective including onboarding and current training for all staff.
• explore ways for those with a lived experience of primary psychosocial disability to provide direct feedback to support ongoing training and supervision.
• actively works with the NMHCCF as the Disability Registered Organisation for psychosocial disability work to implement the national Lived Experience Workforce Development Guidelines to expand its lived experience workforce.
• introduce new terminology for family / carer plan management to more accurately reflect this arrangement.
• upskills its workforce on how to facilitate and promote supported decision-making.
• upskills its workforce on the intersection between human rights and psychosocial disability, for example the World Health Organisation Quality Rights training.
• introduce a mechanism for Participants to review and discuss Plans before sign-off to minimise unnecessary distress of reviews and appeals and facilitate a two-way dialogue between the Agency and the Participant.
• incorporate the upholding of human rights into its accountability framework.
• identify any current barriers to appointing people with lived experience of primary psychosocial disability to leadership positions.
• actively recruits people living with primary psychosocial disability to designated leadership positions.
• actively promotes expansion of the lived experience workforce in accordance with the National Lived Experience Workforce Guidelines.
• adopt a more person-centred approach that prioritises people’s individual communication preferences and continuity of contact.
• explore opportunities to authentically develop trauma competencies, such as the establishment of an Memorandum of Understanding with the Blue Knot Foundation.
• establish alternative feedback mechanisms to capture the issues experienced by people living with primary psychosocial disability, their families and carers.
• upskill its workforce on the principles of co-design to incorporate the expertise of people living with psychosocial disability in the operation of the scheme.
• provide people living with a psychosocial disability who are deemed ineligible for the NDIS with a warm referral to a suitable psychosocial disability support provider.
• support calls for expansion of the psychosocial disability support sector to ensure there are adequate services for those deemed ineligible for the Scheme.
• support calls for expansion of the psychosocial disability support sector to ensure there are appropriate services for participants in the Scheme to address current under utilisation of packages.

Submission: Capability and Culture of the NDIA