Independent Advisory Council
Minutes of the Independent Advisory Council to the NDIS
Meeting 1 — 27 July 2022 1.00pm to 5.00pm, hosted on MS Teams
Members
Ms Leah Van Poppel (Principal Member) Ms Kerry Allan-Zinner (until 3.45pm) Ms Jennifer Cullen Ms Sylvana Mahmic Ms Tricia Malowney OAM Mr James Manders Ms Sam Paior Dr George Taleporos (from 2pm) Mr Mark Tonga
Expert Adviser
Dr Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner
NDIA Representatives
Mr Jim Minto, Acting NDIA Board Chair
Ms Lisa Studdert, Acting Chief Executive Officer
Mr Jeremy Dean, Deputy CEO, Participant Experience Delivery
Dr Sam redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material General Manager, Policy, Advice and Research
Ms Kitsa redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Branch Manager, Market Intervention and Commissioning
Ms Jess redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Acting Branch Manager, Agency Policy
Ms Kathy redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Director Strategic Advice, Policy, Advice and Research
Ms Carly redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Assistant Director, Independent Advisory Council
Ms Marina redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Assistant Director, Independent Advisory Council
Ms Lirije redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Assistant Director Communications, Independent Advisory Council
Ms Jaklin redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Senior Project Officer, Independent Advisory Council
Ms Rebecca redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Project Officer, Independent Advisory Council
Attending
Mr Gavin Burner, Intellectual Disability Reference Group Member
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Apologies
Ms Liz Reid AM
Dr Leighton Jay
Ms Sharon Boyce
Dr Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner (Expert Adviser)
Ms Estelle Pearson, NDIA Board Director
Ms Belinda redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material AM (Council’s Independent Consultant)
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1. Principal Member’s welcome and open
1.1. Principal Member’s welcome
The Principal Member opened the meeting at 1.04pm.
Ms Cullen acknowledged the Traditional Custodians and Owners of the lands on which Members, Expert Adviser and attendees were meeting.
The Principal Member recognised several key events and dates that have occurred over the past month, including:
- Autistic Pride Day — 18 June
- Coming of the Light Festival in the Torres Strait Islands — 1 July 2022
- NAIDOC week — 3 to 10 July, noting this year’s theme is ‘Get up! Stand up! Show up!’
- Eid al Adha — 9 to 13 July.
- Dhamma day — 13 July.
The Principal Member acknowledged the technical difficulties experienced with MS Teams last week and thanked Members for making themselves available today at short notice, noting some Members were unable to attend for the entire meeting. Additionally, noting apologies from Ms Liz Reid AM, Dr Leighton Jay, Dr Ben Gauntlett and Ms Belinda redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material who were unable to attend the meeting.
The Principal Member noted the following information is available in the Diligent Resource Centre:
- Out of Session meeting reports from Ms
redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant materialand the Secretariat on:- Investment Effectiveness Program
- NDIS Act S47a Policy Changes and Operational Guidelines
- No Claim Made Compensation
- Plan Implementation Directory
- Participant Reference Group Member report
- Action log of issues raised during CEO update and Members reports sessions. The Principal Member also noted that as member reports have been given in writing for this meeting, the Secretariat will compile actions for the log from these reports.
1.2. Minutes, matters arising, terms of reference and declarations of interest
Council noted the updated register of conflicts of interest circulated in advance of the meeting.
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Council approved the minutes from the meeting held on 15 June 2022 and noted the matters arising.
1.3. Board Chair update
The Principal Member welcomed Mr Minto to the meeting and recognised his role of Acting NDIA Board Chair.
The Board Chair provided Members with an overview of his background, noting he has been with the NDIA Board for over five years, and is a member of all Board sub-committees. Additionally, the Board Chair acknowledged Mr Napthine’s contribution and real passion for the Scheme, noting he was involved in the original signing of the state to the Scheme.
The Board Chair mentioned the change in CEO with Dr Lisa Studdert currently acting in the position. He advised the recruitment process is underway, noting the recently released job advertisement for the role.
The Board Chair advised that the Disability Reform Minister’s Meeting (DRMM) will now occur more regularly. Noting the Minister’s objective is to create greater cohesiveness between the states and build connection and understanding on the key priorities.
The Board Chair reiterated the value of Council’s contributions in helping to keep the voice of participants at the centre of the Agency’s work.
2. Workplan
2.1. Council’s workplan 2022-23.
The Principal Member acknowledged the work of Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material and Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material to pull together Council’s Work Plan for 2022-23, following discussions at the last Council meeting.
The Principal Member noted the draft work plan takes into consideration Council’s previous commitments, a new NDIA Corporate Plan and the Minister’s priorities. Additionally, noting the work plan is less prescriptive on the work Council will undertake for each priority, to allow for the changing environment.
The Principal Member opened up discussion to Members. Members were pleased with the Work plan, saying it reflected previous conversations and covered the key priorities succinctly.
Members raised the importance of a whole of life approach, capacity building, intersectionality, national approaches and quality services, suggesting the inclusion of a preamble outlining these as fundamental principles that Council operates under and the intention for all its work.
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Council reiterated the need to continue to engage with the Agency on co-design and other government departments on related work priorities to ensure voice of people with disability is heard.
The Principal Member thanked Members for their input and advised the final draft of the Work Plan would be sent to Members for endorsement out of session.
3. Sharing Plans with Plan Managers
3.1. Briefing on the requirement for plans to be shared with plan managers.
Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material provided Council with an overview of the change in requirements for plans to be shared with Plan Managers. Noting this will be a phased transition to reduce the impact on participants.
Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material sought feedback from Council, and they raised the following points:
- The importance of clear communication to participants to explain the reason for the changes.
- The need for the changes to focus on compliance and payment integrity. And also, the responsibility of Plan Managers to support a participant to manage their funds ‘in accordance with a participant’s plan’.
- The need to raise awareness of the definition ‘in accordance with a participant’s plan’ to help participants understand what it means.
- Concerns around people with disability maintaining their privacy and suggested consideration be given for participants to only share parts of their plan relevant to Plan Managers.
- Consideration should be given to participants who are under guardianship, particularly financial guardianship on this work.
- Stressed the importance of participants maintaining choice and control, and any changes should not impact this requirement.
- Concerns about participants who wish to transition or are required to transition to a new Plan Manager. This is in regard to how and the level of information that may be shared. It is suggested the Agency look at their systems and processes for transitions.
Members also raised concerns about the quality and capability of Plan Managers and welcomed further information on the Agency’s work in this area.
Action 1: Secretariat to share ‘in accordance with a participant’s plan’ definition in chat messages with Members.
Action 2: Council to receive a further briefing on Plan Management in the future.
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4. Welcome Acting CEO Lisa Studdert
4.1. CEO Update
The Principal Member welcomed Dr Studdert to her first meeting as Acting NDIA CEO.
Dr Studdert noted it has been a big few weeks since stepping into the role and feels very supported by the Agency and the Board.
Dr Studdert advised Members that the Minister’s priorities for the Agency are very clear, and she has been working closely with him in recent weeks.
Dr Studdert mentioned the NDIS review, noting it will be lead from the Prime Minister’s office and will work collaboratively with the disability sector. Dr Studdert looked forward to discussing with Council in greater detail in the next few weeks.
Dr Studdert advised the Agency’s current focus is:
- hospital discharge — increasing resources and putting in place short term interim measures.
- Administration Appeals Tribunal — investigating current processes and increasing resources to reduce current case load.
- Fraud — enhancing partnerships with other intelligent agencies to ensure we are addressing occurrence and prevention.
Dr Studdert also noted work continues on Co-design and the COVID-19 response, noting this is a Minister priority.
Members congratulated Dr Studdert on her recent appointment and thanked her for the comprehensive updates.
5. Co-design Advisory Group feedback
5.1. Update on Co-Design Advisory Group activities
The Principal Member noted the progress of the Co-Design Steering Committees and provided an update on the recent activities to progress the Home and Living policy development through co-design. The Principal Member noted the strong advocacy of this group to ensure inclusion of all voices in the co-design process, with targeted workshops with people with disability from under-represented groups occurring.
Members were pleased with the effort to reach and understand the nuances in under-represented communities, particularly First redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material people, noting the phrase ‘home and living’ is a foreign term to this community. Members also suggesting the inclusion of young people in residential aged care and children/young people should be considered.
Members stressed the importance of only progressing the co-design projects when co-design actually happens, noting the tight timeframes and perceived view of needing action
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quickly. Council Members suggesting greater transparency and clear communications could alleviate this stress.
Members also raised the need to align progress of co-design activities with the NDIA Engagement Framework, in particularly with the First Nations strategy.
6. Agency Operations
6.1. Update on Agency Operations
Mr Dean provided Council with further detail on the work undertaken to improve productivity within frontline operations. Mr Dean noted this was at the request of Council at a previous meeting.
Members were pleased with the work undertaken, noting the benefits to participant outcomes and the NDIS.
Council stressed the importance of quality conversations with participants in goal setting during planning, rather than just helping them to implement their plans. Members saying necessary investment is needed in this area.
Members queried the availability of draft plans for participants. Mr Dean noted draft plans are important and advised new system changes will allow example plans to be available for new participants.
Members raised concerns around long delays for participants with Supported Independent Living in their plans when there is a change in circumstance. Mr Dean advised the Agency now has an end-to-end metric to monitor this process, noting this has helped to reduce the time down to 90 days and work will continue to reach 28 days.
7. Council Reports
7.1. Members and Expert Advisers: Reports ‘from the ground’
Council Members raised the following points they had heard related to the NDIS:
- Positive sentiment within the community around the Agency’s commitment to co-design.
- Assistive Technology that is no longer fit for purpose. Members suggesting the Agency should investigate a recycling approach.
- High cost of assessment reports required for access to the NDIS, especially for children with autism, noting this may cause financial impact on families.
- Continued concerns that the NDIS is adult centric and does not appropriately cater for children and families.
- Concerns the update to the ‘Development delay’ explanation on the NDIS website has inadvertently changed the meaning to promoting lots of therapy which is not best practice. Members suggesting the Agency amend the explanation.
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- Continued challenges with hospital discharge — with some people experiencing longer hospitalisation due to poor communication between hospitals and NDIS services and lack of suitable housing. Additionally, for people with intellectual disability, this is heightened as information is rarely in an accessible format.
- Concerns with the removal of level three high intensity supports from the NDIS price guide, noting this may make it harder for participants to find providers and get the appropriate supports.
- Improvement to Operational Guidelines are welcomed, but Members suggesting clear communication is needed around reasons for change.
- Workforce skills shortage within the complex support needs pathway staff, which can result in delays in resolving complex scenarios.
- Limited providers available to give quality high level supports to people with complex, positive behavioural support needs.
- Concerns some providers are entering into guardianship arrangements with participants, particularly within the Indigenous community, which presents issues and risks around a participants choice and control. This also raises concerns of sharp practices.
- Occupational therapists with limited training in the NDIS, particularly related to home modifications.
Members also queried whether the recent Information Gathering for Access and Planning (IGAP) co-design survey was available in other languages. Dr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material advised the survey is only available in English. Additionally saying an alternative approach was being applied to hear the voices of diverse communities, noting the Agency is partnering with several Disability Representatives and Carer Organisations (DRCO) to run a series of focus groups.
Dr Studdert noted the feedback and themes raised by Members and provided some comments back to the meeting. Dr Studdert was particularly concerned about the comments relating to sharp practices and requested Members to report this direct to the fraud team.
Action 3: Secretariat to share with Members the process of reporting sharp practices.
8. Meeting close
8.1. Other Business
The Principal Member noted the following out of session meetings that will occur in the coming months.
- 3P briefing from the Agency
- DRCO and Council meeting — roles and responsibilities in co-design
- IGAP listening sessions
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8.2. Next Meeting
The next meeting will be 24 August at 1pm (AEST).
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Themes from meeting chat
- CEO advertisement well received by Members
- Discussion around the meaning of ‘in accordance with plan’. Dr
redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant materialprovided definition of this from the Self-Management policy. - Welcomed the draft Autism Guidelines from the CRC.
- Evidence for decision making under the Act, including how assessments and reports are funded, and how the Agency use this information to make more consistent and equitable decisions will be part of the Information Gathering for Access and Planning co-design.
- Home and Living core design workshops — testing is underway on the first challenge.
- Discussion around how the Agency will share IGAP information more widely.
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