DOCUMENT 35 FOI 24/25-0546

AGENDA

INDEPENDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL TO THE NDIS

Meeting 10 of 2021

Date: Tuesday 22 June 2021 Log-in details: Independent Advisory Council Meeting redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant

SESSION 1: PRINCIPAL MEMBER’S WELCOME & OPEN 1.30pm-1.45pm

• ITEM 1.1 Principal Member’s welcome
• ITEM 1.2 Confirmation of minutes, matters arising and declaration of interest
• ITEM 1.3 NDIA Board Chair and CEO updates

SESSION 2: MEMBER’S REPORTS 1.45pm-2.30pm

• ITEM 2.1 Council reports on issues heard in their communities

SESSION 3: COUNCIL PRIORITIES 2.30pm-2.45pm

• ITEM 3.1 Council’s 2021-22 Work Plan

  Presenter: Robyn Kruk AO, Principal Member

Break 2.45-3.00pm

SESSION 4: SCHEME REFORM 3.00pm-4.15pm

• TEM 4.1: Formal advice timelines and discussion

  Presenter: Robyn Kruk AO, Principal Member and Leah Van Poppel, Deputy Chair

SESSION 5: MEETING CLOSE 4.15pm-4.30pm

• ITEM 5.1 Other business

• ITEM 5.2 Next meeting

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Independent Advisory Council

Minutes of the Independent Advisory Council to the NDIS

Meeting 10 — 22 June 1.30pm to 4.30pm, hosted on MS Teams

Members

• Ms Robyn Kruk AO (Principal Member)
• Ms Leah van Poppel (Deputy Chair)
• Ms Kerry Allan-Zinner
• Dr Sharon Boyce
• Ms Jennifer Cullen
• Mrs Judy Huett
• Dr Leighton Jay
• Ms Sylvana Mahmic
• Ms Tricia Malowney OAM
• Mr James Manders
• Ms Sam Paior
• Ms Liz Reid AM

Expert Adviser

• Dr Ben Gaunitlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner

NDIA Representatives

• Dr Helen Nugent, NDIA Board Chair
• Mr Martin Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer
• Mr Oliver Bladek, Deputy CEO, Design, Digital and Strategy
• Dr Sam redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant General Manager, Policy, Advice and Research
• Mr Trent redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Branch Manager, Agency Policy
• Ms Fiona redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Director, Independent Advisory Council
• Ms Marina redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Secretariat, Independent Advisory Council
• Ms Lirije redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Assistant Director Communications, Independent Advisory Council
• Ms Jaklin redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Senior Project Officer, Independent Advisory Council

Attending

• Ms Belinda redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant AM, Council’s Independent Consultant
• Ms Rebecca redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Support

Apologies

• Mr Mark Tonga

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1. Principal Member’s welcome and open

1.1. Principal Member’s welcome

The Principal Member opened the meeting at 1.35pm.

The Principal Member acknowledged the Traditional Owners of the lands on which Members, Expert Adviser and attendees were meeting.

The Principal Member noted an apology from Mr Tonga who was unable to attend the meeting.

The Principal Member:

• expressed thanks to Dr Boyce and Ms Malowney for their participation on the SES recruitment panel;
• advised that the Board Chair responded to Council’s letter and it is available in the Resource Centre on Diligent;
• noted the next Council meeting is 27 July from 1.30pm to 4.30pm, apologising for the delay in confirming meeting dates for the remainder of the year, noting they will be available shortly;
• thanked Members, the Board Chair and Directors for their attendance at the Scheme Reform Forum, noting their valuable input;
• acknowledged the extremely tight timelines for Council’s advice on Scheme Reforms, noting consultations with the states and territories are underway, the follow up session with additional stakeholders is on 1 July and Council’s advice is due 2 July.

1.2. Minutes, matters arising and declarations of interest

Council noted the updated register of conflicts of interest circulated in advance of the meeting.

s47F- personal privacy

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Council approved the minutes from the meeting held on 18 May 2021 and noted the matters arising.

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1.3. NDIA Board Chair and CEO updates

The NDIA Board Chair acknowledged the immense pressure the Council is under to meet the timelines on Scheme reforms, thanking Members for their continued support, commitment and valuable advice.

Mr Hoffman also thanked Members for their ongoing work on Scheme reforms. Mr Hoffman said the recent consultation with the CEO Forum and Disability Peak Organisations was positive, noting feedback was consistent with that from the two-day Scheme Reform Forum on 10-11 June.

Mr Hoffman discussed with Members the work the Agency is currently undertaking, advising he will share the Annual Financial Sustainability Report and Independent Assessment (IA) Pilot Evaluation once they are endorsed by the Board.

Members thanked the NDIA Board Chair and Mr Hoffman, along with NDIA Management for their hard work, openness and transparency, noting this creates space for respectful conversation on achievements and concerns.

Council provided initial feedback from the state and territory consultations, advising that they:

• facilitated respectful and constructive discussions on Scheme reforms.
• showed the NDIA is genuinely listening to the disability communities’ concerns on Scheme reforms, and wants to rebuild trust.

Members said they could be improved by:

• including more participants, particularly diverse participants, with lived experience
• providing information on personalised budgets
• circulating accessible pre-reading material to attendees to enable informed discussion.

2. Member’s Reports

2.1. Council reports on issues heard in their communities

Council Members raised a number of concerns they had heard related to the NDIS, including:

• Continued anxiety for participants, particularly those with intellectual disability, on the impact of Scheme reforms including IAs.
• Workforce shortages, particularly with issues around temporary work visas and student
• visas under the current COVID environment.
• Community Connector program — impact on participants, particularly those in rural and remote communities if the program ends.
• Concerns around Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) supply shortages, and delays in single occupancy SDA approvals.
• Increased delays between planning meetings and participants receiving approved plans.

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• Participants delaying plan reviews for fear of plan cuts, which could result in equipment and supports not being fit for purpose.
• The need for an ‘express pathway’ for women who are victims of domestic violence and need NDIS supports.
• The need for transparent, proactive and regular communications and engagement
• between Council, the NDIA, and state and territory disability councils.
• Inadequate support for people in the justice system to access the NDIS, and delays gaining parole because appropriate NDIS supports are not in place when leaving these settings.
• Discussions within community disability organisations around the negative impact of the NDIS Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) approach on the ECI sector.

The NDIA Board Chair and CEO thanked Members for sharing their reports, noting this information is extremely powerful and valuable. Mr Hoffman suggested it would be beneficial for NDIA State Managers to connect with Council members and requested the Secretariat to action. Additionally, the NDIA Board Chair sought further information relating to the parole cases to work through the issues.

Action 1: Secretariat to send Dr Jay and Ms Reid’s reports from the ground to Members.

Action 2: Secretariat to connect Council Members with relevant NDIA State Manager.

Action 3: Secretariat to send specific details on the parole cases raised by Ms Reid to NDIA Board Chair.

3. Council Priorities

3.1. Council’s 2021-22 Work Plan

The Principal Member advised that the Reference Groups’ priorities are nearly finalised, acknowledging each Co-Chair and Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant for their work. The Principal Member noted how these priorities will link to Council’s 2021-22 Work Plan, which will be finalised at the next Council meeting in July.

4. Scheme Reform

4.1. Formal advice timelines and discussion

In camera discussion. Only Council Members, Expert Adviser, Independent Consultant and Secretariat were in attendance.

The Principal Member and Deputy Chair again acknowledged the tireless effort and commitment of Council and Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant to:

• provide advice to the NDIA Board and Minister for the NDIS on complex issues of Scheme reform including IAs

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• the consultation process with the Agency, Community Stakeholders and state and territory Disability Advisory Councils

Council discussed the draft recommendations circulated prior to the meeting and provided their initial feedback and advice on areas for inclusion. Members also expressed thanks to Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material for her efforts in consolidating feedback from all Scheme reform consultations.

The Principal Member said the advice will be updated daily as more feedback from consultations is received. Members were advised to continue to provide feedback to Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material over the coming days.

redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material

Action 4: Council to provide feedback to Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material on the Scheme Reform advice.

5. Meeting close

5.1. Other Business

Nil

5.2. Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled 27 July 2021 from 1.30pm-4.30pm.

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