NDIA Accountability Project

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MINUTES OF THE INDEPENDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL TO THE NDIS MEETING 3 OF 2020

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DOCUMENT 6

Independent Advisory Council

MINUTES OF THE INDEPENDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL TO THE NDIS

MEETING 3 OF 2020

14 April 2020 11.00am to 1.00pm, hosted on the Microsoft Teams platform

Members

  • Mr John Walsh (Principal Member)
  • Ms Sylvana Mahmic
  • Ms Jennifer Cullen
  • Ms Janet Meagher AM
  • Mr James Manders
  • Prof Anne Kavanagh
  • Ms Liz Reid
  • Ms Kerry Allan-Zinner
  • Ms Judy Huett
  • Mr Kevin Cocks AM

Expert Advisers

  • Mr Ross Joyce, Australian Federation of Disability Organisations
  • Dr Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner
  • Mr David Moody, National Disability Services
  • Ms Jane Flanagan, Disabled People Organisation’s Australia

NDIA Representatives

  • 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, Advice, Research and Evaluation
  • 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 Jodie redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Council Secretariat Support Officer
  • Ms Jaklin redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Project Officer, Advice, Research and Evaluation

Attending

  • Mr Stephen redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Branch Manager, National Disability Policy Branch, DSS
  • Ms Kate redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Director, Governance and Engagement DSS
  • Mr Andrew redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Policy Officer Disability Strategy Governance and Engagement, DSS
  • Ms Belinda redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant AM, Council Consultant

Apologies

  • Ms Leah Van Poppel
  • Ms Sue Salthouse
  • Ms Ara Cresswell

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1. Principal Member’s Welcome & Open

1.1. Principal Member’s Welcome

The Principal Member opened the meeting at 11.00am.

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

1.2. Confirmation of Minutes and Declarations of Interest

Council members and expert advisers noted the updated register of conflicts of interest circulated in advance of the meeting.

Prof Kavanagh noted her appointment to the Advisory Council to the Department of Health to develop, monitor and implement an operational plan for people with disability in COVID-19. Dr Gauntlett declared he is also a member of this Advisory Council.

The Council approved the minutes and actions arising from the meeting held on 31 March 2020.

1.3. COVID-19 Update

Mr Martin Hoffman, NDIA Chief Executive Officer, attended the session to take questions from Council in relation to the NDIA response to COVID-19.

The Council commended the NDIA for its response to COVID-19, and welcomed the measures that have been implemented to date to support participants.

Mr Oliver Bladek, Deputy CEO Design, Digital and Strategy, briefly commented on the question on notice from the previous Council meeting regarding Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. Mr Bladek said the NDIA is shifting resources to proactively reach out to vulnerable participants to ensure they are adequately supported. The NDIA is individually contacting participants who have been identified as high risk, communicating with critical support providers to ensure services are maintained and using the community connectors program to reach out to very remote and Aboriginal communities.

Ms Meagher highlighted the negative impact that the restrictions associated with COVID-19 can have for people with psychosocial disability, who may experience more frequent and/or extended episodes of disability, and encouraged the NDIA to regularly communicate to providers about the importance of personal interaction with participants with psychosocial disability (complying with the physical distancing rules).

Mr Manders raised the potential value of an NDIS ID card, particularly in emergency situations. Mr Hoffman highlighted the privacy and operational issues associated with the card, and suggested the NDIA would benefit from Council’s advice on the matter.

Prof Kavanagh expressed concern at the death of a disability support worker due to COVID-19, and urged a nationally consistent approach to supporting participants, workers and providers. While reinforcing the efforts of the NDIA to the extent possible, Mr Hoffman noted that the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission is the responsible regulator at national level, except for a small area in WA. In response to Ms Kavanagh’s question about the safety issues related to the operation of Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs) during the

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pandemic, Mr Hoffman explained that ADEs are the responsibility of the Department of Social Services (DSS) and the position is they can operate as long as they comply with regulations on physical distancing.

In relation to the short supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) across Australia, Mr Hoffman noted that the desired use of PPE from participants and providers does not always meet the criteria as per medical advice, which is a gap of concern. Mr Hoffman also confirmed the NDIA has an arrangement in place with the Department of Health for the emergency distribution of PPE from the national stockpile to disability facilities, which will be managed by the NDIA.

The Council raised concerns that the government’s public communications through health and aged care messaging, failed to acknowledge the similar COVID-19 risks and challenges faced by people with disability. Members encouraged Mr Hoffman to communicate to the Prime Minister, Minister for Health and Minister for the NDIS the need for public messaging for people with disability. Dr Gauntlett raised the need for communications to also address the increased risk of violence, abuse and neglect towards people with disability during the pandemic. Mr Hoffman noted the NDIA has a comprehensive communications strategy for COVID-19 in place and committed to circulating it for Council’s feedback.

The Council also questioned the level of understanding within the health system of the rights and needs of people with disability; the equitable treatment of people with disability when accessing health care; and the ethical implications should people with disability not be equally prioritised for treatment during a crisis. The Principal Member noted it may be a topic for future Council advice.

Action 1: The Council Secretariat to circulate the responses to the questions on notice from the meeting of 31 March 2020.

Action 2: Mr Hoffman to circulate the COVID-19 Communications Strategy for Council’s feedback.

Action 3: Council to provide high-level feedback on the potential pros and cons, and broader considerations, related to an NDIS ID card.

2. National Disability Strategy

2.1. Revised Approach to a New National Disability Strategy

Mr Stephen redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Branch Manager National Disability Policy Branch, DSS, provided an update on the progress of the new National Disability Strategy.

Mr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant presented an overview of the engagement plan for the second stage of consultations, which included the traditional workshops and online submissions as well as targeted face-to-face consultations to reach people who are usually underrepresented in these consultations, such as people with complex disabilities. Mr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant noted this targeted approach was co-designed with Dr Gauntlett as part of his role as Human Rights Commissioner, the University of Melbourne and a number of disability providers.

Mr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant noted that in light of the current pandemic, the National Disability Strategy Reform Steering Group (which has Council members Ms Cullen and Ms Reid as members)

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recommended to defer consultations, even though this will result in a delay of the finalisation of the Strategy.

The Council was pleased to hear about the nuanced approach to targeting groups of people with complex disability, to ensure their views are represented in the Strategy. Members also noted some opportunities arising from the delayed consultation including a more focused communications campaign about the purpose of the National Disability Strategy; and the potential to reach a higher number of people with disability via online consultation.

Members also highlighted the importance of having a robust outcomes framework alongside the Strategy. The Council noted some of the outcomes measures described in the meeting papers may be too broad and suggested more specific measures to provide a strong reporting mechanism and accountability. Members acknowledged the inconsistencies in data available at national and state level, however emphasised the importance of the strong accountability framework. The Principal Member noted the NDIA is also required to report on systems outside NDIS funding and the Scheme Actuary may be able to assist to clarify the inconsistencies in the data. The Principal Member encouraged the Council’s input to the development of the outcomes framework.

Action 4: Continue to explore with DSS opportunities for the Council to contribute to the development of the National Disability Strategy, including the Outcomes Framework and data improvement plan.

3. Meeting Close

3.1. Other Business

The next meeting is scheduled on 28 April, to be hosted on the Microsoft Teams platform

The meeting closed 1.14pm.

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