NDIA Accountability Project

This project is in DRAFT

Support Coordinator Panel Pilot

‹ PrevPage 1 of 3 · Source p. 45Next ›

Support Coordinator Panel Pilot

Summary

Establish a panel of support coordination providers who meet NDIA quality criteria. The pre-qualified panel will be able to charge an additional 1% for SC level 1 and 4.75% more for SC levels 2 and 3. Conditions of pre-qualification will include a requirement to provide services to participants referred to it from the NDIA. The providers included on the panel will be frozen for the first 12 months while the approach is piloted and evaluated. If successful, the approach can be expanded to allow additional participation on the panel.

Issues

While the supply of support coordination services continues to expand, providers of high-quality supports claim that the price is inadequate. The price for support coordination levels 2 and 3 have not been indexed for 5 years due to the overall health of the market (increasing levels of supply).

There is a risk of high-quality support coordination providers exiting from the market ahead of implementation of a new Navigator model.

The NDIA needs to have high quality and pre-qualified support coordination providers to whom vulnerable and complex participants can be referred, such as participants who are currently serviced by fraudulent support coordination providers.

Poor support coordination is a contributor to intra-plan inflation. Better quality support coordination is a critical element in improving management of plan budgets and improving outcomes for participants.

Approach

Seek expressions of interest to participate on a panel of prequalified providers that can charge a higher price for support coordination services based on:

  • Meeting a set of quality and integrity criteria; and
  • Adherence to conditions which ensure safe and appropriate supports for vulnerable participants.

Proposed criteria for participation on the panel include:

  • Are currently a registered provider (as at 1 July 2024)
  • Provide Level 2 and 3 support coordination supports (the focus of the pilot is on complex participants)
  • Capacity to demonstrate provision of safe and appropriate supports (no breaches recorded by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission)
  • Integrity checks (Fraud Fusion Taskforce screening)
  • Capacity to deliver complex supports (offer nursing capability and/or psychosocial recovery coaching)
  • Stable operations (a minimum of three years operating in support coordination market)
  • Have a conflict of interest management plan that precludes them referring participants to themselves or related businesses except in exceptional circumstances and with the approval for the NDIA

FOI 24/25-0208

OFFICIAL: SENSITIVE

  • Able to demonstrate a commitment to providing quality support services, including through:
    • i. improving service offerings to better meet participant needs by bundling demand
    • ii. managing intra and inter plan inflation as participant objectives are met.
  • A demonstrated commitment to training and supervision of the workforce.

Conditions of registration:

  • Must commit to accepting referrals from the NDIA for vulnerable and or complex participants

OFFICIAL: SENSITIVE

Page 182 of 352

Price adjustment for panel providers

The NDIA is recommending a 1% increase to the current rate for support coordination levels 1, 2, and 3 for pre-qualified providers to reflect the obligations associated with participating on the panel.

A further 3.75% increase (total increase of 4.75%) above the current rate for SC levels 2 and 3 is recommended to provide indexation increases for support coordination levels 2 and 3. 3.75% has been chosen as it reflects the 2023-24 increase to the National Minimum Wage.

It is not recommended that these increases apply to the rural and remote loadings that apply for SC.

Budget impact

There is no direct budget impact associated with the pilot as it is not recommended that participants’ plans be increased (by 4.75% of their support coordination costs).

No adjustment to participant plans is recommended due to:

  • The complexity of the changes and the time required to implement these changes
  • It is anticipated that higher quality support coordination services will lead to reductions over time as supports are established and participant outcomes are achieved
  • Existing underutilisation of support coordination in plan budgets

The overall cost of the pilot will be dependent on the number of providers that qualify to participate. The NDIA considers the number of providers that will be able to reliably demonstrate they meet the quality and integrity criteria and commit to the conditions for participation will be limited.

Support coordinators contribute to inter and intra plan inflation. Improving the quality of support coordination should help reduce these pressures. Additionally, good quality support coordinators should be better able to stabilise complex participants in crisis situations and assist the participant to become more independent thus bringing down the costs of their SC and overall plan over time.

Risks

There is a risk the pilot will be criticised on the basis participants who use panel support coordinators will pay more for services if their plans are not increased by a corresponding amount. The implementation of the pilot will need to be supported by a communications campaign that reinforces the understanding that the higher costs are associated with achieving better outcomes from their plans overall through better support coordination.

OFFICIAL: SENSITIVE Page 183 of 352