NDIA Accountability Project

This project is in DRAFT

Independent Advisory Council to the NDIS Meeting 9 of 2022-23 Agenda

‹ PrevPage 1 of 9 · Source p. 4Next ›

DOCUMENT 74 FOI 24/25-0546

OFFICIAL

AGENDA

INDEPENDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL TO THE NDIS

Meeting 9 of 2022-23 Date: Thursday 18 May 2023 Log-in details: Independent Advisory Council meeting

Or call in (audio only) redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material

SESSION 1: PRINCIPAL MEMBER’S WELCOME & OPEN 1.00pm-1.15pm
ITEM 1.1 Principal Member’s welcome
ITEM 1.2 Confirmation of minutes, matters arising, and declaration of interest
SESSION 2: COUNCIL UPDATES 1.15pm-2.15pm
ITEM 2.1 Members and Expert Advisers: Reports ‘from the ground’. Highlights from submitted or circulated written reports.
ITEM 2.2 Board Chair and CEO Update
Break 2.15pm-2.30pm
SESSION 3: COUNCIL’S ADVICE 2.30pm-3.15pm
ITEM 3.1 Improving the NDIS for children and young people.
Presenter: Leah van Poppel and Belinda redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material
Break 3.15pm-3.30pm
SESSION 4: AAT 3.30pm-4.15pm
ITEM 4.1 Independent Expert Review Program
NDIA representative: Dr Graeme Innes AM, NDIA Board Director, Mr Matt Swainson, General Manager Chief Counsel Legal and Mr Andrew Ford, Deputy Chief Counsel, ADR Expert Review Program
SESSION 5: WORK PLAN 2023-24 4.15pm-4.55pm
ITEM 5.1 Council’s Work Plan 2023-24
Presenter: Leah van Poppel

Page OFFICIAL 284 of 402 1

FOI 24/25-0546

OFFICIAL

SESSION 6: MEETING CLOSE 4.55pm-5.00pm
ITEM 6.1 Other business
ITEM 6.2 Next meeting

Page OFFICIAL 285 of 402 2

DOCUMENTS

Independent Advisory Council

Minutes of the Independent Advisory Council (IAC) to the NDIS

Meeting 9 — 18 May 2023 1pm — 5pm — hosted on Ms Teams.

Members

Ms Leah Van Poppel Dr Sharon Boyce Adjunct Associate Professor Jennifer Cullen (from session 3.1) Dr Leighton Jay Ms Sylvana Mahmic Ms Tricia Malowney OAM Mr James Manders Ms Sam Paior Dr George Taleporos

IAC Expert Advisor Dr Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner

NDIA Representatives

Mr Kurt Fearnley, NDIA Board Chair Dr Graeme Innes AM, NDIA Board Director and Chair of the IER Oversight Committee (session 4.1) Ms Corri McKenzie, DCEO Service Design and Improvement Ms Debbie Mitchell, DCEO Governance, Risk and Integrity (session 4.1) Mr Matt Swainson, Chief Counsel, Legal (session 4.1) Mr Andrew Ford, Deputy Chief Counsel, ADR Expert Review Program (session 4.1) Ms Kathy redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Director, Strategic Advice Ms Marina redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Assistant Director, IAC Secretariat Ms Lirije redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Assistant Director Communications, IAC Secretariat Ms Jaklin redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Senior Project Officer, IAC Secretariat

Attending

Mr Gavin Burner, Member of IAC’s Intellectual Disability Reference Group Ms Belinda redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant AM, IAC’s Independent Consultant Mr Allan Blackwood, IAC’s Independent Consultant redacted: s47F - personal privacy

Observers

Ms Donna redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Participant Advocate (Session 2)

Apologies

Ms Kerry Allan, Member (taken leave of absence) Mr Mark Tonga, Member (taken leave of absence) Ms Liz Reid AM, Member Ms Rebecca Falkingham, Chief Executive Officer Dr Sam redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant General Manager, Policy, Advice and Research

National Disability Insurance Agency 1

OFFICIAL: SENSITIVE

Independent Advisory Council

ndis

1. Principal Member’s welcome and open

1.1. Principal Member’s welcome

The Principal Member opened the meeting at 1.05pm.

The Principal Member provided an acknowledgement of the Traditional Custodians and Owners of the lands on which Members and attendees were meeting.

The Principal Member also acknowledged people with disability, whose voice the IAC looks to represent. Additionally, the Principal Member recognised several key events and dates that have occurred over the past month, including:

  • ANZAC day on 25 April.
  • International Day Against LGBTIQA+ Discrimination (IDAHOBIT) on 17 May.
  • Global Accessibility Awareness Day on 19 May.

The Principal Member:

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

  • Noted the apologies from Liz Reid, Rebecca Falkingham and Sam redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant noting Jennifer Cullen may join the meeting if able.
  • Welcomed Board Chairperson Kurt Fearnley and Corri McKenzie, DCEO Service Design and Improvement.
  • Noted the recent meetings of the Home and Living and the Children, Young People and Families Reference Groups. Co-Chairs Leighton Jay and Sylvana Mahmic provided a brief update on each meeting.

The Principal Member noted the information available in Diligent’s Resource Centre including:

  • A paper on Indigenous Data Sovereignty by Dr Courtney Ryder that was mentioned at the April meeting.
  • Reports on the meetings held on Claim at Point of Support, Intraplan Inflation and National Cabinet outcomes.

The Principal Member acknowledged the recent work IAC had been doing with the NDIA in several out of session meetings, including the recent meeting about National Cabinet outcomes with the NDIA, the Minister for the NDIS and Disability Representative Community Organisations. Members noted their concern around the NDIA ensuring their time was used effectively at these meetings, and that the size of the meetings may have been too large.

Ms van Poppel acknowledged the valued contribution of Dr Ben Gauntlet, who is stepping down from his IAC role as Expert Adviser in June.

1.2. Confirmation of minutes, matters arising and declarations of interest.

IAC approved the minutes from the meeting held on 13 April 2023, with the following change included to the minutes:

National Disability Insurance Agency 2

OFFICIAL: SENSITIVE

Independent Advisory Council

ndis

  • Page 3, issue raised about people with complex needs in hospitals — the call need to be more around people being able to use their supports and not just baseline training.

Members noted the matters arising and the updated register of conflicts of interest circulated in advance of the meeting.

Ms McKenzie noted that the issues participants are experiencing while in hospital seem to be systemic, and committed to come back to the IAC with a proposed approach to tackle it.

Action 1: Secretariat to amend the 13 April meeting minutes.

Action 2: Ms McKenzie to work with the IAC on hospital supports for participants.

2. IAC Updates

2.1. Members and Expert Advisers: Reports ‘from the ground’

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

The Principal Member noted Ms. redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Participant Advocate, is in attendance as observer for this session.

The Principal Member reminded participants about the need to raise systemic issues affecting participants experience with the NDIS.

IAC Members raised the following points they had heard related to the NDIS:

  • Reports of ongoing delays in giving fostered children and those in out of home care access to the NDIS or crisis services.
  • The need for the NDIS to put families of children with disability at the centre of their lives. Reports of parents being told they cannot use the NDIS funds for parent’s education sessions and therapists not allowing family members to be present during sessions.
  • Delays with processing access requests, with reports of a participant waiting 2 years to receive access. It was noted this was due to repeated human errors, and that more training is needed to flag these issues.
  • Reports of Health Liaison Officers providing advice that goes against the NDIS Operational Guidelines, negatively impacting on participants.
  • Ongoing reports of random increases in participants’ plans, which were not requested, yet other needed supports not being included.
  • Concern from the sector about the SDA Price Guide, with suggestions the NDIA may be underestimating the cost of SDA developments.
  • Calls from the disability community for the NDIS Review to release more information about the work they are doing so that the community can stay informed and up to date.
  • Concern about the support given by the NDIA to providers who service participants with very complex needs living in legacy group homes. Reports that when a participant leaves the house, the provider has no funding to continue to provide 24/7 support to the remaining participant living in the property.

National Disability Insurance Agency 3

OFFICIAL: SENSITIVE

Independent Advisory Council

ndis

  • Issues for participants who have AT in their plans going on longer plans (i.e., 3 years) only getting support with maintenance for the first year of the plan.
  • Positive feedback and optimism in the community towards the NDIS.
  • Concern about people with public guardians in Victoria not allowed to speak for themselves. They instead need to go to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to get permission for this. Suggestion that this may be a national issue.
  • Praise for the NDIA’s work in the Northern Territory to support participants evacuated from flood-affected remote communities.
  • The need for the NDIA to ensure the Price Guide drives positive behaviour in providers, with many currently making risk-free profits at the expense of participants.
  • The need to manage conflict of interests between support coordinators and providers of core services. Reports of support coordinators deliberately not lodging a change of circumstances review in time so that the participant runs out of funds and their plans receive more funds at review.
  • Ongoing reports of the NDIS call centre not helping participants, and not providing continuity in service and consistent messaging.
  • Calls for more information, planning, and family engagement to help older people with disability with access to palliative care.
  • Calls for more information and support to be provided to participants who self-manage, including proactive distribution of the Self-Management Guide.
  • Reports of NDIA communications and systems breakdowns related to internal review of decision that are not looked at when/if a new plan is being developed.

Ms McKenzie noted the issues raised and provided comments back to the meeting including:

  • Work currently underway on the participant planning journey, which will be a priority for over the next 2 years. This work aims to improve participant outcomes which currently do not correlate with the amount of funding included in their plans.
  • The SDA Price Review will be published around June, and members can provide feedback anytime to SDAPR@ndis.gov.au.
  • The implementation of the Home and Living Framework is currently going through internal approval processes. The Framework looks at the transition from support categories that came from state-based group homes into independent living arrangements, how this can be implemented and how the NDIA provide home and living supports.
  • A new self-management guide is currently under development and will be published in June.

Action 3: The NDIA to provide IAC with a de-identified plan from PACE.

Action 4: IAC to meet out of session with the SDA Review team.

National Disability Insurance Agency 4

OFFICIAL: SENSITIVE

Independent Advisory Council

ndis

2.2. Board Chair and DCEO update

The NDIA Board Chair was pleased to hear about the optimism within the disability community. He thanked IAC Members for bringing the issues they hear within their networks and for their commitment to working with the NDIA and the Minister on some of the Agency’s priorities, in many instances at short notice.

The Board Chair noted that the announcement of a blended payments trial will be led by the Department of Social Services, however the NDIA will engage with DSS regularly on this issue.

The Board Chair was pleased to see IAC’s important work on the advice about children and young people, and looks forward to working with IAC on its implementation.

2.3. Improving the NDIS for children and young people

Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant provided a brief overview of the draft advice, including the changes that have occurred since IAC last saw this advice.

Members feedback included:

  • The importance of this advice for both the NDIA and NDIS Review, noting there is work starting in the Agency which seems consistent with some of the recommendations in the advice.
  • The need for the advice to include a table of acronyms, and a clear definition of what constitutes a family, noting the cultural considerations behind it.
  • The advice assists the NDIA in understanding the unique characteristics and needs of children and young people with disability and the importance of their families.

IAC endorsed the advice, which is estimated to progress to the NDIA Board in July 2023.

3. Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)

3.1. Independent Expert Review (IER) Program

Dr Innes AM opened the session providing an overview of the establishment of the IER trial, and his role as Chair of the Oversight Committee. Mr. Swainson and Mr. Ford talked to the operations and deliverables of the IER trial.

Member’s comments included:

  • Praise for the NDIA for the achievements of the IER trial, including having 78% of legacy cases resolved.
  • Noted the need to have a similar approach on an ongoing basis, providing participants with the option of this process for dispute resolution instead of more formal AAT hearings.
  • The importance of the IER trial evaluation including a cost-benefit analysis and information on the participant experience within this trial.

National Disability Insurance Agency 5

OFFICIAL: SENSITIVE

Independent Advisory Council

ndis

  • Importance of reaching out to participants from Indigenous or culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds who seem to be underrepresented in the trial. Also, to ensure participants with intellectual disability understand the aim of the IER trial.
  • The need to ensure any new dispute resolution models are sympathetic, trauma-informed and effective, focusing on being inquisitorial rather than adversarial.

Dr Innes and Mr. Swainson noted:

  • The main issue with the NDIA continuing with a similar approach to the IER trial is that the funding for this process finishes on 30 June. Also, for some cases, running the IER trial and AAT in parallel resulted in more delays for participants.
  • A key learning from the trial was the ability for the reviewer to meet with the participant and/or their families to understand the issue, without the NDIA present. This approach led to a more efficient and effective resolution of any of the disputes.

Action 5: Mr. Swainson to brief IAC about the AAT changes, once formally announced.

4. Work Plan 2023-24

4.1. IAC’s Work Plan 2023-24

The Principal Member explained the process for IAC’s annual work plan, which has been in place since 2021.

Some of the key priorities noted by Members included:

  • Advice on participants who are ageing.
  • Workforce and employment.
  • Quality of services for people with disability, particularly those targeted at people with intellectual disability (i.e., providing promoting contemporary models which are essentially day programs).
  • Recommendations from the NDIS Review and Disability Royal Commission.
  • The implementation of IAC’s advice ‘Equity in the NDIS’.

Members noted the current changing environment with the announcement of the National Cabinet Outcomes and Budget target, as well as the future recommendations from the NDIS Review and Disability Royal Commission. Members agreed on a 6-month plan until December 2023, so IAC can adapt to changing priorities.

Action 6: The Secretariat to circulate a 6-month work plan for endorsement out of session.

5. Meeting close

5.1. Other Business

National Disability Insurance Agency 6

OFFICIAL: SENSITIVE

Independent Advisory Council

5.2. Next Meeting

The next meeting will be on Thursday 6 July in Melbourne.

Delivered by the National Disability Insurance Agency 7

OFFICIAL: SENSITIVE