NDIA Accountability Project

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AGENDA INDEPENDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL TO THE NDIS Meeting 8 of 2021-22 Date: Monday 28 March 2022

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FOI 24/25-0546 DOCUMENT 51

OFFICIAL

AGENDA

INDEPENDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL TO THE NDIS

Meeting 8 of 2021-22 Date: Monday 28 March 2022 Log-in details: Independent Advisory Council meeting Or call in (audio only) redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material

SESSION TITLE TIME
SESSION 1: PRINCIPAL MEMBER’S WELCOME & OPEN 1.30pm-2.00pm
ITEM 1.1 Principal Member’s welcome
ITEM 1.2 Confirmation of minutes, matters arising, and declaration of interest
ITEM 1.3 CEO Update
ITEM 1.4 Welcome New Board Members
SESSION 2: COUNCIL REPORTS 2.00pm-2.30pm
ITEM 2.1 Members and Expert Advisers: Reports ‘from the ground’
SESSION 3: CO-DESIGN ADVISORY GROUP FEEDBACK 2.30pm-3.00pm
ITEM 3.1 Update on Co-Design Advisory Group activities
Presenter: Leah Van Poppel
Break 3.00pm-3.10pm
SESSION 4: NDIS QUALITY AND SAFEGUARDS COMMISSION 3.10pm-3.55pm
ITEM 4.1 Update on the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
Presenter: Tracy Mackey
Break 3.55pm-4.00pm
SESSION 5: INFORMATION GATHERING FOR ACCESS AND PLANNING PROJECT 4.00pm-4.45pm
ITEM 5.1 Update on the Information Gathering for Access and Planning (IGAP) project
Presenters: Dr Sam redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant and Jess redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant

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SESSION TITLE TIME
SESSION 6: MEETING CLOSE 4.45pm-5.00pm
ITEM 6.1 Other business
ITEM 6.2 Next meeting

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Independent Advisory Council

Minutes of the Independent Advisory Council to the NDIS

Meeting 8 — 28 March 2022 1.30pm to 5.00pm, hosted on MS Teams

Members

Ms Leah Van Poppel (Principal Member) Ms Kerry Allan-Zinner Ms Sharon Boyce Ms Jennifer Cullen Dr Leighton Jay Ms Tricia Malowney OAM Mr James Manders Ms Sam Paior Ms Liz Reid AM

Expert Adviser

Dr Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner

NDIA Representatives

Ms Meredith Allan, NDIA Board Director Mr Denis Napthine, NDIA Board Director Mr Martin Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer Dr Sam redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant General Manager, Policy, Advice and Research Ms Jess redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Acting Branch Manager, Agency Policy Ms Kathy redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Director Strategic Advice, Policy, Advice and Research Ms Carly redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Acting Director, Independent Advisory Council Ms Hannah redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Assistant Director, 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 Ms Rebecca redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant Project Officer, Independent Advisory Council

Attending

Ms Tracy Mackey, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner Mr Gavin Burner, Intellectual Disability Reference Group Member Ms Belinda redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant AM, Council’s Independent Consultant redacted: s47F - personal privacy

Apologies

Mr Jim Minto, NDIA Acting Board Chair Ms Sylvana Mahmic, Council Member Mr Mark Tonga, Council Member

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1. Principal Member’s welcome and open

1.1. Principal Member’s welcome

The Principal Member opened the meeting at 1.33pm.

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

The Principal Member also acknowledged people with Disability, whose voice Council looks to represent.

The Principal Member noted apologies from Mr Jim Minto Acting NDIA Board Chair, Ms Mahmic and Mr Tonga who were unable to attend meeting.

The Principal Member welcomed Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant to the meeting as the new Director of the Independent Advisory Council team. Noting Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant has engaged with Council over several years, most recently with the Self-Management Policy project.

The Principal Member said she will not appoint a Deputy Chair at this stage, noting Council previously implemented this role as part of an interim arrangement through its own procedures. Council sought further rationale, with the Principal Member advising the Reference Group Co-Chair roles were seen as an opportunity for skill development. Mr Hoffman added the NDIS Act does not include the Deputy Chair role for either Council or the Board. The Principal Member said she will continue to work closely with Reference Group Co-Chairs to align advice, priorities and draw upon them for Council meetings as needed.

The Principal Member noted the following information is available in the Diligent Resource Centre:

  • Out of Session meeting report on the Research and Evaluation Strategy Refresh
  • 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.

The Principal Member mentioned the possibility of extending future meetings by 30 minutes to allow extra time for Members reports discussions. The Members were in favour of this.

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.

redacted: s47F - personal privacy

Council approved the minutes from the meeting held on 25 February 2022 and noted the matters arising and the terms of reference.

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1.3. CEO update

Mr Hoffman told Council that the Agency continues to focus on ongoing operational improvements and more broadly, the co-design projects on wider reform. Mr Hoffman also noted work is underway on:

  • participant outcomes relating to Employment and Early Childhood
  • commercial activities including the price review and ongoing fraud and integrity activities.

1.4. Welcome New Board Members

The Principal Member welcomed two NDIA Board members, Dr Denis Napthine AO and Ms Meredith Allan who joined the meeting, noting both were appointed on 1 January 2022.

Dr Napthine has held various senior positions in government and was the 47th Premier of Victoria. As the Premier, he led the government to sign the NDIS Agreement with the then Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Ms Allan is a former president of the Internal Society if Alternative and Augmentative Communication (ISAAC), an organisation working to improve the lives of children and adults with complex communication needs. She was the first president to speak via alternative and augmentative communication (AAC).

The Principal Member also congratulated Mr Napthine on his appointment as NDIA Board Chair, effective 1 April 2022.

2. Council Reports

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

Council Members raised the following concerns they had heard related to the NDIS:

  • continued challenges with plan reviews, funding, and plan management:
    • increased delays in the completion of plan reviews and changes to existing plans, with reports of significant reductions in plans following a review.
    • some people with disability are in hospital waiting for plan approval.
    • self-management is not promoted equally to manage funding, alongside NDIA-managed or plan-managed plans.
  • challenges in rural and remote communities around:
    • lack of local area coordination (LAC) to help access NDIS services.
    • inadequate housing options for people with a disability.
    • transport options and a lack of understanding on how to use funding efficiently for transport
    • people not feeling they are being heard. Members suggesting creating linkages with peer groups across Australia may help.
  • public advocates:
    • have long wait lists to help people with disability to access supports.

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  • are dealing with more appeals cases for plan reviews. Noting, when appealing, some cases are declined and then resolved when the advocate appeals for a second time with the same evidence.
  • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander participants who have received funding for several years:
    • reporting their funding has reduced by more than half.
    • have had funding removed for Supported Independent Living (SIL).
  • Continued support challenges with the justice interface:
    • people find it hard to locate and access Justice Liaison Officers (JLO).
    • difficult for a Coordinator of Supports (CoS) to engage with participants in prison, even with a known release date.
    • the justice system operational guidelines are not working.
    • lack of outreach to prisons, and the need for better training for CoS, LAC and NDIA Planners.
    • NDIA complex pathway is hard to access for prisoners.
  • Continued challenges around home and living:
    • SIL plan funding reductions without explanation or justification.
    • providers select high value SIL plans for their financial benefit.
    • impact funding reductions have on people’s lives and wellbeing.
    • concerns participants with SDA and ILO funding do not truly have choice and control over how, where, and with whom they live, because of planner, service provider and/or family interventions.
    • long wait times for SDA approval (average five months), with some up to 18 months.
    • service providers manage most SDA housing being built.
    • Lack of proper housing options. Members suggesting the Agency should share data on where participants live to help state governments decide where community housing is needed for future planning.
  • Planners and LAC:
    • have little cultural understanding around defining ‘challenging behaviour’ or ‘behaviours of concerns’ and include unnecessary restrictive practice in a Positive Behaviour Support Plan.
    • have little understanding around Huntington’s Disease, or other rare diseases, because they lack specialist training.
    • lack of complex care pathway use for participants with progressive neurological disease, often because they do not know what supports should be funded in plans.
    • not available in some states, which means other states manage their LAC supports for them.
  • concerns the disability community have not seen the final amendments to the NDIS Act (currently in parliament).
  • concerns with misinformation on social media about participants asked to repay their funding because of non-compliance.
  • high rate of late autism diagnosis for women, as compared to males, which prevents early intervention.

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  • need for greater public awareness around insurance principles that guide the NDIS. Members noting participants and the public often have difficulty in relating disability support needs to insurance.

The Principal Member thanked Members who supplied a report in advance and noted these will be available in the Diligent Resource Centre.

3. Co-design Advisory Group feedback

3.1. Update on Co-Design Advisory Group activities

The Principal Member thanked Members for giving feedback on the Co-design Engagement Framework, noting this has been incorporated and is nearing finalisation.

The Principal Member gave Members an update on progress by the Co-Design Advisory Group, noting the engagement of TACSI to help with co-design. Additionally noting all co-design steering committees have begun and meetings have been productive.

Dr Jay provided Members with an update on the Home and Living Co-design Steering Committee, noting two meetings have been held with a focus on process and scope for the policy.

General discussion continued with members noting:

  • Policy development is broad and for the long term
  • Agency engagement with the Home and Living Reference Group on short to medium term issues in parallel will be beneficial to rebuild trust in the sector and gain further insights

4. NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

4.1. Update on the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

Ms Mackey provided Members with an overview of the work being undertaken by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (the Commission) to drive a nationally consistent approach to the registration, education, and regulation of providers and workers in the market.

Ms Mackey noted a recent registration roundtable, and other engagement events, have been important to get stakeholder feedback about areas of improvement for the Commission.

Members raised the following points:

  • The need for the Commission to work closely with the Royal Commission to make improvements for people with disability.
  • Recommendations from the Robertson report around identifying at-risk and/or vulnerable participants.
  • The importance of:

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  • data around organisations and employees with current registrations to reinforce that the current framework is working
  • recognising that developing friendships for people with complex support needs is an important personal safeguard
  • engaging intellectual disability peer groups to explain the work of the Commission, ways they can raise issues, and get supports
  • NDIS workers undertaking the Commission’s online courses around worker orientation

5. Information Gathering for Access and Planning Project

5.1. Update on the Information Gathering for Access and Planning Project (IGAP) project

Dr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant gave Council an update on the Information Gathering for Access and Planning (IGAP) project, noting the Agency will co-design a new person-centred model that delivers consistency and equity in access and planning outcomes. Dr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant noted an Expert Advice Panel (including medical practitioners, allied health professionals, academics, and social insurance experts) will be set up to help the Co-design Steering Committee with its work.

Members raised concerns around the ‘expert advice panel’ and separating technical experts and people with disability. Dr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant reassured Council that there will not be separate meetings, and the Steering Committee will drive how the expertise is used.

Council mentioned using the analysis and knowledge gained from the Independent Assessment Pilot to inform the IGAP Project would be beneficial.

Members also raised the importance of considering the inclusion of experts in administrative law and from National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (NACCHO) for the Expert Advice Panel.

6. Meeting close

6.1. Other Business

The Principal Member said new guidelines on Food and Beverage and Domestic Travel have been developed for Council and Reference Group Members and will be sent to Members after the meeting. The Principal Member noted the guidelines are consistent with the requirements of the:

  • Public Governance and Accountability Act 2013
  • Remuneration Tribunal (Official Travel) Determination
  • Whole of Australian Government Travel Arrangements

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The Principal Member acknowledged that the meeting can be tiring and long, expressing appreciation to Members and guest speakers for their thoughtful and deep engagement throughout the meeting.

6.2. Next Meeting

The next meeting will be Tuesday 26 April at 1.00pm (AEST). This meeting will include discussion and endorsement of Council’s Equity in the NDIS formal advice.

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