DOCUMENT 7 FOI 23/24-1307 Independent
Advisory Council
OFFICIAL
Meeting minutes for Equity and Inclusion Reference Group
Meeting 3 — 25 March 2024 12.30pm to 4.30pm (AEDT)
Online via MS Teams
Reference Group Members
Leah van Poppel, Principal Member & Co-Chair Jennifer Cullen, Co-Chair George Taleporos Mark Tonga Judith Drake Denton Bowles Margherita Coppolino Suzy Trindall Clare Gibellini Barbel Winter
NDIA staff
Marina redacted: s47F - personal privacy, Director, Strategic Advice
Gemma redacted: s47F - personal privacy, Assistant Director, Independent Advisory Council (IAC) Secretariat
Matilda redacted: s47F - personal privacy, Communications Officer, IAC Secretariat
Corri McKenzie, Deputy CEO, Service Design and Improvement (session 3)
Aaron Verlin, General Manager, Co-Design and Engagement (session 5 and 6)
Attending
Lucy Testa, IAC Independent Consultant
Apologies
Kalena Bos Tricia Malowney Samantha Jenkinson
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FOI 23/24-1307 Independent
Advisory Council
OFFICIAL
Session One - Pink
1.1 Principal Member’s welcome and open
Ms van Poppel opened the meeting at 12.33pm
Adjunct Associate Professor Cullen provided an acknowledgement of the Traditional Custodians and Owners of the lands on which Members and attendees were meeting.
Ms van Poppel noted apologies from Kalena Bos, Samantha Jenkinson, and Tricia Malowney.
Adjunct Associate Professor Cullen was welcomed back into the Co-Chair position.
Session Two - Purple
2.1 Minutes, Actions and Conflicts of Interest and Terms of Reference
Members approved the minutes from the meeting held on 8 November 2023 and noted the matters arising.
No new conflicts of interest were declared.
Session Three - Orange
3.1 Issues Member have heard in their communities
Leah led this session and welcomed all Members to share the most common issues they are hearing about in their communities.
Members noted:
NDIS Review and Disability Royal Commission (DRC)
- The proposed changes from the NDIS Review are causing a lot of fear, particularly for those relying on providers intensively.
- Concern that the NDIS Review has virtually nothing to offer in the intersectionality space and the NDIS is not genuine about this.
- Concern about what is in the new legislation that has been flagged by the Minister.
- Concern in First Nations community about the NDIS Review and DRC recommendations.
- Concern the government response to DRC recommendations will not be until middle of year and that this will mean further delay to the government response to the NDIS Review.
- There is fear in the autistic community about what changes will impact them, particularly around foundational supports.
- Concern about negative thinking about the autistic community, in regard to NDIS resources.
- Concern that the 3:1 funding model that is part of Home and Living recommendations will affect minority groups in particular.
- Concern amongst self-managed participants that respite may become less flexible.
- Concern that support coordinators are relabelling themselves as navigators.
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FOI 23/24-1307 Independent
Advisory Council
OFFICIAL
- Consideration should be given to the role of Local Councils in support or implementation of the navigator roles, given their knowledge of local community.
- In considering navigators for specific disability groups, it is also vital to recognise that people may have multiple disabilities.
- Concern that the requirement for provider registration will mean that some providers with a small number of NDIS clients may not go through the process, reducing the workforce.
- There is fear around the independent or assessment process being proposed by the review. It is stressful for people who are still traumatised by the independent functional assessment debate.
- More needs to be done in psychosocial disability and the Quality and Safeguards Commission needs to take an active role.
- Access to the scheme needs to remain based on individual functional capacity and not disability types.
- The NDIA needs to consult with the disability community and to keep the community well informed and engage every step of the process.
- There is reform fatigue in the disability community and there needs to be some clear assurance that any changes are what the disability community want, not what providers or others want.
NDIS services and supports
- Concern about people being forced into aged care facilities.
- The PACE system seems to be causing increased problems for participants, particularly when there is a need for change of circumstances.
- The messaging about the development of the First Nations Strategy is concerning. It is stated publicly and in the meeting papers that NDIA is partnering with First Peoples Disability Network to develop the Strategy. The role of the First Nations Advisory Council (FNAC) in co-design of the Strategy needs to be reflected. There also needs to be better communication with FNAC, including if there are any changes to their role.
- Frontline staff do not have quality of empathy in the National Contact Centre. This seems be a culture issue and also about levels of delegation.
- Plan building is taking longer, and people are getting calls for unscheduled plan reviews out of the blue.
- Concerns participants are getting calls for a check-in and it turns into the planning meeting.
- Concern that planning meetings are based on ‘worse day’ scenarios and plans based on the views of one NDIS worker on one day.
- There is advertising for Supported Independent Living (SIL) everywhere and no quality assurance.
- There is a lack of choice and control for participants with Independent Living Options (ILO) and SIL.
- Concerns about disability workforce turnover, and how this will impact NDIS support quality and availability.
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FOI 23/24-1307 Independent
Advisory Council
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- Encouraged to hear about the work Invespur is doing in auditing, where a consumer technical expert (CTE) who is a person with lived experience contributes to the audit process.
- Concerns the pricing survey was not set up to reflect that most people use multiple providers.
Action 1: Ms McKenzie to respond to Adjunct Associate Professor Cullen regarding concerns about messaging regarding the First Nations Strategy and FNAC.
Session Four - Blue
4.1 NDIS Review Recommendations
Lucy Testa, IAC Independent Advisor, led this session. Ms Testa asked the group what they considered the non-negotiable elements were in the review recommendations.
Members noted:
- Concern that NDIS participants who turn 65 will be pushed into Aged Care, and this is already happening. For people with disability, nursing homes are very unlikely to meet their needs.
- People with disability should have access to the supports they need regardless of which government agency funds these supports.
- People with disability must be included in the process of designing how foundational supports will work.
- There must be seamless transitions from the NDIS to foundational supports.
- Concerns what block funding foundational supports means for minority groups where there is less choice and control, and it may be more difficult to find trusted providers.
- Government needs to get better at supporting the intersections of a person. This means considering the needs of people and the best ways to support their quality of life.
- Mainstream supports need to have the capacity and necessary training and knowledge to support people with disability.
- It needs to be clear who funds different support needs, including palliative care disability needs.
- There must be real choice and flexibility with choice of a navigator.
- There must be skilled navigators who understand and represent the diversity of their community.
- Local Councils may be well placed to implement local generalist navigators, with existing community understanding and infrastructure.
Action 2: Ms Testa to have follow up discussion with Members about review recommendations regarding psychosocial supports and First Nations people.
Session Five - Green
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FOI 23/24-1307 Independent
Advisory Council
OFFICIAL
5.1 Update on the IAC Advice — Improving Equity in the NDIS
Aaron Verlin, General Manager Co-Design and Engagement provided an update on implementation of the IAC Advice Improving Equity in the NDIS.
He noted that there has been slow progress and highlighted the establishment of the Co-Design and Engagement Branch in late 2023. An intersectionality framework is one key piece of upcoming work which the group can be engaged on.
The NDIA’s LGBTIQA+ Summit will be held on 25 July at the Victorian Pride Centre.
Members noted:
- It is encouraging that something is happening on developing the intersectionality framework. Members very keen to see early thinking. A lot of thinking and consultation with the sector has already been done, and there are complexities about intersectionality to ensure it is inclusive rather than exclusive.
- The importance to connecting with the Queer Peers group in the Hunter region.
- The LGBTIQA+ community is nervous about the religious Bill going to parliament. There is risk of discrimination, and the community will want to see how the NDIA responds to this.
- Highlighted the need for the Reform for Outcomes Workforce Capability co-design work to consider diversity.
ACTION 3: Schedule an Out of Session meeting to discuss the intersectionality framework once the inclusion team is in place.
ACTION 4: Mr Verlin to provide further detail on LGBTIQA+ Strategy development in regard to its structure, attendance, and final format, to be circulated by the Secretariat.
ACTION 5: Secretariat to circulate contact details for people working in inclusion team.
Session Five — Green
6.1 Co-Design update
Mr Verlin gave an update on Co-Design in the NDIA, including:
- There is significant co-design through reform for outcomes and six co-design working groups. This includes looking at the NDIS Review recommendations and where they fall amongst the co-design groups.
- The intersections for co-design with IAC and different IAC reference groups will be mapped out.
- There is a need to be careful about how the term co-design is used. Not everything will be co-design and the processes need to be transparent.
- There will be some clear communication about what approaches the NDIA is taking for specific tasks.
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FOI 23/24-1307 Independent
Advisory Council
OFFICIAL
Members noted:
- There is a need to get more diversity on all co-design groups.
- There should be consultation with community for good advice, to help them feel involved, and also help people feel updated with current information.
- There is deep engagement that can come from groups that don’t have access to ‘co-design’ itself.
- It is a high anxiety environment and this needs to be acknowledged,
- The co-design process can be a capacity building opportunity for participants. There are also peer training opportunities in co-design.
- When groups are formed for engagement or co-design opportunities they shouldn’t be completely disbanded once a job is done.
- Local Councils are an asset to use in co-design.
- There is resentment when people are pulled into co-design groups without remuneration.
Session seven — Brown
7.1 Other business
Ms van Poppel noted there is lots of work to do to work out how IAC and its reference groups consider and engage on all the NDIS Review recommendations.
At the next meeting the IAC and reference groups will be identifying what is most important, and how to do it.
7.2 End of meeting
- The next meeting of the reference group will be the combined IAC and reference group meeting on July 3 and 4 in Melbourne.
- Ms van Poppel and Adjunct Associate Professor Cullen thanked Members and those who supported the meeting.
Meeting closed at 4.30pm (AEDT)
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FOI 23/24-1307 Independent
Advisory Council
OFFICIAL
Words we use
- Actions: A list of things we need to do. In every meeting we make sure the list has all the things we still need to do on it and nothing we have finished working on.
- Co-Chair or Co-Chairs: the Chair of a meeting is the person who leads the meeting. In the Reference Group, we have two people who lead the meeting, so we call them Co-Chairs.
- Co-design is when the NDIA will work together with people with disability and the broader disability sector to design policy.
- Conflict of Interest: Conflict of Interest Declaration is a document where you need to say all the different ways you are connected to the NDIS. This could include if:
- your work is around the NDIS
- you are a NDIS participant
- you are part of other reference groups that talk about the NDIS
This is because we all need to make sure your job in this Reference Group doesn’t clash with other jobs you do. It is ok to have a conflict of interest, but you need to let the IAC Secretariat know.
- Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD): Is a person who has a different culture or speak another language that is not English. For example, this can be someone who:
- Is a migrant. They left their country by choice to live and work in Australia
- Is a refugee. They left their country because it was not safe to live there anymore.
- Diverse: this means different in some way. Diverse people have personal features or experiences that make them different.
- Employment: having a job that pays you for your work.
- Engagement: people working together to share their experiences, thoughts, feelings and ideas on a project.
- Equity: everyone has the same chance to do or be part of something, no matter their background, identity, or experience.
- First Nations: people who identify as Aboriginal Australians or Torres Straight Islanders.
- IAC Secretariat: the team that organises the meetings, sends papers and pays members for attending.
- Inclusion: something is inclusive when everyone can take part.
- Intersectionality: happens when someone is different in more than one way.
- LGBTIQA+: the letters LGBTIQA stand for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer or questioning and asexual. The ‘+’ is for people who are part of the LGBTIQA+ community but don’t talk about themselves using a word from this list.
- Matters arising: things that are happening now to do with the Reference Group.
- Minutes: notes of what happened in a meeting.
- Participants: these are the people that the NDIS helps.
- Principal Member: leads the Independent Advisory Council (IAC) and is one of the Co-Chairs of the Reference Group.
- Psychosocial disability: disability that affects how you feel, think and interact with others.
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FOI 23/24-1307 Independent
Advisory Council
OFFICIAL
- Reference Group: is a group of people who know a lot about something. This group knows a lot about equity and inclusion.
- Strategy: planning a better future and how we are going to get there.
- Transgender people: people whose gender identity is different from the one they were given when they were born.
- Work Plan: is a document that says what the Reference Group will do in the next year, or two years.
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