NDIA Accountability Project

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Minutes of the Independent Advisory Council to the NDIS — Meeting 2 — 9 September 2020

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DOCUMENT 20

Independent Advisory Council to the ndis

FOI 24/25-0546

Minutes of the Independent Advisory Council to the NDIS

Meeting 2 — 9 September 2020 2.30pm to 5.00pm, hosted on MS Teams

Members

Ms Robyn Kruk AO (Principal Member)

Ms Sylvana Mahmic

Ms Jennifer Cullen

Mr James Manders

Ms Liz Reid AM

Mrs Judy Huett

Ms Leah van Poppel

Ms Sam Paior

Mr Mark Tonga

Ms Sharon Boyce

Ms Tricia Malowney OAM

Ms Kerry Allan-Zinner

Expert Adviser

Dr Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner

NDIA Representatives

Mr Martin Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer

Dr Sam redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material General Manager, Policy, Advice and Research

Mr Brett redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material General Manager, Participant Experience Design

Ms Kathy redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Branch Manager, Agency Policy

Ms Fiona redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Director, Independent Advisory Council

Ms Marina redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Secretariat, Independent Advisory Council

Ms Jaklin redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Project Officer, Independent Advisory Council

Ms Lirije redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Senior Communications Officer, Independent Advisory Council

Attending

Ms Belinda redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material AM, Council Consultant

Ms Rebecca redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Support

Apologies

Nil

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1. Principal Member’s Welcome and Open

1.1. Principal Member’s welcome

The Principal Member opened the meeting at 2.33pm.

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

The Principal Member and Mr Hoffman acknowledged the contributions of Mr John Walsh AM to the NDIS, who had his final meeting as NDIA Board Director on 26 August.

1.2. Minutes, matters arising and declarations of interest

Council noted the updated register of conflicts of interest circulated in advance of the meeting. No additional interests were declared.

The Council approved the minutes from the meeting held on 20 August 2020 and noted the matters arising.

1.3. COVID-19 update

Mr Hoffman provided an outline of the NDIA’s activities to support participants in Victoria during Stage 4 restrictions.

Mr Hoffman and Council discussed the challenges to support young people in residential aged care (YPIRAC) and those living in Supported Residential Services (SRS).

2. Council’s Reports

2.1. Member’s and Expert Adviser’s reports from the ground

Council Members raised a number of issues related to the NDIS, including:

  • The need for the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) to expand services offered via videoconferencing to also include planning sessions or participants requiring access to other supports such as support coordinators.

  • The proportion of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) participants joining the Scheme remains unchanged over the last two quarters. Council requested the re-establishment of a ‘CALD Committee’ to assist the NDIA in addressing inequities related to this population.

  • Issues with accessing the NDIS and quality of plans, including lack of support from Local Area Coordinators (LACs).

  • Impact on the disability workforce related to the reduction of temporary visa holders, who represent a large proportion of the sector’s casual workers.

  • Underepresentation of women with disabilities in the Scheme.

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Action 1: Secretariat to provide to Council the Scheme Actuary’s analysis on CALD communities and gender representation in the NDIS for further consideration.

2.2. Council’s out of session advice

Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material AM provided an update on Council’s engagement and informal advice in relation to the National Disability Strategy, the ECEI Reset subgroup, Home & Living Advisory Panel.

3. NDIS Access

3.1. Independent assessments (IA)

Dr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material acknowledged the concerns raised by Council and the sector related to the absence of public information on the IAs.

Council agreed the way the announcement was delivered negatively impacted on participants, leading to misunderstanding and reopening experiences of trauma. Council urged the NDIA to produce clear and accessible IA communications, including in Easy Read, and have spokespeople with lived experience of disability to communicate messages in the future, noting the potential role for Council in this.

Council also raised issues related to implementation of IAs for disadvantaged populations and the associated need to provide support for decision making; training and skills of assessors and evidence participants can provide to support their application.

Dr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material committed to continue engagement with Council, and potentially Council’s Reference Groups, on a number of issues related to the implementation of IAs.

4. Council’s Priorities

4.1. Council’s Priorities 2020-21

The Principal Member noted the areas identified and confirmed at the previous meeting for formal Council advice.

Council discussed additional priorities for inclusion on the 2020-21 Work Plan for both formal and informal advice, noting these will be in addition to any requests directly received from the NDIA Board following their September meeting, as well as from the Minister.

The Principal Member also noted the focus for the formal Council Reference Groups.

The Principal Member said Council’s 2020-21 Work Plan will be circulated out of session to Members for endorsement, and presented to the Minister at the October Council meeting.

Action 2: The Secretariat to circulate to Members Council’s 2020-21 Work Plan out of session for endorsement.

5. Meeting close

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Advisory Council

5.1. Other Business

The Principal Member reminded Council to submit expressions of interest for the Deputy Chair role and representation on the Participant Reference Group by 14 September.

5.2. Next Meeting

The next Council meeting is scheduled for 15 October 2020 from 1.30 — 4.30pm.

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