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Minutes of the Independent Advisory Council to the NDIS Meeting 5 — 11 December 2020

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DOCUMENT 26 Independent Advisory Council to the ndis

FOI 24/25-0546

Minutes of the Independent Advisory Council to the NDIS

Meeting 5 — 11 December 2020 1.30pm to 4.45pm, hosted on MS Teams

Members

Ms Robyn Kruk AO (Principal Member)

Ms Leah van Poppel (Deputy Chair)

Ms Sylvana Mahmic

Mr James Manders

Ms Liz Reid AM

Ms Sam Paior

Mr Mark Tonga

Ms Sharon Boyce

Ms Tricia Malowney OAM

Dr Leighton Jay

Expert Adviser

Dr Ben Gauntlet, Disability Discrimination Commissioner

NDIA Representatives

Mr Martin Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer

Mr Brett redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material A/g Deputy CEO, Design, Digital and Strategy

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

Dr Janice redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Branch Manager, Research and Evaluation

Mr Richard redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Branch Manager, Participant Experience Improvement

Ms Marita redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Strategic Advisor, Contemporary and Innovative Approaches

Mr Ross redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Director, Home and Living

Ms Fiona redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material Director, Strategic Engagement

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

Ms Jennifer Cullen

Ms Kerry Allan-Zinner

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

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Advisory Council to the ndis

1. Principal Member’s Welcome and Open

1.1. Principal Member’s welcome

The Principal Member opened the meeting at 1.34pm.

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

The Principal Member noted apologies from Ms Allan-Zinner , Ms Cullen and Mr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material who were unable to attend the meeting.

The Principal Member thanked Ms Allan-Zinner and Mr redacted: s47F- personal privacy for their recent reports following participation as Council representatives at the Participant Reference Group and the Industry Reference Group. These reports are available in the Resource Centre on Diligent.

The Principal Member highlighted the significant work of the Council between meetings and thanked Members for their efforts and ongoing contributions.

The Principal Member advised that Council will:

  • submit a response to the National Disability Strategy Outcomes Frameworks consultation, due on 18 December 2020.

  • provide a submission to the Disability Royal Commission Safeguards and Quality Issues Paper, which is due in February 2021.

Mr Hoffman thanked members for their ongoing work, noting that 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone due to COVID-19. However, Mr Hoffman highlighted significant improvements have been made to the delivery of the Scheme despite these challenges. Mr Hoffman noted 2021 will be another big year for the Agency and looked forward to continuing to work with the Council on the important Scheme reform projects.

1.2. Minutes, matters arising and declarations of interest

Council noted the updated register of conflicts of interest circulated in advance of the meeting.

s47F- personal privacy

Council approved the minutes from the meeting held on 12 November 2020 and noted the matters arising.

2. Council Reports

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

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

  • Independent Assessments (IAs) — lack of understanding, participant anxiety relating to plan budget

  • Thin Markets in Western Australia

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  • Culturally appropriate support for non-Aboriginal young people living in Aboriginal communities.

  • Issues with housing and disability workforce shortages

  • Service gaps in the transition of children from the Early Childhood Early Intervention Approach to the full Scheme

  • Challenges for people with English as a second language who cannot access written information about the NDIS

  • Increasing red tape in accessing services and its impact on people with disability and their families

3. Local Area Coordination

3.1. Overview of Council’s Advice

Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material provided an overview of Council’s advice, highlighting that the Local Area Coordination (LAC) function should have its own vision, charter and principles.

Members thanked Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material for her hard work in coordinating the advice and discussed areas which could be expanded including:

  • The skill set of Local Area Coordinators (LACs) and quality assurance required, noting the challenges with the early LAC model.

  • Minimum requirements for people with disability to be employed by LAC organisations, for improved disability representation and lived experience in LAC roles.

  • Clarity into the LACs’ role in plan implementation, and distinguishing the role of the LAC from that of the support coordinator.

  • Minimum requirements for organisations bidding for LAC tenders

  • Mapping out where LAC fits into the Scheme eco-system.

Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material will consolidate Council’s feedback and recirculate the paper for final endorsement out of session, for submission to the Board in February.

Action 1: Ms redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material to incorporate feedback into LAC advice before endorsement out of session

4. Independent Assessments

4.1. Independent Assessments (IAs)

Dr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material advised Council the consultation period is underway, with the Agency inviting public submissions until early 2021, noting some responses have been received, largely from individuals.

Dr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material mentioned the IA Council subgroup is continuing to meet fortnightly, and is progressing with ‘deep dive’ discussions on a specific topics, most recently on Quality Assurance of IAs.

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Council queried the relationship between IAs and plan budgets, noting this as a concern for many participants and requested the methodology on personal budgets be discussed at the next meeting.

Council reiterated the importance of the Agency to provide clear and accessible communication to the community on IAs, to ease their concerns.

Action 2: Dr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material to provide a ‘deep dive’ into the budget methodology for IAs at the February meeting.

Action 3: Council to raise with the Secretariat the issues they would like discussed at the IAs budget methodology deep dive.

5. Research and Evaluation

5.1. Research and Evaluation Overview

Dr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material provided Council with an overview of the Research and Evaluation Branch structure and work priorities.

The Principal Member said it was encouraging to see the Agency building its own evidence base and opened the floor to members for discussion.

Council raised the importance of including people with disability and their families throughout all research stages, particularly in research design and evaluation processes. Members mentioned the need to consider people with very complex communication needs when conducting any research into support for decision making, highlighting a different approach may be required for people with intellectual disability who communicate without words.

Other issues raised included:

  • Challenges undertaking research projects focused on diagnostic tools when participants have multiple disabilities.

  • Broadening the ‘Capacity Building’ priority to include other areas apart from independent living.

  • Inclusion of peer work and ILC evaluation as a research priority.

  • The importance of providing research, evaluations and findings in accessible and alternative formats, like Easy Read, to ensure people with intellectual disability can understand the information and provide valuable feedback.

6. Home and Living

6.1. Home and Living Policy Consultation

Dr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material and Mr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material provided Council with an overview of the proposed Home and Living Policy public consultation paper, which will be released in early February 2021 for a six-week public consultation period. Dr redacted: s22(1)(a)(ii) - irrelevant material thanked Members involved in the Home and Living

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Advisory Panel for their contributions to the Policy, with redacted noting Council’s advice has been integral in bringing this forward.

Council raised concerns over the lack of assistance given to participants from providers of disability accommodation, to explore alternative living options or view a ‘life outside group homes’. Noting additional focus on home and living supports for people with complex support needs is required.

Members recommended consideration be given to the current limitations on building code legislation, as it may impact the realisation of the policy

The Principal Member acknowledged that building codes are important and are largely state regulated. Ms redacted noted this is not a new issue and advised Council has raised building code issues in relation to home and living in previous papers.

7. Meeting close

7.1. Other Business

The Principal Member provided Members with an update on the Reference Groups review, noting membership for each group is confirmed, with inductions and initial meetings to be held early in the new year.

The Principal Member acknowledged the work of Council and its subgroups over the year, noting the many challenges and thanked all members for their contributions. Additionally, Dr redacted, Ms redacted, and the Secretariat team were thanked for their efforts and ongoing support throughout the year to Council.

7.2. Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled 4 February 2021 from 1.30pm-4.00pm.