Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on the
National Disability Insurance Scheme inquiry into the Capability and Culture of the National Disability Insurance Agency
Department of Social Services Australian Government
November 2022
Overview
Rollout of the NDIS
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS or the Scheme) is a major reform of disability support in Australia. It currently provides funding for reasonable and necessary supports for more than 550,000 people with disability. The Scheme was introduced on | July 2013, beginning with a trial phase across 4 sites in Australia. The Scheme commenced progressive national rollout from July 2016 and was fully available across all of Australia from July 2020.
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA or the Agency) moved from administering a number of small trials involving approximately 30,000 participants as at 30 June 2016, to grow the Scheme by an average of 100,000 per annum between 2017-18 and 2019-20.
At full scheme, the NDIS continued to grow by around 70,000 additional participants per annum.
Table 1: Active participants in the NDIS since 2013-14 to date - National
| 2013–14 | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participants | 7,285 | 17,155 | 29,719 | 89,610 | 172,333 | 286,015 | 391,999 | 466,619 | 534,655 |
| Yearly increase | 9,870 | 12,564 | 59,891 | 82,723 | 113,682 | 105,984 | 74,620 | 68,036 | 20,262 |
| % increase in active participants | 135% | 73% | 202% | 92% | 66% | 37% | 19% | 15% | 4% |
Source: NDIS September 2022 Quarterly Report to Disability Ministers
The NDIA itself has had to grow at a rapid pace while it was establishing the Scheme and through the transition period. In terms of public service staffing, at 30 June 2014, the Agency had 516 employees across the 7 trial sites and National Office. By 30 June 2016, the NDIA’s public service workforce had tripled to 1,505 employees across 28 sites and National Office, while the Scheme was supporting 35,695 participants. By 30 June 2019 the public service workforce had more than doubled again to 3,495 employees, while participants supported had grown more than eightfold to 298,816, including 5,312 children in the Early Childhood Early Intervention. The public service workforce was supplemented by contractors and labour hire workers, and significant elements of engagement with participants and potential participants were taken on by contracted organisations performing local area coordination functions and early childhood early intervention supports, together known as the Partners in the Community (PiTC) program.
Since its inception, the NDIA has made:
- 713,407 access decisions,
- 588,725 initial plan approvals, and
- 1.5 million plan reassessments.
This very rapid growth in workload, in the core organisation itself and in the contracted workforce and the PiTC organisations, presented significant challenges to the development and adoption of systematic, robust and standardised decision making by the NDIA workforce.
Concerns surrounding the NDIS operational process were highlighted by the various reviews, including inquiries by the Joint Standing Committee into the NDIS’ and independent reviews such as the 2020 ANAO audit’
Governance arrangements
The NDIA is responsible for administering the NDIS, as set out in the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act). The NDIA is governed by a Board, which operates as the accountable authority under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. The Board is responsible for the proper, efficient and effective performance of the Agency’s functions as well as the objectives, strategies and policies the NDIA must follow in implementing the Scheme.
NDIA workforce profile
At September 2022, the total NDIS workforce was 12,772, including staff employed by PiTC and National Contact Centre (NCC) partners, an increase by 11 per cent from its workforce size at June 2020.
| June 2020° | September 20224 | % change |
|---|---|---|
| Total NDIS Workforce | 11,550 | 12,772 |
| APS employees | 4,396 | 5,118 |
| Hire workers and contractors | 1,742 | 1,971 |
| PiTC and NCC staff | 5,412 | 5,683 |
Until recently, the NDIA operated under an average staffing level (ASL) cap where previous Governments were committed to capping the size of the Australian Public Service around or below 2006-2007 ASL.° In the 2022-23 March Budget there was agreement by the then Government to increase the public service staffing cap to 4,500 ASL.
In the 2022-23 October Budget, as an immediate action, the current Government abolished the ASL cap and announced it will invest $158.2 million for an additional 380 permanent staff for the NDIA. This will support participants to access NDIS support more effectively. Increasing the ASL cap will also allow the NDIA to focus on APS staff work level standards
’ Completed inquiries — Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au)
Decision-making Controls for NDIS Participant Plans | Australian National Audit Office
3 NDIA 2019-20 Annual Report
4 NDIS September 2022 Quarterly Report
° 2016-17 Budget, Budget Paper No.4 Part 2: Staffing of Agencies
Work currently underway
The Participant Service Improvement Plan and Charter
The National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Participant Service Guarantee and Other Measures) Act 2022 (the Amending Act), passed in March 2022 with then Opposition support, implements significant improvements for NDIS participants, their families and
Participant Service Guarantee (PSG)
Carers, building on the outcomes of the 2019 NDIS Act Review and Participant Guarantee (Tune Review).
The cornerstone of the Amending Act was the introduction of the ability to create new NDIS Rules to give effect to a Participant Service Guarantee (PSG). The PSG is proposed to enshrine legislated timeframes for decision-making about access, planning and review decisions, and service standards to guide how the NDIA will work alongside people with disability in delivering the NDIS.
While the PSG Rules are not yet law, the NDIA has given administrative effect to most of the elements since 2020 through its Participant Service Improvement Plan (PSIP) and the Participant Service Charter (PSC). The PSIP 2022-2023 sets out 51 commitments across 9 improvement areas to be implemented over two years. The 9 improvement areas cover:
-e communicating with the NDIA -e getting information from the NDIA -e gaining access to the NDIS -e making a participant’s plan -e using a participant’s plan -e payments from a participant’s plan -e parts of a participant’s plan -e support for engaging with the NDIA -e Participant Service Guarantee — time standards
The NDIA reports on its progress with these commitments through its Quarterly Reports and on the NDIS website. Of the 20 targets set, in the September 2022 quarter, the NDIA:
-e met 10 targets where at least 95 per cent of activities meeting required timeframes. -e partially met 6 targets with at least 85 per cent of activities meeting required timeframes. -e did not meet 1 target where less than 85 per cent of the activity did not meet required timeframes, i.e. completing a plan reassessment within 28 days. -e has yet to report on 3 targets.
The PSC is based on 5 principles for the NDIA’s engagement with participants. The Agency is committed to offering service that is transparent, responsive, respectful, empowering and connected.
The Ombudsman published its first report into the NDIA’s performance in delivering against the PSG in June 2022, with a second report due by the end of 2022. The Ombudsman found that the NDIA is creating a solid foundation for delivering on the PSG so the NDIA can deliver a timely and quality experience for NDIS participants. The Ombudsman also noted while the NDIA is making good progress in measuring and reporting on how it is meeting the PSG timeframes, further action is required to enable the NDIS to report meaningfully on its performance against the engagement principles and services standards under the proposed PSG.
NDIA Engagement Framework
The NDIA Engagement Framework has been developed to ensure the views and experiences of people with disability underpin the decisions that the NDIA makes. In developing the framework, the NDIA worked closely with disability sector representatives.
The framework is designed to guide, support and strengthen the Agency’s engagement with the disability community to improve the NDIS and deliver better outcomes for NDIS participants, and sets out the Agency’s commitment to co-design with the disability community. A Co-design Advisory Group comprising disability representative and carer organisations and the NDIS Independent Advisory Council, provides strategic advice to the NDIA on implementation of co-design and engagement with the disability community.
Review of the NDIS
On 18 October 2022, the Government announced a review of the design, operations and sustainability of the NDIS. The Review will also examine ways to build a more responsive, supportive and sustainable market and workforce. The Review findings will guide state and territory governments and the Australian Government on priority areas for improving the scheme,
The Review will report by October 2023 to Disability Reform Ministers. An Independent Review Panel comprising Professor Bruce Bonyhady AM (co-chair), Ms Lisa Paul AO PSM (co-chair), Mr Kevin Cocks AM, Ms Judith Brewer AO, Dr Stephen King, Mr Douglas Herd and Ms Kirsten Deane OAM will make findings and recommendations for reforms and a plan for implementation of its recommendations.
Professor Bonyhady will lead Part 1 of the Review, Design, operations and sustainability of the NDIS and Ms Paul will lead Part 2 of the Review, Building a more responsive and supportive market and workforce.
The Review will be based on the principle of co-design with people with disabilities and will have careful regard to the findings and proceedings of previous and ongoing reviews and inquiries, so that input already provided by the disability community is fully taken into account. Engaging with people with disability, carers, and the disability sector, as well as the states and territories and other relevant experts, will help ensure the Review focuses on improving the effectiveness of the NDIS and making a real positive impact to the lives of people with disability.