30 March 2021
Hon Kevin Andrews MP Chair, Joint Standing Committee on Independent Assessments
Submitted via: APH online portal
Dear Mr Andrews
Re: Independent assessments
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the implementation, performance and governance of independent assessments proposed by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).
The RANZCP is a membership organisation that prepares doctors to be medical specialists in the field of psychiatry, supports and enhances clinical practice, advocates for people affected by mental illness and provides advice to governments on mental health care.
The RANZCP has more than 6900 members including more than 5100 qualified psychiatrists and over 1800 members who are training to qualify as psychiatrists. Psychiatrists are clinical leaders in the provision of mental health care in the community and use a range of evidence-based treatments to support a person in their journey of recovery.
The RANZCP shares the overarching aim of the NDIA that there should be consistent, equitable access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) across Australia that is not impacted by a participant’s location. However, the RANZCP has concerns that inequity will still remain due to a variety of social and economic determinants not addressed by the implementation of independent assessments [1].
Further to this, there are several additional concerns which require further consideration around the implementation of independent assessments including:
- Application of independent assessments for people with disability who have behaviours that require a complex response
- Difficulties in applying independent assessments for acute, fluctuating mental illness
- Quality control of independent assessors including experience and qualifications in psychosocial and physical disability
- Exploration of possible alternatives to independent assessments
- Lack of truly independent review panel and appeals process for people with disability and support people who disagree with the outcomes of their independent assessment
- Confusion and lack of transparency between sectors especially health and disability, and
- Provision of evidence to the NDIS by medical practitioners and other health professionals.
309 La Trobe Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia T +61 3 9640 0646 F +61 3 9642 5652 ranzcp@ranzcp.org www.ranzcp.org ABN 68 000 439 047
We provide further detail in the attached submission.
Yours sincerely
Associate Professor John Allan President
References
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australia’s health 2016. Canberra: AIHW; 2016.