SUMMER

FOUNDATION

Inclusive disability housing, efficient support and better outcomes for NDS participants in rural, regional and remote Australia

The Summer Foundation submission to the Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS

23 February 2024

Over the past decade there has been a distinct lack of innovation in disability housing and support in Australia. The complexity of the NDIS system creates additional disadvantages and barriers for people with disability living in rural, regional and remote locations where there may be a lack of quality housing and supports available. This often means that NDIS participants in these locations are not able to benefit from the NDIA and are not supported to achieve their goals. These inequities make the NDIS less effective for them and often results in reduced support,misused or wasted NDIS resources and poor outcomes for NDIS participants and their families

The sustainability of the NDIS depends on innovation in service delivery, yet there is little known about how innovation in the sector will be realised. Relying on market forces to deliver innovation in housing and living has not worked. NDIA initiatives have also failed to deliver innovative and inclusive housing and living options.

Through the SDA Innovation Plan which ran from 2019 to 2021, the NDIA aimed to increase awareness of the transformation needed in disability housing and living supports and remove barriers to the adoption of inclusive and innovative models. Over the last few years the NDIA has also run demonstration projects to test innovative ways of delivering home and living supports. Yet there has been limited change and innovation in the way housing and living supports are delivered.

A new approach is needed. Authentic collaboration between government and the sector will support innovation in cost-effective housing and living solutions that improve the outcomes of people with disability no matter where they live.

Summer Foundation commitment

The Summer Foundation has been partnering with people with disability in the co-design, implementation and evaluation of strategies, to ensure the developed solutions systematically improve housing and living outcomes for people with disability.

Investment in new typologies of SDA

The SDA market is not developing the range of housing required to meet the diverse needs of NDIS participants in the places where they want to live. The Summer Foundation is cowdesigning and building a new, contemporary typology of disability housing to meet the needs of people who are missing out in the current SDA market.

Innovating shared support solutions in thin markets

While the availability of SDA funding has enabled innovation in housing, the way that support is delivered in disability housing also needs to be redesigned. There is tremendous opportunity to innovate more cost-effective, tenant centred models of shared support for NDIS participants living in co-located SDA. This opportunity is amplified in regional settings where additional barriers such as limited workforce availability, lack of training and limited choice of providers all compound the known challenges of achieving effective shared support in metropolitan settings.

The Summer Foundation is exploring and cowdesigning new models of governance that increase the agency of people living in disability housing. The Summer Foundation is also completing an independent evaluation of a new model of facilitation for SDA tenants sharing support.