What is the National Disability Insurance Scheme?
The National Disability Insurance Scheme, otherwise known as the NDIS, is a scheme started by the Australian Government to provide funds and support for its citizens who have significant and permanent disabilities. The NDIS is administered by the National Disability Insurance Agency or NDIA all across Australia with the help of participating states and territory government. In Western Australia, the NDIS is still in its trial stages.
The Australian Government started its introduction of the NDIS across Australia in 2016 and is expected to be fully operational nationwide in 2020. By 2019, the NDIS is fully rolled out and in operation and is estimated to provide individualised support to over 460,000 Australians with disabilities. Many of whom have not received any disability support for their conditions before being introduced to NDIS.
Australian residents with disabilities are given individualised support tailored to their unique needs. This is primarily what makes the NDIS different from other health insurance policy or other health care programmes. As a scheme, the NDIS offers individualised support to their participants depending on their unique needs including different services or equipment that they can use to add ease and comfort in their life. What these services and equipment vary for every participant depending on the conditions of their disability.
The NDIS does not offer monetary benefits for their eligible participants with disabilities but instead fund and even provide the much-needed support and other services that could alleviate the burdens of their conditions and allow them to live daily life as normally as possible. This is why the NDIS allows its participants to create and customise their NDIS plan based on their personal needs and long term goals.
This also makes it possible for the NDIS to ensure that families with a loved one with a permanent and significant disability will have the support that they require.
What are the objectives and principles of the NDIS?
The NDIS is steadily being introduced state by state throughout Australia. By 2020, they are expected to be fully in operations and are actively providing support and resources for hundreds of thousands of Australians with disabilities.
As stated, the NDIS does not provide funding directly to its participants but instead, fund for the support and resources the individual with a disability may need to go on with their daily life.
The NDIS always puts their participant's needs due to their disabilities into consideration. However, they make it a priority to provide support and assistance that the participant might need for them to develop skills to gain independence as well as social and economic participation in their communities.
Another priority for the NDIS is to provide its participants with reasonable and necessary support. How reasonable and necessary the support the participants are asking for is determined in the process of making a customised NDIS plan.
There is also an emphasis on early intervention support, especially for their younger participants. This is so that the negative impacts such as developmental delay caused by the disability will be reduced as early as possible. This also allows the participants to develop skills and independence despite their disabilities early on.
The ability of the NDIS participants to customise their NDIS plan instead of subscribing to a set one is one of the defining properties of the NDIS. This allows individuals with disabilities to make the choice of which services and support they want to avail in accordance with their unique needs and individual goals.
The NDIS makes sure that each participant is involved in creating their NDIS plan because they understand that no one course of action can fit the wide spectrum of needs and goals of people with disabilities.
Who are eligible to become a participant in NDIS?
Currently, over 460,000 out of an estimated 4.3 million Australian with a disability are NDIS participants. Unfortunately, not every person with a disability can be eligible to become an NDIS participant. To become eligible for being a NDIS participant, there is a list of requirements a person with a disability must possess.
They should be between the ages of 7 and 65.
They must be an Australian citizen living in Australia. People with a permanent Australian Visa or are Protected Special Category Visa holders can also be eligible to apply for the NDIS.
They usually need another person for support due to their permanent and significant disability.
They require the use of special equipment because of their permanent and significant disability.
They require current support to help reduce future needs.
A person with a permanent and significant disability are eligible to apply for the NDIS and get support if they meet the first two requirements and one of the last three requirements. People who are eligible can apply to the NDIS given that it is available in their area.
If a person with a permanent and significant disability does not meet the requirements to be eligible to apply for a NDIS, there are other schemes or programmes provided by the Australian Government developed for their situation.
What are the supports or services the NDIS can provide for their participants?
Support, services, or assistance provided by the NDIS for their participants cover different areas such as education, transportation, living arrangements, employment, social participation, as well as health and well being. All of this is funded by the NDIS for their participants so they can reach their goals, live their daily lives, participate in their communities, and gradually gain independence.
Some of the supports funded by the NDIS to help participants with their disability include:
Daily personal activities
Transportation that enables the NDIS participants to partake in social, community, economic, and daily activities
Help in the workplace that allows the NDIS participant to get or keep employment in the open or supported labour market
Therapeutic support including behavioural support
Help with household tasks to help NDIS participant to maintain their home environment
Provide NDIS participant by skilled personnel in aids, or equipment assessment, set up and training
Home modification design and construction
Vehicle modifications
There are many more services and support the NDIS can provide for their participants. The things they do not provide for, however, are supports that are not related to the participant’s disability, the responsibility of another government system or community service, likely to cause harm to the participant or to others, or anything that relates to day-to-day living costs not related to the participant’s support needs.
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