List of Recommendations

Recommendation 1

2.98
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency provide fully costed, detailed draft plans to participants and their nominees at least one week prior to their meeting with an official with the authority to approve the plan.

Recommendation 2

3.133
The committee recommends that the Australian Government implement Recommendation 3 of the Review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (the Tune Review).

Recommendation 3

4.41
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency provide caregivers, where they are involved in the planning process, with written information about the types of supports that the National Disability Insurance Scheme can fund to sustain caring arrangements.

Recommendation 4

4.44
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency develop, publish and implement a strategy to better support people providing informal supports to participants, particularly caregivers and immediate family members.

Recommendation 5

5.96
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency assign specialised planners to participants who are hospitalised to assist with a smooth transition from hospital to home that enables the participant to access the supports that they need.

Recommendation 6

5.102
The committee recommends that the Commonwealth, states and territories, through the appropriate inter-governmental forum, consider the appropriate division of responsibility for the funding of supports for participants in the criminal justice system.

Recommendation 7

5.103
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency develop, publish and implement a strategy for engaging with participants in custody to ensure that these participants:
are not unfairly disadvantaged in planning, and
are assigned to planners who have the expertise to work with them.

Recommendation 8

5.104
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency publicly report on its progress in implementing the strategy outlined in Recommendation 7.

Recommendation 9

5.106
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency provide further training for planners about how participants can access services outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Recommendation 10

5.107
The committee recommends that the Australian Government ensure that the resourcing for the National Disability Insurance Agency and its Partners in the Community is sufficient to enable planners to collaborate effectively with different service systems throughout the planning process.

Recommendation 11

5.110
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency require planners to provide, in planning meetings, personalised material that outlines how the participant could access supports that the National Disability Insurance Scheme will not fund on the basis that the support is available in another service system.

Recommendation 12

5.111
The committee recommends that the Australian Government amend the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 to clarify that where the CEO of the National Disability Insurance Agency (or their delegate) considers that a support would be more appropriately funded or provided through another system of service delivery or support services, the CEO must be satisfied that this support is in fact available to the participant and that they are likely to be eligible and able to access it.

Recommendation 13

5.113
The committee recommends that where the CEO of the National Disability Insurance Agency (or their delegate) is satisfied that a support is more appropriately funded or provided by another system of service delivery or support services, the National Disability Insurance Agency be required to provide written reasons for this view (and also in an alternative format where appropriate).

Recommendation 14

5.115
The committee recommends that the Australian Government ensure that funding amounts for supports available under the National Disability Insurance Scheme are consistent with funding amounts under other Commonwealth schemes.

Recommendation 15

5.117
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency investigate ways in which each participant’s plan could be shared, with the participant’s consent, with their general practitioner.

Recommendation 16

6.100
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency publish clear and detailed information about its Technical Advisory Branch and expert teams on the National Disability Insurance Scheme website.

Recommendation 17

6.102
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency develop, publish and implement templates for allied health experts to assist them when drafting reports and recommendations for particular supports to be included in participants’ plans.

Recommendation 18

6.111
The committee recommends that the Australian Government amend the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Supports for Participants) Rules 2013 to require the CEO of the National Disability Insurance Agency (or their delegate) to take into account any expert advice developed specifically for a participant when deciding whether a support would, or would likely, be effective and beneficial for that participant.

Recommendation 19

6.114
The committee recommends that where a participant’s plan does not reflect expert advice developed specifically for that participant, the National Disability Insurance Agency be required to provide written reasons for this decision at least one week before any joint planning meeting (and also in an alternative format where appropriate).

Recommendation 20

7.72
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency publish information about the training it provides to planners, Local Area Coordinators and Early Childhood Early Intervention partners on the National Disability Insurance Scheme website in an easily accessible location.

Recommendation 21

7.74
The committee recommends that when conducting recruitment processes for planners, the National Disability Insurance Agency give greater preference to candidates with experience or qualifications in allied health or disability‑related areas.

Recommendation 22

7.76
The committee recommends that the Australian Government ensure that the National Disability Insurance Agency is sufficiently resourced to meet future planning needs.

Recommendation 23

7.78
The committee recommends that the Australian Government conduct an inquiry into the workload and changing responsibilities of the National Disability Insurance Agency’s Partners in the Community.

Recommendation 24

8.130
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency improve its wait times for children, particularly the time taken to produce a plan following an access decision and to approve assistive technology.

Recommendation 25

8.132
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency develop, publish and implement templates or guidelines to ensure that plans for children and young people take into account key developmental stages and life transition points.

Recommendation 26

8.138
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency:
increase its family violence training for planners in how to identify family violence and what appropriate referral services exist;
ask participants before their planning meetings if they have a preference for a planner with a particular gender;
create a team of specialised planners within the Complex Support Needs pathway who are specially trained in how to plan for participants experiencing family violence; and
ensure that planners and Local Area Coordinators are able to refer participants who they suspect are experiencing family violence to this pathway.

Recommendation 27

8.140
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency finalise its review into its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement Strategy and update the strategy to address the issues outlined in this report for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants.

Recommendation 28

8.142
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency review its Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Strategy and update it to address the issues outlined in this report.

Recommendation 29

8.144
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency publish information about the Complex Supports Needs pathway, including about who is eligible, and how the National Disability Insurance Agency defines the term ‘complex support needs’.

Recommendation 30

8.146
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency develop and implement a mechanism to encourage planners to develop specialisation in particular types of disability or particular groups of participants.

Recommendation 31

9.46
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency review its Rural and Remote Strategy 2016–19 and, as part of this process, examine practical solutions to the issues outlined in this report regarding planning for participants in rural and remote areas.

Recommendation 32

10.81
The committee recommends that the Australian Government provide the National Disability Insurance Agency with sufficient resources to ensure that its Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) Applications and Decisions Division can reduce the amount of time it takes to resolve AAT appeals.

Recommendation 33

10.83
The committee recommends that the Australian Government review the amount of funding that it provides to advocacy organisations through the NDIS Appeals program and ensure that these organisations are sufficiently funded to support participants throughout the Administrative Appeals Tribunal process.

Recommendation 34

10.90
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency develop and publish de-identified summaries of key themes arising from settlement outcomes in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

Recommendation 35

10.91
The committee recommends that the Australian Government ensure that the National Disability Insurance Agency is sufficiently resourced to carry out the functions outlined in Recommendation 34.

Recommendation 36

11.49
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency ensure that it always communicates with participants and their nominees in accessible formats, and in accordance with any participant requests.

Recommendation 37

12.98
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency ensure that it provides participants and the people they bring with them to joint planning meetings with sufficient time to articulate their needs in those meetings.

Recommendation 38

12.100
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency develop and publish a clear diagram on the NDIS website of the planning process.

Recommendation 39

12.101
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency develop a more detailed checklist of documents participants can provide before their planning meeting as evidence for the supports they request. This checklist should be published on the NDIS website and be referred to by planners in planning meetings.

Recommendation 40

12.103
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency contact new participants and their nominees at least three weeks before their first planning meeting to ensure that they understand what the meeting will involve and how they need to prepare for it.

Recommendation 41

12.105
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency develop and implement detailed guidance for planners and delegates about how to engage with participants appropriately during planning meetings and the involvement of third parties including advocates, parents, carers and family members.

Recommendation 42

12.108
The committee recommends that the National Disability Insurance Agency co-design new metrics for measuring participant satisfaction with people with disability and advocacy organisations.

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Past Public Hearings

12 Oct 2020: via teleconference
08 Sep 2020: via teleconference
18 Aug 2020: via teleconference