Arahni Sont’s blog

What an exciting year it has been for Centro ASSIST as we work to support providers improve their quality and compliance management across the aged and disability care sectors in Australia.

At the human services sector level, we saw various parliamentary enquiries and Royal Commissions into aged care, out of home care, mental health and the NDIS.

A very passionate address by Bill Shorten on Day 2 of the meeting, starting with “it’s quicker to buy a wheelchair on Amazon than from the NDIA.” There’s a huge burden on PWD to prove everything and they have the added cost of paying for lawyers when appealing a decision of the NDIA. 1000 matters at the AAT now.

The NDIS Quarterly report released last week shows there are currently 310,000 participants in the NDIS. Of those, 114,000 are receiving support for the first time. The scheme will cover an estimated 500,000 people by 2025 and is expected to require an additional 90,000 workers. The report shows that there are 13,434 NDIS providers, including 797 new ones this quarter.

I attended this event and was able to meet the new Director, Professor Jackie Leach Scully (former Director at University of Newcastle PEALS, UK), and network with other leaders in disability research and advocacy from the university, disabled people's organisations and the wider community.

The law firm Piper Alderman attended the first public sitting day of the Royal Commission on 16th September and provided an excellent summary. Senior Counsel Assisting the Commission Rebecca Treston QC then made opening submissions, introducing her fellow counsel assisting, further explaining the terms of reference, highlighting that up to 1 in 5 Australians has some level of disability, and the extent of abuse and violence in Australia and the impact on those with disability.

Belinda Drew, CSIA gave the keynote address on Day 2 of the conference, about understanding the role of collaboration in meeting the customers’ needs. The Productivity Commission (2017) stated “Early evidence suggests that many (but not all) NDIS participants are receiving more disability supports than previously, and they have more choice and control”.

The conference keynote was given by Graeme Head AO, Commissioner, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. He started by describing the role of the Commission and went on to highlight that families should feel free to make complaints about services delivered to their family members – his goal is to build the capacity and knowledge of providers.

On Day 2 of the National Disability Summit, Dr Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner gave the keynote address and spoke about the National Disability Strategy and the NDIS working together for inclusion of people with disabilities.

The first speaker was Graeme Head AO, the Commissioner and head of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. The Commission is now firmly established as the registration and oversight body for the scheme with only WA left to fully roll under its umbrella on 1 July 2020. He stressed that “he wants to lift the system and not just use command and control”.

The Centre for Applied Disability Research was created by the NDS to improve the wellbeing of Australians with disability by gathering insights, building understanding and sharing knowledge.

I attended a 2 day conference on “Navigating the Complexities of Disability Housing” that was organised by Criterion Conferences and chaired by Lindsay Kelly from independent Living Villages and Mark Lawler from Achieve Australia.

There has been a lot of media about the difficulties of accessing and implementing participants’ plans in rural and remote Australia. The DSS BLCW transition assistance funding program was set up last September with $33 mm of funding, to help develop the readiness of providers across Australia.

I attended the 2019 Mental Health Symposium organised by One Door Mental Health. It was also the opportunity to launch Schizophrenia Awareness Week by Tony Stevenson (image 2), CEO of MIFA (Mental Illness Fellowship Australia)

I attended the Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Masterclass on 8th May with Sandra Vallance, Acting CEO of Connecting Up and Marcus Harvey, IT Services and Consulting Manager at Infoxchange.

A key message was how to use data to differentiate yourself in the marketplace. Bad data science is the biggest challenge today as there is a shortage of good data scientists/analysts – there is a gap between Government and the private sector in this regard and B to B is lagging behind B to C.

Such an insightful presentation and panel discussion. Professor Venkat Venkatraman from Boston University Questrom School of Business gave his insights taken from his research and published in his book, “The Digital Matrix: Innovation, Disruption & Transformation” .

Some new initiatives by NSW Ministry of Health were announced at the Forum. Louise Farrell, Director, Priority Programs Unit, Health and Social policy Branch outlined the new program to upskill health staff across NSW about intellectual disability. 6 new ID expert multifunctional teams will be set up across the state operating in or next to the 16 hubs of the Local Health Districts by June this year.

I have led a global and challenging life in 6 countries. As the mother of a son on the autism spectrum, I was driven to speak up about the need for better services and better lives for all people with a disability or mental illness in Australia. My advocacy as a carer has made a difference and I feel honoured to be selected as a role model in this Facing Equality Exhibition at UNSW Business School.

This was a round table on “People with Intellectual Disability Experiencing University Life” plus the launch of the book of the same name. Really interesting discussion at this event and many key thinkers in the disability space were present. Education is a key component in forging a world that has inclusion and it all starts at the school age level. Real inclusion means active participation and valuing each other’s contribution.

I really enjoyed my first attendance at the NDS organised “NDIS Leaders Breakfast” in Sydney where there were more than 200 attendees. Centro ASSIST has recently become an NDS Industry Support Member and we had a booth in February at the Victorian NDS conference. The first speaker was Dr Helen Nugent, Chair of the NDIA and she spoke about the 7 priority areas that the Agency is working to improve.