NDIS Conference Starts ‘Adult Conversation’

The national conference on the National Disability Insurance Scheme has allowed for a much more “adult conversation” on the scheme’s rollout, says conference organiser St Laurence Community Services.

The conference, The NDIS: One Year On – Lessons learned, emerging trends and expectations moving forward, has attracted about 440 delegates from around the country to Geelong for the event.

The two-day conference has been organised by Geelong-based service provider, St Laurence Community Services.

As part of the opening day, National Disability Insurance Agency Chief Executive Officer David Bowen presented The Report Card – A Review of the First Year from the National Disability Insurance Agency.

Bowen said that there were now more than 8,500 participants in the Scheme and participant satisfaction was very high – about 95 per cent.

The challenges, he said, included meeting bilateral phasing targets and delivering within the funding envelope.

According to St Laurence CEO Toby oConnor said Bowen’s speech was an honest review of the last year for the NDIS.

“This was a much more adult conversation on the NDIS than we’ve had before,” he said.

oConnor said communication between consumers, providers and the NDIA was one of the areas identified that could be improved upon – particularly having providers serve as an advocate on behalf of a consumer, when speaking to the NDIA.

However, he said the first day of the conference had revealed that for service providers outside of the trial sites, now was the time to start work on getting services ready for the national rollout in 2016.

The final day of the conference will include a presentation by NDIA Chairman Dr Bruce Bonyhady on The NDIS Vision – Delivering the Plan.

For more information on the conference, click here.