WA to Trial Dual NDIS Pilots

DisabilityCare and West Australia’s individualised disability support pilot called My Way are to be trialled side by side in different jurisdictions following WA’s signing on to the national scheme.

The agreement with the West signals every State and Territory is now under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

“While details are still emerging this is a good day for Western Australians with disability and for Australia as a whole,” People with Disability Australia (PWDA) President Craig Wallace said.

WA’s My Way system allows people with a disability to select the services they want from mostly Not for Profit organisations.

WA Premier, Colin Barnett told local media that the trial site for My Way would be in the South West region and the Kwinana-Cockburn area.

He said the Commonwealth's system would be conducted in Midland, the Perth Hills area and adjoining suburbs.

"I think at the end of the day, we will learn something from both sites and it will play an important role in the way in which disability services are ultimately provided right across Australia," Barnett said.

“The Scheme will now have a national footprint with Australia’s largest State now being covered,” Wallace said.

“This is a real breakthrough as WA had previously indicated they wouldn’t sign up prior to the election.  

“Western Australians can now be confident of a sustainable funding pipeline for good disability supports as the resources boom slows.

“We need the best knowledge, the best evidence, the best models. People in all the launch sites will benefit from the experience that WA brings to the table and this should provide some interesting evidence about related approaches to individualised funding,” Wallace said.

PWDA also launched its election policy on DisabilityCare.

The key planks of the policy are:

• Funding for DisabilityCare is secured and guaranteed in perpetuity
• Fully implement the National Disability Strategy (NDS)
• The paradigm shift to person centred approaches must remain at the forefront across all processes of DisabilityCare
• Establishment of an independent consumer complaints and resolution mechanism with enforcement powers
• Independent information and advocacy services for people with disability must be adequately funded
• People with Disability Australia Incorporated (PWDA) is a national disability rights and advocacy, Not for Profit non-government organisation.