NDIS Engagement Project

Are you a person with a disability, family member, carer or specialist disability service provider? Well we want to hear from you!

On June 30 the National Disability and Carer Alliance received funding from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) to talk to people with a disability, their families and carers and service providers about what they believe is important in the design and implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The NDIS will be launched on July 1 next year in a number of locations around the country and will provide people with a disability and their families with greater choice and control over their services and supports.

The Alliance engagement project will be carried out by the founding members of the Alliance – the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations, Carers Australia, and National Disability Services. In this project the Alliance will also be joined by People with Disability Australia. The project will make sure that people with a disability, their families and carers and service providers have their chance to have their say about what is important to them as the NDIS is introduced. Over the course of the project, the team will:

• Hold large public meetings in each capital city from late August through to mid October. Some of these meetings will be jointly held for people with disability, their families and carers, while some will be held separately.
• Hold engagement meetings in rural and regional locations from late August to mid-October. These meetings will be joint meetings for people with disability, their families and carers, and service providers;
• Hold consultations in capital cities and regional centres for specialist disability service providers.
• Engage with people with disability, their families and carers and service providers online through the Alliance website and Facebook pages;
• Run focus groups later in the year to discuss specific issues or the needs of specific population groups;
• Attend meetings about the NDIS.

Information about the consultations for people with disability, families and carers and service providers will be available on the Alliance website from 9 August 2012 and will be regularly updated as new dates are confirmed. Please come back and visit www.disabilitycareralliance.org.au to hear more. If you have any questions about the engagement project, please contact:

AFDO: Leah (NDIS Engagement Project Officer) at leah.hobson@afdo.org.au or on 03 9662 3324.

People with Disability Australia: Ngila Bevan at NgilaB@pwd.org.au or on 02 9370 3100
Carers Australia: Anna Morison at AMorison@carersaustralia.com.au or on 02 6122 9900
National Disability Services: Belinda Wallin at Belinda.Wallin@nds.org.au or on 03 8341 4300