Your guide to the latest updates from the NDIS.

Here at Leap in! HQ, we like to keep you up-to-date with the latest information about the NDIS.

Today, we are sharing all the important details from the most recent NDIS quarterly report, plus a couple of key changes you need to know about.

Highlights:

• Draft NDIS Plan Summaries will be introduced from April
• The average time taken to determine NDIS eligibility is now 4 days
• First plans completed in December 2019 took 77 days on average, something the NDIS is trying to improve
• 85% of calls to the NDIS call centre are now answered within 60 seconds.

Offices re-opened after bushfires.

The NDIS has been able to re-open all offices that were previously closed because of the bushfires.

Agency staff are working with Services Australia mobile vehicles and pop-up services in affected areas across NSW and Victoria.

For more information, check out the NDIS bushfire information and support page.

New Joint Planning Process and draft NDIS Plan Summaries.

A new process called Joint Planning aims to better support participants and introduce draft NDIS Plan Summaries for discussion before the final plan is approved.

From April 2020, NDIS participants will work with an NDIA Planner and Local Area Coordinator to develop a draft version of their NDIS Plan including proposed support funding.

It is hoped this will help participants to better understand their NDIS Plan, how it was developed and how to use it.

Draft summaries will allow you to:

• Review the draft NDIS Plan before it is finalised
• Amend personal details and living arrangements
• Update goals, informal and other community supports, and social and economic participation.

If you’re due for a new plan after April 2020, it is likely you will participate in this new process.

Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA).

A new SDA design standard will provide guidelines for home design and certification to ensure the needs of people with a disability are adequately met by new SDA housing.

Under the rules, improved liveability, robust construction, full accessibility and high physical support will be incorporated into all homes built from 1 July 2021.

Independent assessments.

The NDIS will roll out independent functional capacity assessments nationally from 1 July 2020. This will apply to anyone applying to join the NDIS from that date.

It is hoped this approach will provide more certainty regarding evidence that needs to be supplied when applying for the NDIS. It will also make the process fairer and more transparent.

Supporting children.

Just over a third of participants entering the NDIS during October to December 2019 were aged 0-6 years, with 19,000 children obtaining their first plans.

While wait time for children to obtain their first NDIS Plan has decreased, the NDIA acknowledges there is still more work to do in this area.

Standardised interim six-month plans have been made available for participants aged 0-6 who have been waiting for 50 days or longer.

Participants report long-term benefits.

The longer participants are in the NDIS, the more likely they are to feel like it has helped them.

For children aged between 0 and starting school: 96% felt the NDIS improved their child’s access to specialist services.

For participants aged 15-24 years: 69% said the NDIS had helped them with daily living activities.

For participants aged 25 and over: 78% believed the NDIS had helped them have more choice and control over their lives.

Removing gaps between plans.

There’s now less chance of being caught without funding while you wait for a new NDIS Plan.

From August last year, the NDIS began to extend the end date of NDIS Plans to remove any gap between old and new plans.

Additional changes also apply to plans approved after Monday 10 February 2020:

• Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) and Supported Independent Living (SIL) supports will have service bookings increased automatically where a 28 day extension has been applied to a plan
• Unclaimed funds within a participant’s previous plan and service bookings will now be available for 90 days after a new plan has been approved.

The automatic extensions mean additional funding will be available in your NDIS Plan. However home modifications and assistive technology funding will not be extended.

Leap in! can help.

The Leap in! Crew are here to help you navigate the NDIS and make the most of your NDIS Plan.

If you have any questions about these changes and updates, get in touch with one of our team. Call 1300 05 78 78 or chat with us online at https://www.leapin.com.au/