Page 351 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 17 February 2015
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Of course, this process will require careful management. We do not want service providers to have their contracts stepped down faster than people are phasing in to the NDIS. A working group has been established to monitor the situation. They are working with providers on a case-by-case basis to determine if any reimbursement is required due to delays in participants phasing to the NDIS. Reimbursement will be based on identification of a material gap.
I have spoken in this place before about the government’s decision to withdraw from specialist disability service delivery. As you know, the plan is to transition services to the community sector over time. This will impact on Education and Training early intervention small group programs, Disability ACT supported accommodation services and Therapy ACT services.
Early intervention services have been the first to transition to the community sector. This was a difficult decision and I know many families were concerned about how this may work. To provide families with certainty and to offer financial security to providers as they adjusted to the new model, the NDIA worked with us to develop a tender for early intervention services.
As a result of that tender, six organisations are contracted by the NDIA to provide early intervention services this year for NDIS participants. The six organisations are Northcott, Noah’s Ark, Cerebral Palsy Alliance, Autism Spectrum Australia, EACH, and SDN child and family services. Parents are able to choose from these six contracted services or, indeed, any other service that meets their needs. Around 100 families are working with these new services as their provider of early intervention services. Some of the other providers who are offering early intervention services include the Shepherd Centre, Vision Australia and the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children.
While a number of the contracted providers will offer small group programs, as these are valued by families, the new services are gradually transitioning to a transdisciplinary approach where a key worker works with the family to support the child’s needs. Part of the key worker role is to link people to other supports and services they need, including mainstream supports such as early childhood education and care.
This approach is designed to target the needs of the children in an individual way. Although the approach is new to the ACT, it is widely practised across Australia and aligns with best practice. I know for many families this process has not been easy, but I am confident that over time it will offer excellent outcomes for families and their children.
The Education and Training Directorate will continue to support all children who have been accessing early intervention programs and their families as they transition to the new providers this year. For Therapy ACT, it has largely been business as usual. Therapy ACT received 647 new referrals from July to December last year. This is down from 835 in the same period in the previous year.
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