Thank you for your feedback

Published 15th April 2021

Thank you for having your say, together we can create a better NDIS.
We are making some changes to improve the experience for existing and future participants.
The feedback we received will help deliver a better NDIS that Australians can trust and rely on. One that gives NDIS participants:

• more control over  supports and who delivers them
• a more flexible budget to use as needed
• clarity about what NDIS funds can and cannot be used for
• a clearer and simpler experience
• confidence the scheme will be here now and into the future

In November 2020, we released 3 discussion papers.
They were:

• Independent Assessments and Access Planning
• Personalised Budgets and Plan Flexibility
• Supporting young children early, to reach their full potential

These papers explained proposed changes to the NDIS and what these changes will mean for participants.
We invited participants, their families and carers, and the disability sector to tell us their thoughts on a range of topics across the 3 papers.

We heard from so many of you.
We received 769 online submissions, including:

• 450 responses to Access
• 293 responses to Planning
• 192 responses to ECEI reset

Submissions mostly came from:

• participants, their families and carers 34.8%
• advocacy, community, sector and peak body organisations 26.8%

You provided feedback in a variety of ways, through:

• Consultation events across Australia, with 57 public events being held online, in person and via other channels, with more than 1,000 guests attending from right across Australia.
• Direct submissions, including audio and video files. More than 769 submissions were received via these channels.
• More than 112 conversations with sector representatives and peak bodies.

What you told us
We received a range of views on the proposed changes to the NDIS.

But, what is clear is that you are passionate about making the NDIS work and your feedback helps us deliver a better experience for all people with disability now and into the future.

We have developed three reports which outline the consultation activities, the feedback your provided to the questions you asked as well as other things you told us. We have released them so you can find out what others had to say. These reports are on the NDIS website in Word, PDF and Easy Read formats.

What we will do with this feedback
We are working towards a better NDIS, one that is simpler and fair. One that will empower participants to exercise greater choice and control over their lives and ensure the NDIS remains sustainable.

The feedback collected over the last 3 months is being used to inform:

• draft changes to the legislation, the laws that set out how the NDIS works
• the policy, how we make decisions
• implementation approaches, how the Agency will put the actions into practice
• guidance for participants, staff and partners

This will ensure we can deliver these significant reforms to the NDIS in a way that works best for NDIS participants.

In our Participant Service Charter, we committed to empowering participants by including people with disability and the community to help us develop and test our processes. And we will continue to demonstrate this commitment.

Source:
Unknown Author, 2021, NDIS (https://www.ndis.gov.au/)