QDN e-News Video Update - April 2022 Week 2 - Queenslanders With Disability Network

Parliament Passes NDIS Amendment (Participant Guarantee & Other Amendment) Bill

On the 31 March the Australian government passed the NDIS Amendment (Participant Guarantee & Other Amendment) Bill. The stated aim of this Bill was to reduce red tape and increase flexibility for participants and build on the recommendations of the Tune Review.

This legislates the Participant Service Guarantee which sets clear timeframes for key NDIS processes. The NDIA must make decisions about access, plan approvals, plan reviews and nominee changes within these timeframes.

The legislation also introduces changes to provide more flexibility to participants and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), and to make it easier for participants to vary their plans, without the need for a full plan review.

The legislation also aims to make payments easier, so participants don’t need to use their own money for services and claim reimbursement, and enables real-time reporting of participant budget balances.

In summary, the key reforms in the legislation include:

The Participant Service Guarantee will set timeframes for decision making by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and set strict service standards.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman will report on the NDIA’s performance against the Guarantee.
Increased flexibility for participants and the NDIA.
Embedding co-design with people with disability and their representatives.

Participants will be able to make changes to their plan without the need for a full plan review.
Flexibility in how payments can be made, allowing the NDIA to pay providers directly on behalf of participants - so participants don’t need to use their own money for services and claim re-imbursement.
Provisions that originally enabled transition to the NDIS, but which are no longer needed now the scheme is fully operational across the whole country will be removed.
The requirements to be considered in making appointments to the NDIA Board will be extended to specifically include people with disability or lived experience of disability.

QDN is keen to work with our members to hear their on the ground experiences of this new legislation. In the coming months we want to hear from you about your expeiences of the following:

Is it easier for you to make changes to your plan?
Do you feel the NDIA has involved you in the process of co-design of your plan?
Is the NDIS responding to you in a timely manner?

Get in touch with us via 1300 363 783 or qdn@qdn.org.au.

Queenslands Women Strategy

The new Queensland Women's Strategy 2022-27 (the strategy),has now been released by the Queensland Government.

QDN was part of the advisory committee during its development. The strategy is about ensuring the future economic security, safety and health of women and girls across the state. Within the strategy there is a specific importance attached to elevating First Nations women and listening to women from diverse backgrounds. It aims to draw attention to women’s stories and successes to empower and inspire.

Gender inequality impacts different people in different ways at different stages of their life, particularly if they have intersecting diverse experiences such as disability, cultural and linguistic diversity, diverse sexuality and gender identity, or experience of poverty.

Read the report here

Disability Royal Commission

Public Hearing #13 Report – Preventing and responding to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in disability services

Read the report here

New Issues paper on the impact of and responses to the Omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic for people with disability

Read the report here

Emerging Leaders

We welcomed our second group of QDN Emerging Leaders of 2022 this week, who traveled from all over Queensland to attend their first workshop in Brisbane. Exciting times ahead!

COVID-19 Update

COVID-19 winter doses for people with disability living in shared residential accommodation

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) have recommended a COVID-19 winter dose for people who are most at risk of severe illness. This includes:

adults aged 65 years and older
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over the age of 50
people in disability and aged care accommodation settings

people aged 16 years and older who are severely immunocompromised.

ATAGI recommends these groups receive their COVID-19 winter dose from 4 months after their initial booster dose. In some circumstances this timeframe can be shortened but cannot be less than 3 months from the previous booster dose.

ATAGI advises that COVID-19 winter doses can be administered at the same time as the annual flu vaccination. Co-administration of COVID-19 winter doses and influenza vaccines for residents is both clinically safe and administratively efficient.

For more information, please see ATAGI’s full statement.