The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) will boost its relationship with the disability community by providing an additional $1.4 million to Disability Representative and Carers Organisations (DRCOs).
The additional funding will support co-design activities and increases the total funding to $2.8 million over the past 12 months.
Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), the Hon. Bill Shorten MP, said engaging with DRCOs ensures the NDIS is fit for purpose and enables participants to live the life they choose.
“DRCOs hold invaluable expertise, trusted relationships with hundreds of thousands of people with disability, their families and carers, and a significant understanding of the key issues we need to tackle,” Minister Shorten said in a statement. “Properly resourcing DRCOs provides broad benefit, including improving the ability to listen to diverse communities, foster open dialogue, and provide regular opportunities to relay their expertise.”
With the additional funding, DRCOs can continue to conduct focus groups to workshop ideas and engage the community and NDIS participants through surveys, workshops, and one-on-one interviews to provide the NDIA with a deeper understanding of what is working and what can be improved.
“We want co-design activities to be meaningful and grounded in the knowledge held by the disability sector to steer the scheme to where we all want it to be,” Minister Shorten said. “This significant support to further co-design activities continues the Australian government’s commitment to putting people with disability at the centre of the scheme.”
National Ethnic Disability Alliance CEO Dwayne Cranfield and Inclusion Australia CEO Catherine McAlpine have welcomed the funding, commenting that it shows the NDIA recognises the expertise of people with disability.
Cranfield said: “The funding will enable DRCOs to capture all kinds of feedback from people with disability and to amplify their voices, so the scheme is shaped by the people who rely on it.”
Alpine added: “Here at Inclusion Australia, we welcome this co-design funding because that means people with intellectual disability have accessible resources and support to be able to fully participate in co-design.”
Aside from providing additional funding, the government vowed to close the gap in employment for people with disabilities and embed employment into NDIS plans to ensure its participants who want work receive support.
