In this issue of Don’t Be Left Out of NDIS we focus on accessibility and inclusion of people with disability into the Australian workforce and the community in general.
WHATS HAPPENING AT FACILITRADE NDIS
Attended the Sydney Disability Expo on Friday 2 December 2021 – International Day for People with Disability
“I love the Paralympics way more than the Olympics” – this is what event ambassador Ellie Cole, Australia’s most decorated female Paralympian with 17 swimming medals to her credit, said she’s been hearing when meeting people since the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
“Triumph over hardship make the Olympics boring” she continues to say in her Q&A session at the Sydney Disability Expo 2021 which I attended on International Day for People with Disability on 3 December 2021.
Here’s a brief excerpt from the inspiring Q&A:
Click here to watch the video.
She also spoke about the WeThe15 Campaign launched at the Tokyo Olympics for which she is an ambassador. WeThe15 represents the 15 per cent of people around the world living with disability.
It is the longest human rights movement that the world has seen. It will run for 10 years and brings together 20 international organisations to raise disability awareness and inclusion.
Assure Ability Celebrates its success and X’mas with its stakeholders
The evening at Park Royal, Parramatta celebrating this dedicated disability service provider’s success is one to remember. Assure Ability, one of Facilitrade’s early clients has gone from one accommodation facility to three in just over 2 years with a steadily increasing number of dedicated staff and contented participants.
The staff, management and other stakeholder invitees mingled freely with a great sense of comradery, which showed the excellent rapport with which this organisation works with everyone.
Merry X’mas to team Assure and all its people and Best Wishes for another successful year!
NDIS NEWS
Workforce Participation and Inclusion for People with Disability
A new 10 Year Strategy and Plan was announced by Senator Anne Ruston, Families and Social Services Minister, early in December 2021. The Plan focuses on acceptability and inclusion of people with disability (PWD) and for greater understanding of inclusion in the Australian workplace and community life.
She said State and Territory governments are in 100% participation and agreement.
The key objectives of this Plan are:
- Tackling low employment rates for PWD
- Increasing accessible housing
- Education and Justice projects to reduce violence and abuse against PWD.
It is heartening to hear of some of the actions planned to improve inclusion in the Australian workplace such as:
- Making sure the employment workspace is fit to cater to the specific needs of PWD working there
- Give confidence to employers to give a chance for PWD as they can be some of the most amazing employees you can have
- Other employees understanding the needs of the PWD
- Making people with autism understand their roles early as medical evidence shows that they can often hold their responsibility and can be exceptional employees.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION
Q: What are the challenges of getting into business as an NDIS provider?
There are over 800,000 small businesses in NSW. They make up 98% of all business (estimated from ABS, 8155.0, 2019-20 – latest available). According to the Small Business Commissioner, “Business confidence has bounced back strongly in response to the State’s reopening”. The disability services landscape is a growing one. Its therefore no surprise that many private sector organisations continue to set up as NDIS service providers
While the rewards at the end of the line may be good there are challenges no doubt. The key ones to be aware of are:
- Understanding the NDIS Quality Standards and Code of Conduct which are understandably stringent to protect participants and workers alike.
- The registration process is time consuming if you don’t spend time understanding the above Standards, etc and not clear about what outcomes you expect from your operations.
- The registration involves a mandatory audit which requires you to prepare a range of documents, policies and processes and be fully understand these to meet audit compliance.
- Currently the NDIS Commission takes a minimum of 6 months to approve certification.
- As market competition is rife you must prepare your strategies well to annex participants.
- Care workers are of a transient nature, and this can be well overcome, but again you need to plan well and have back up plans.
Despite the above, if you have a passion to service participants in this sector you can overcome these challenges as there is plenty of assistance around. Providers in the sector seem to work in a collaborative manner and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) offers plenty of assistance by way of workshops, useful collateral through its website and advice on request.
However, Facilitrade with its extensive experience, can assist you with any of the challenges above. So do not hesitate to reach out to us. Whether you are setting up, looking to develop client engagement strategies or to plan for the year ahead, we are there to help.
It has been a challenging year for all businesses and individuals, but the light is bright at the end of the tunnel.
Let’s hope it stays bright and we wish you a very merry Christmas and an even brighter 2022!
Warm Regards,
Janaki
