• WHAT’S HAPPENING AT FACILITRADE NDIS
• NDIS NEWS
• Q & A

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT FACILITRADE NDIS

NDIS MADE EASY

• Are you looking to set up a new business in NDIS?
• Do you need assistance in planning and strategising?
• Are you struggling with the stringent registration and compliance requirements?
• Do you need a one stop shop to assist you with all this?

You can expect nothing less, here at Facilitrade NDIS!

As Facilitrade’s principal, I assist disability service providers with a holistic approach to their needs. Using my governance expertise, I set up your company and brief you on directors’ responsibilities, business plan, operational strategies, and staffing. I then focus on NDIS registration requirements.

With self-assessments and policies finalised, I submit your application and help you with the mandatory audits.

My versatility comes from the transformation that the Macquarie MBA created for me. The range of training involved has enabled me to diversify and consolidate my experience and skills to develop into a multi-faceted professional. I was able to combine prior qualifications and experience across corporate governance, strategy, marketing, project management, finance, and customer experience.

Continuous education of the Macquarie Business School since graduation and being a member of the Governance Institute of Australia has helped to keep abreast of changes in industry and customer needs and to pivot services accordingly.

Research confirms that a child born now would go through 17 different careers in its lifetime. I was born several moons ago and have had 7 major changes! Each has enhanced my collective contribution to clients. So, I challenge the saying that “a rolling stone gathers no moss” as these changes do matter.

My passion for servicing vulnerable communities and making a positive difference comes from 15 years of working in the Ageing, Disability, Home Care and Aboriginal Housing Sectors.

Working with state and federal governments as well as the private sector, has helped me gain solid insights into policies, service provision standards and participant needs. This was enhanced by working directly with over 200 service providers and multiple participants.

NDIS NEWS

Hope for the Disability Community

Brisbane won the right to host the 2032 Olympic & Paralympic Games last month. Kurt Fearnley, a gold-medal-winning Paralympian and Australian disability advocate, said the Games, and the lead-up to them, have the potential to spark “cultural change”.

This amazing event encourages people with disability not to ‘dis’ their ability. So much opportunity, so much to look forward to, so much to be motivated about and work towards. Active participation by people with disability will not only change the way others view this community but it will change the way people with disability see themselves.

Jumping over 6 feet with one leg; being able to swim when unable to walk or sit up; and running long distance 1,500 metre, 5,000 metre events and marathon events when vision impaired are all some of the proven success stories to date.

In its pitch, Paralympics Australia promised to introduce more awareness education into schools and to get half-a-million disabled Australians playing sport. The submission stated:

“Of the 4.3 million Australians with a disability, only one in four participates in sport, while 75 per cent want to participate.”

“We will establish community programs to encourage greater awareness and sport participation, with the aim of engaging another 500,000 people with a disability in sport by 2032.”

The event and the activities leading up to it are going to have a profound impact on health and wellbeing, our health system and the families and communities these people are in. Above all there’s a huge opportunity for disability service providers who can integrate the proposed community programs and sports participation into their service mix.

New Item Added to Funded Supports

A new support item introduced by NDIS to their funded support list for participants with psychosocial support needs, in July 2020, has now become widely available in the market. This item is known as Psychosocial Recovery Coach. These coaches can support participants with their recovery. Recovery means being able to live a purposeful and meaningful life. For more on this go to the NDIS fact sheet https://lnkd.in/gRdZbBn.

Q & A

What’s the difference between Certification Audits and Verification Audits
Certification audits are required every 3 years with registration renewal. It’s the provider’s responsibility to initiate renewal audits. The NDIS Commission recommends that you do this at least 6 months prior to registration expiring.

Certification Audit

• For high-risk service groups
• For usually, a face-to-face audit but can be a desk audit
• Includes an interim surveillance audit
  

Verification Audits

• For low-risk services such as Plan Management
• For sole traders like Occupational Therapy Services
• For services already governed by other regulating bodies
• Always a desk audit
• No interim audit

Is the registration process different for sole traders and small organisations from that for large organisations?
It is the same registration process for sole traders, small or large businesses. The only difference is the type of support services you choose to register. Some support services or service groups require more questions to be answered in the self-assessment included in the application.

Can you have the NDIS acronym in your business name?
Yes, but it must be approved by ASIC. First do a name search via ASIC Connect. Once you confirm that it is available, register your business name with ASIC and they will check if it is allowed and does not misrepresent your business as the National Disability Insurance Agency. There are several NDIS providers who have the acronym in their business name.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME ASSISTANCE?

“Janaki, with her wealth of knowledge, has been a key player in securing 100% NDIS audit success for us. She has motivated and patiently worked with all managers and directors to provide suggestions for improvement and correct discrepancies in our policies. She has been a delight to work with and helped us to improve our key governance process for the future”.

“….. we utilised the services of Janaki Ramachandran of Facilitrade to develop all policy documents to support our application for NDIS registration. Facilitrade also assisted us with the Self-Assessment, completed and submitted our application to NDIS and helped us in selecting and appointing a suitable auditor.

Thanks to the excellent and efficient work done by Janaki we were able to get through the audit in record time and were successful in our application”.

Try me as a one-stop-shop for your NDIS governance and compliance needs, and you’d want to stay with me for the long run!

Until next time Best Regards,

Janaki