NDIS Gateway Model Already Operating in Tasmania
17 August 2011 at 1:19 pm
A central part of the proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme has received a thumbs up from two community service organisations who have been successfully running a similar model in Tasmania for over year.
Baptcare and Mission Australia, the lead providers of the Gateway disability service in Tasmania, say they are delighted that the Productivity Commission has recommended the establishment of a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) which will include a national centralised intake point for people with a disability.
The function intake aspect of the Productivity Commission’s proposal is already operating in Tasmania following reform of the state’s disability sector, according to Baptcare’s Chief Executive Jeff Davey.
Davey says Baptcare and Mission Australia have been providing disability services through the Gateway model for over a year in Tasmania – and they know the model works. Within the first 12 months of operation, the Gateway service in Tasmania supported over 1,800 clients.
The Baptcare and Mission Australia Gateway service is a centralised intake point for people with a disability, families and individuals requiring support. This provides an entry point to a broad range of community support services and is delivered as a partnership amongst community service organisations, ensuring the best outcome for individuals in need of care.
The Productivity Commission recommended a pilot program be established to test the NDIS, before the program is rolled out across Australia.
Submissions and advice provided by Baptcare to the Productivity Commission on the Gateway model was included in the final report, and Davey says Baptcare and Mission Australia are well placed to operate the centralised intake aspects in an NDIS pilot program.
Noel Mundy, State Director of Mission Australia, says for far too long, people with disabilities within the community have had to put up with a rigid system of care which lacks choice and promises no certainty of access to the right supports.
He says the current system is underfunded has the added risk of discriminating against those in need of assistance.
Mundy says the Gateway model currently in operation in Tasmania is a great answer to this problem.
Mundy says the Gateway service works incredibly well because it’s completely focused on the needs of the consumer and it offers individualised care programs to every person in need of additional support.
Baptcare provides care for children, families, people with a disability, financially disadvantaged people, asylum seekers and older people across Victoria and Tasmania. Mission Australia is a national community services organisation and delivers a range of services across nine locations in Tasmania.
