Close Search
 
MEDIA, JOBS & RESOURCES for the COMMON GOOD
News  |  Social Issues

Fears NDIA Will Force People into Shared Accommodation Settings


14 May 2018 at 3:48 pm
Luke Michael
Disability groups have expressed concerns that the National Disability Insurance Agency will force most people seeking Specialist Disability Accommodation into a group home situation, regardless of personal preference.


Luke Michael | 14 May 2018 at 3:48 pm


8 Comments


 Print
Fears NDIA Will Force People into Shared Accommodation Settings
14 May 2018 at 3:48 pm

Disability groups have expressed concerns that the National Disability Insurance Agency will force most people seeking Specialist Disability Accommodation into a group home situation, regardless of personal preference.

The NDIA recently released a Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Provider and Investor Brief, outlining the agency’s latest policy position for disability housing.

The brief indicated that only a “very small number…of a very small percentage” of NDIS participants would be funded to live alone in SDA.

“It is important for providers to note that an SDA budget to support a single resident dwelling is only likely to be provided to a very small number of SDA eligible participants (a small percentage of NDIS participants overall), even when the dwelling is in a configuration that makes shared supports possible,” the brief said.

This has led a coalition of organisations – including the Summer Foundation, Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) and People with Disability Australia (PWDA) ­– to sign a joint statement on Monday calling for “immediate reassurance and certainty” on how the SDA market is expected to grow and operate.

“People with disabilities and developers of innovative housing for people with disabilities are pleased the NDIA has reiterated the government’s commitment to SDA in its SDA Provider and Investor Brief,” the statement said.

“However, the NDIA’s SDA Brief expresses a vision for SDA housing with a clear bias toward shared models of housing for people with disability, presumably to reduce support costs.

“The SDA Brief suggests the NDIA will, in most cases, require people with disability to live in group-home style accommodation settings, even if it is not their preference.”

The disability groups said that forcing participants into shared accommodation arrangements was “out of step” with the preferences of people with disability, as well as Australia’s broader human rights obligations, the NDIS Act, and advice from the NDIA’s own Independent Advisory Council.

“It is also a significant risk to the safety of people with disabilities as evidenced by inquiries into abuse and neglect, which have shown that people living in group homes are at high risk of violence and abuse,” the statement said.

Ross Joyce, the CEO of AFDO, told Pro Bono News that the NDIA’s brief plainly indicated a preference toward shared accommodation for people with disabilities.

He added that it was “20 years out of date” to push people with disability into a group home situation, rather than offering the option of independent living.

“Clearly in the way it’s been written, it’s suggesting in most cases that people will have to live in a group-style home accommodation even if they don’t want to do that and that’s not their preference,” Joyce said.

“And from our point of view, the inference in that seems to be about cost savings which is in one way fair enough, but it’s not delivering on what the NDIS is supposed to be doing and that’s providing greater choice and control for people with disability.

“So that’s our area of concern. And in looking at that and the SDA model, it’s old school to be looking at group home scenarios as the first port of call for anyone. That’s something we don’t support.”

The statement said investors and providers had been working with SDA funding policy since 2016, looking to pioneer new ways for people with complex support needs to live in their own home, while also sharing supports with others if they chose to.

“SDA providers and investors have, to date, committed tens of millions to the development of new accessible housing,” the statement said.

“Significant increased investment is poised to enter the market in coming months to create hundreds of new high-quality, modern homes that can provide ordinary lives for people with disability.”

But the disability groups warned that the SDA brief had now “created immediate uncertainty”.

“Providers are pausing projects and reconsidering future investment in the market,” the statement said.

“The brief has changed the goalposts for providers and investors. Millions of dollars in investment in SDA is directly and immediately affected.”

Joyce said this model predominantly forcing people into group home environments was to blame for the uncertainty.

“This is not what the market has been looking at,” he said.

“So I think that’s created a bit of a ‘hang on what’s going on’ moment for those providers and certainly for quite a range of projects that are really on the boil.

“What we’d like to see the NDIA embrace further, is really looking at a modern approach to how people with disabilities should have the choice and control to live in the way that they wish.”

The statement has called for immediate reassurance and certainty on the growth and operation of the SDA market, noting that the NDIA brief did not provide this.

Joyce said the first priority of the NDIA and government was to confirm that participants wishing to live alone would not be forced into a shared living arrangement.

“If their choice is that then there should be supports and mechanisms put into place to assist them to achieve that goal,” he said.

He also called for the establishment of an SDA working group made up of participants, providers and other NDIS stakeholders.

The goal of this group would be to develop a shared vision for housing in the NDIS and consider what factors should contribute to “reasonable and necessary” considerations regarding SDA.

“We welcome working together with the NDIA to make sure we can sort out these sorts of issues as they come along,” Joyce said.

“But what we don’t want to see is that people with disability aren’t delivered on promises of what the NDIS is meant to do, and that’s to provide them with choice and control over their own lives.”

But the NDIA have denied they will push NDIS participants into group-style home accommodation against their wishes.

An NDIA spokesperson told Pro Bono News the NDIS Act and the SDA Rules had not changed and that the brief did not represent a change in policy.

“Each SDA plan decision will continue to be made on an individual basis according to the SDA Rules and NDIS Act,” the spokesperson said.

“Where a participant is eligible for SDA, the NDIA will give consideration to their preferences, including any preference to live alone.”


Luke Michael  |  Journalist  |  @luke_michael96

Luke Michael is a journalist at Pro Bono News covering the social sector.


Get more stories like this

FREE SOCIAL
SECTOR NEWS

8 comments

  • Mark Kulinski says:

    What we need to do is look at how we can facilitate opportunities where people with Disabilities can own their own homes whether they live in shared arrangements or not

    • Lachlan, SDA Options says:

      If a NDIS participant receives SDA funding as part of their plan, they then become eligible to utilise this funding to suit their accommodation needs.
      The plan will stipulate the type, category and location with the onus then on the participant (perhaps with the help of a support co-ordinator) to search the SDA housing sector to either rent or buy.

  • Julie Pianto says:

    Can we please stop calling them group homes. They are mini-institutions used to segregate and congregate people with disability so that the government can save money.

  • Pauline Newman says:

    I am in this situation at the moment. It has been in my “goals” a stupid term, because living in a home in safety is a “RIGHT” not a “goal” & written up in my plan with SDA “suggested”. So I could live BY MYSELF, ON MY OWN, with the necessary supports. These plans were submitted & accepted. Three years later it was found out even though, SDA was asked for in every plan, it came back as “SDA, could be helpful in achieving the goals of independent living” My NDIS support worker rang me 2 weeks later to tell me I had no SDA funding, & never did have, because of inept management of my NDIS Plan.” Now that I have the funding, & NDIS knew My wish & goal was to live on my own in my own place with 24/7 on call care, which I had before, & the current agency swapped it illegally for home care. Now they want to remove my rights, force me to sell almost everything I own, give up my pets & force me into a mini institution against my will. I have told them “I don’t want to shere.” All they said is “We are only going to fund YOU for shared accommodation” Because there 5 clients in the apartment block where I am that had to move, NDIS needed 4 accessible homes,(1 client fortunate to be able to buy her apartment) All 3 of the others got exactly the type of housing they wanted & the housing they asked for! So what makes me so different? I have appealed & I will NOT share, I would rather be dead than share!

  • PAULINE NEWMAN says:

    NDIS, Have reviewed and decided to reject my appeal to live independently, they also slashed my SDA funding, making it even harder to get my funding raised, I am going to appeal again for the 3rd time, NDIS say they are not going to force people into shared accommodation, then they can prove it,

  • NDIS Property Australia says:

    Thanks for sharing!


YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

‘A really big wake up call’: documenting the experiences of LGBTQIA+ refugees

Danielle Kutchel

Wednesday, 29th March 2023 at 5:17 pm

Breaking the silence of miscarriage

Ruby Kraner-Tucci

Wednesday, 29th March 2023 at 4:31 pm

More than just mats: opening the beach to people with disability

Danielle Kutchel

Monday, 27th March 2023 at 4:13 pm

Moving towards cultural safety for Aboriginal children with disability

Danielle Kutchel

Monday, 27th March 2023 at 1:47 pm

pba inverse logo
Subscribe Twitter Facebook
×