The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) will pilot two new initiatives under the new Quality Supports program, to deliver high quality services to vulnerable participants.
The pilots will focus on the delivery of Support Coordination and Supported Independent Living (SIL) for participants including those who have complex and high needs.
The NDIA will select established NDIS providers who have experience delivering services to participants otherwise at risk of not receiving the supports they need.
Both pilots will run for 12 months and will be evaluated to inform the delivery of Support Coordination and SIL services moving forward.
“We want all NDIS participants to receive high-quality supports, and we must ensure we retain experienced providers and support coordinators who have significant expertise in high-needs markets,” NDIS Minister Bill Shorten said.
“We have listened to feedback from the sector following the Annual Pricing Review (APR) and acknowledge we need to make changes to ensure we can have the right providers to deliver participants a diverse range of high-quality services.
“It is more important than ever for Government to identify ways to incentivise and pay for high-quality supports from committed high-quality providers. This is an additional step this Government will make to support quality,” he said.
Selected high quality providers will help participants access quality supports and will be funded to deliver quality supports to those participants involved in the pilot.
NDIS participants will continue to have choice and control to engage in services of their choice, with these pilots working hand-in-hand with participants to link in with their chosen services.
Applications will be invited this month. Further information on the pilots will be available on the NDIS website in the coming weeks.