Child and Youth Services (CYS) in South Australia has become the first in Australia to form its own public sector, employee-led mutual to deliver the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) services throughout the state.
A new organisation, Kudos Services, has been formed after CYS staff decided to join together to create the mutual. As CYS was the existing NDIS Partner delivering ECEI services in the state, there will be a smooth transition to the new organsiation, ensuring participants continue to receive supports.
The Australian Government is providing $47 million for ECEI services in South Australia and the NDIS is expected to boost the local economy by $740 million and create more than 5,000 new jobs in disability services to the state.
South Australia Minister for Human Services, Michelle Lensink said the new public-sector employee mutual was a significant step for the state government.
“There were a number of options considered to deliver the best outcomes for our staff and for people with disability. However, an employee-led mutual provided an exciting opportunity to our highly qualified, professional workforce including many allied health professionals in disciplines including physiotherapy, speech pathology, social work, developmental education, psychology and occupational therapy, who have been working in partnership with the NDIA since 2013, when the NDIS was introduced in South Australia,” the minister said. “Staff can continue working with their existing clients as well as be involved as voting members in making decisions about how the organisation is run.”
More than 70 per cent of the former CYS staff made the decision to join the mutual, demonstrating the strong commitment from existing staff to the new organisation.