More Western Australians will gain access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) over the next year with the Commonwealth and Western Australian governments extending the current trials to July 2017 and expanding them to additional locations in the state, including Murray Shire.
The Commonwealth and WA State Governments also agreed to finalise arrangements for the statewide roll out of the NDIS in WA by October 2016, with the rollout expected to start on 1 July 2017.
Federal social services minister Christian Porter said the agreement would give certainty to around 10,900 current and future participants of ongoing support and would ensure more Western Australians will benefit from the NDIS while the details of the full scheme model were being finalised.
“The Commonwealth and WA state Governments are working closely on the details of the full scheme approach for Western Australia and we expect to agree to the final NDIS full scheme model later this year,” Mr Porter said.
“This will be informed by the comparative evaluation and will be done in consultation with people with disability, their families, carers and service providers.”
The Commonwealth and WA governments established a comparative trial of two different models of the NDIS in 2014.
The WA NDIS (formerly NDIS My Way) operates in the Lower South West region and Cockburn-Kwinana area.
From 1 October 2016, the WA Disability Services Commission (DSC) will expand the NDIS model to local government areas in Armadale, Murray and Serpentine-Jarrahdale.
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) model delivered in the Perth Hills region will be expanded to Bayswater, Bassendean, Chittering, Toodyay, York and Northam from 1 January 2017.
“The expansion of the two trials will allow a further 2700 people to access the NDIS in WA,” Mr Porter said.
“In addition, extending the original trial sites to July 2017 means that participants will have certainty about the current trials.”
WA disability services minister Donna Faragher said both governments were committed to the wellbeing of people with disability.
“The lives of people with disability, their families and carers are being changed for the better by the NDIS,” Mrs Faragher said.
“The full implementation of the NDIS in WA will draw on lessons learnt from existing trials and will apply the same eligibility requirements and portability of supports as the rest of the country.
“Since the launch of the Western Australian comparative NDIS trials, more than 4000 Western Australians have had access to the increased funding, and choice and control over their disability services provided through the NDIS.
”We need to ensure that the NDIS in WA is accountable to the Western Australian community and builds on the State’s existing relationships and long history of disability reform.”
For further information about WA NDIS go to disability.wa.gov.au or call 1800 996 214.
