National Respite Conference Sydney

October 23, 2014

Acknowledging Country

I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of this land, the Darug Peoples and welcome

any Aboriginal people here today.

The Samaritans Foundation• The welfare arm of the Anglican Church in the Diocese

of Newcastle, also includingo Hunter

o Western NSW

o Manning & Mid North Coast

o Central Coast

• Employ 600 people• Established 1984• 800 Volunteers

The Samaritans Foundation• Disability Services• Youth Programs• Specialist Homelessness Programs• Disaster Recovery• Early Childcare Centres• Mental Health Support services including Headspace• Early Intervention • Child and Family programs• Housing and Tenancy Supports

NDIS and the NSW Trial - Hunter• Support 180 people in the Newcastle LGA

o 48 Children

o 25 in accommodation

o 107 flexible supports

• Will phase in Lake Macquarie and Maitland commencing July 2015

• A great social reform, and everyone is learning anf working together

The ChallengesLabour Force

o Flexibility required, shifts less attractive

o Casualisation

o Supervision/team meetings and professional development

o Change in the nature of some supervisory roles

Approacheso Combined/specialised rostering

o Technology

o Tiered workforce

The Challenges (cont)Process•Documentation and verification of delivered supports•Labour intensive •Unclear initially – confusing plans and new processes•Intake – NGOs don’t do the planning but lots still to occur

Approaches•Continually reviewing process, prior to use of technology•Specialised roles – intake, claiming, NDIS Project Officer

Key Initiatives• Participant Forums• Staff forums – FAQs, Newsletters• Clarify what is required to support a person entering the

NDIS• Review planning outcomes to see if we can support

people better• Change model of service delivery

o It was program (funding) based

o Now localised and more specialised

Key Initiatives• Allocated dedicated NDIS resource

o Information share

o Expertise

o Intake and referral

o Develop and Inform process

• This speciality/knowledge will need to be integrated

Suggestions• Know your costs

o Can you be more efficient?

• What is your north?o What services should you provide?

• Start the conversationso What do you know/think?

o Don’t re-invent the wheel

o Action what you can do now

Opportunities

• Greater choice and control for people with a disability• Opportunity for growth

o Professional development

o More input from the people we serve

o Potential to strengthen practice

o Inter-departmental relationships

• Opportunity to review support paradigms, and service modelso Greater utilisation of community resources

o Challenge our roles

Summary• It’s a work in progress• Its new and it can be overwhelming for people we

support and employees• Its not about us, the NDIA or even the NDIS

• What do we need to do to keep it about the people we support?