The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been created on clear principles based on the rights of each person living with disability across Australia. In 2011 the Productivity Commission Report stated that the existing disability system was underfunded, unfair, fragmented and inefficient and gave people with disability, their families and carers little choice and no certainty of access to appropriate supports. Based on this report, governments agreed to the introduction of the NDIS and in March 2013, the NDIS Act was passed (see https://www.ndis.gov.au/operational-guideline/overview). The main objective of the NDIS is to provide support to all Australians who acquire a permanent disability before the age of 65 which substantially impacts how they manage everyday activities. The NDIS provides participants with the reasonable and necessary supports they need to live an ordinary life. For example, some participants may be provided with funding to secure personal care or meal preparation, equipment, home modifications and transport assistance to enable them to participate in their communities.
Source: NDIS – Living an ‘ordinary life’
This ‘ordinary life’ NDIS objective is all about ensuring that people with disability have the opportunity to experience a life encompassing the simple joys many other Australians take for granted. This includes a sense of belonging through positive relationships, achieving independence and choice, enjoying meaningful roles, and being an included and valued member of their community. As such, the NDIS has the opportunity to significantly change the life options available to people living with disability.
Source: The Model Of Citizenhood Support with an Audio Description Track from JFA Purple Orange on Vimeo.
The NDIS Act details the goals that the NDIA is striving toward achieving and these are largely based on Australia’s obligations under the United Nations. Australia signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York on 13 December 2006, yet the 2011 Productivity Commission Report illustrated that we were not meeting the requirements of the convention.
Peer Organisations operate within a disability sector dominated by the NDIS. Peer organisations are most likely to gain the funding essential to deliver peer support programs from the NDIA under projects such as the Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) Grants scheme. As such, peer organisations will likely be operating with the same clear foundation principles as the NDIS. The general principles which guide the actions of the NDIA when performing its functions include (see https://www.ndis.gov.au/operational-guideline/overview):
- People with disability have the same right as other members of Australian society to realise their potential for physical, social, emotional and intellectual development;
- People with disability should be supported to participate in and contribute to social and economic life to the extent of their ability;
- People with disability and their families and carers should have certainty that people with disability will receive the care and support they need over their lifetime;
- People with disability should be supported to exercise choice, including in relation to taking reasonable risks, in the pursuit of their goals and the planning and delivery of their supports;
- People with disability should be supported to receive reasonable and necessary supports, including early intervention supports;
- People with disability have the same right as other members of Australian society to respect for their worth and dignity and to live free from abuse, neglect and exploitation:
- People with disability have the same right as other members of Australian society to pursue any grievance;
- People with disability have the same right as other members of Australian society to be able to determine their own best interests, including the right to exercise choice and control, and to engage as equal partners in decisions that will affect their lives, to the full extent of their capacity;
- The role of families, carers and other significant persons in the lives of people with disability is to be acknowledged and respected;
- Positive personal and social development of people with disability, including children and young people, is to be promoted; and,
- People with disability should have their privacy and dignity respected.
User-led organisations and/or those running peer support programs are no doubt strong supporters of these foundation principles. As such, this resource has been developed with a strong rights-based underlying philosophy which will be clear throughout each module.