NDIS: Great Southern picked to trial new approach to deliver scheme in regional and remote areas

A Great Southern community will be used to road test a new method for delivering the NDIS in regional, remote and Indigenous communities. Katanning and surrounds have been selected as the second trial site for an alternative approach to supporting NDIS participants in areas where disability services are scarce or non-existent. Participants living outside the major cities often struggle to spend their allocated funding because they can’t access services or professionals, such as therapists and physios. The problem of “thin markets” was highlighted in last year’s landmark NDIS review, which set the foundation for a major overhaul of the $43 billion scheme. Under the new “alternative commissioning” model, participants with similar needs could pool their funding together to bring in help. The model has already been trialled in the Aboriginal community of Maningrida in the Northern Territory. “All Australians with disability deserve to have access to the NDIS supports they need to participate fully in the community, regardless of where they live,” NDIS Minister Bill Shorten said. WA Minister for Disability Services Don Punch was keen to see the model rolled out in Katanning, which he admitted had “very few” providers and “very limited” access to services for participants. “The Alternative Commissioning trial will work with participants and communities to explore new approaches to long-standing market challenges to ensure people in remote communities have better access to the support they need, when and where they need it,” Mr Punch said. The trial will run for roughly 12 months.