December 22, 2024 • 55 mins
On this episode Sam and Hannah get up to date on the latest NDIS news and wrap up the year that was 2024. And what a year it was. Thank you to all our listeners for their support this year, we could not do this podcast without you!
If you want to find out more about the Household worker insurance, which applies to anyone in QLD who employs someone who works at their home:
We are super excited for our upcoming LIVE podcast recording and networking extravaganza! If you want to sponsor our event and have a table to showcase your amazing NDIS business please contact Hannah at: whatinthendispod@gmail.com
If you want to come along and be part of the day, meet the team, hear from some amazing providers, and be in the audience for the podcast recording head to Humantix via the link below to secure your FREE ticket!
https://events.humanitix.com/what-in-the-ndis-now-live-podcast-and-networking-event
If you want to get in touch with us, you can:
Contact the podcast whatinthendispod@gmail.com
Contact Hannah hello@plandecoders.com.au
Contact Sam sam@rosenbaum.consulting
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
We acknowledge the original owners of the land on which we podcast, whose stories were told for
(00:05):
thousands of years. Today we are recording in Meanjin. We pay our respects to elders past
and present who may be listening. Sovereignty was never ceded. A quick note before we get started,
that there may be some swearing in today's podcast. If you don't like swearing or usually
listen with children in the car, you have been warned! This episode of What in the NDIS Now is
(00:32):
brought to you by Astalty. Astalty is the software solution for NDIS professionals built by NDIS
professionals. Astalty is my go-to software and Astalty is trusted and loved by hundreds of other
NDIS providers. I love how easy it is to use and how it keeps all my participant information,
(00:56):
notes and invoicing all in one place available to me anytime from any device. Sign up now
for your 14-day free trial. Head to Astalty.com.au to sign up now. See for yourself how much easier
managing all your NDIS business needs are by using Astalti. Thanks again to Astalty for sponsoring
(01:20):
today's episode. You're listening to What in the NDIS Now, a podcast where I, Hannah Redford,
and my friend Sam Rosenbaum interview participants and providers about all things NDIS.
(01:48):
Hey everybody, welcome. This is the last episode of the year, so we're going to go through
some new announcements from the NDIA because of course they just announced things just yesterday
before we record. And then we're going to go through some old stuff and reflect on the year
(02:11):
that was, tell me Sam, how was your year? Well, hi Hannah, it was definitely a year.
I feel like I'd rather go back to 2019 to be honest. But yes, it's definitely been a year.
It's a lot of tribulations and trying times as we've all kind of experienced within the sector,
(02:36):
both from provider side and participant side, it's a roller coaster. That would be an apt
description if there was any upside to any of this, where as you go down the roller coaster,
you're meant to then come up the other side to then go down again. It's been a very big corkscrew.
(02:58):
It's just like a spiral. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I like that one better. My year sucked and I'm
pretty happy for this year to be done. This year I stopped being a support coordinator. I started
a new business. My 13 year old was in hospital for a number of weeks. The NDIS got severely fucked
(03:23):
up. So yeah, overall, not a great year. It has definitely been one where I was a bit of a
wimp. It has definitely been one where I want to be an ostrich and throw my head in the sand.
Although I feel like I've actually done that for part of it, to be honest.
(03:46):
But as we said, we've got some interesting things, some new things, some old things,
and some weird things have been around, but we haven't quite identified previously or really
touched base on, which is something that you picked up as well. Yeah, yeah. So some of this
episode might be a little dry, but we're going to try and keep it as light and fun as we can.
(04:13):
But as you know, 2024 was a big year for changes and they haven't stopped coming. So in case of
emergency, put your head between your knees and kiss your ass goodbye. So here we go, Sam.
All right. What's up first?
We want to talk about Work Safe Queensland. Oh yes.
(04:36):
So this is a really specific topic to Queenslanders. So I'm sorry to the rest of the country
because this is really weird and nuanced thing for Queensland. Yay Queensland for being weird.
Who would have thought? But it's a crucial topic and it's little understood for participants and
(05:00):
homeowners alike. It's called Household Workers Insurance. Many people hire cleaners, babysitters,
or gardeners to help around the house. But did you know that by doing so, you might be considered an
employer? And this is where Household Workers Insurance comes into play. It's a policy that
(05:24):
could save you from potentially hefty costs if someone gets injured while working for you.
Let's break it down a little more. Work Safe Queensland offers this policy and it's particularly
important for self-managed NDIS participants or those who directly employ support workers.
(05:44):
But who exactly is considered a household worker? Well, it's a really broad category, Sam,
and I'm going to try and do my best to tell you as many as I can think of. It includes
cleaners, which anybody even not on the NDIS might have in their home, the same with nannies,
(06:07):
babysitters, house sitters, gardeners, handy people, and even contractors with their own ABN
if they're individual sole traders. And here's the kicker. These workers don't necessarily have
to be in your home to be covered. They could be in your backyard, on your roof, or even running
(06:31):
errands for you. For example, your nanny might be covered while taking your kids to school or a
cleaner maintaining your recreational yacht for all of those with so many recreational yachts.
Oh yeah, I got mine out the back. Just sitting in my pool.
(06:54):
And that's at the marina that I pay for. But they're also included and you need this insurance for
that sort of thing. Did you know that some household worker compensation claims can reach
over a hundred thousand dollars? It's, yeah, a bit ridiculous. There's a lot there.
(07:15):
It's a lot of money. So the household worker's insurance is $60 for two years. So it's not that
much. And when we found out about it, we have decided to take it out just in case. And the NDIS
(07:40):
doesn't cover that, which is how I found out about this because I was going through the Facebook
forums and suddenly someone said, hey, the NDIS is refusing to pay this insurance for me. And I went,
what? So then you and I had a lot of discussions about what the heck this is.
(08:02):
Yeah, well, it caught me by surprise on that one. When I was going through the Facebook
forums and seeing that one. And it does seem, because I very much doubt many of our listeners
slash also the wider population in Queensland actually knows about this in the first place.
(08:23):
Although I really hope now saying that there isn't people going, why are they talking about
this? It's not new news to me. But for all those out there listening that don't actually have that
repertoire and go, this is news news to me, just what the actual fuck? Right? But yes, it's
definitely going to catch out a lot of people in the sector because we have multiple providers
(08:48):
coming into our homes. We've got providers taking our family members out into the community.
And we kind of just go, they're a business, they've got their own insurance.
Yeah. Yeah. And not realising that we have to have insurance on our side as well.
(09:08):
It's definitely a bit of an interesting one. But as you said, it is 60 dollars. But for some people,
60 dollars is not something they regularly have in their bank account to spare.
No, exactly. And that's one of the reasons why I think it is an important topic. Right?
Yeah. And why it is important to talk about, well, who is going to cover this cost for us?
(09:36):
And the simple fact is there isn't anyone. We have to find it ourselves. There's no funding body
that takes this up. So yeah, it's a bit scary. Yeah. But if you're wanting to know more
information or wanting to check out if you need to take out this insurance, definitely get in touch
(09:58):
with WorkSafe Queensland, check out their website or call them on their number. We'll have that all
in our show notes. So as we're preparing for our final episode, we will be getting into some of
the shitfuckery from the changes and most particularly at the moment, the clusterfuck that
have become the music and art therapy following the changes from October 3rd. And we have
(10:22):
and we are had to dive deep and done some nice research and got some stuff together to go
out and bring all you lovely listeners the latest information on the clusterfuckery only to find out
this morning that there is more clusterfuckery and they're admitting to their clusterfuckery
and walking back a little bit. Yeah. This is really annoying and I'm so glad I noticed it
(10:47):
before we jumped on to record, but essentially there is a huge update with music and art therapy.
Yeah. So the agency has announced that they will be undertaking a review of the pricing
and the appropriateness of supports for music and art therapy. They are running an independent
(11:12):
review on the pricing for it. So that means that they're putting a pause on the changes that they
were going with removing the arts and music therapy out of the support structure and leaving it in its
place. And they're flak of the better words going, oh, we didn't do anything. Let's just keep on
going until this comes back. Yeah. So you can continue exactly as you are right now with all
(11:42):
your music and art therapy. Nothing is going to change until potentially July when this expert
advisory committee comes back and maybe they'll have a new, hopefully they'll have a new recommendation
that says music and art therapy is actually really important. You idiots. Yeah. This just
(12:07):
definitely goes in to show how much of a kind of a shit show the changes and the rollout
that have been implemented have become. And when we'll, I've said this a few times now,
but I'm going to repeat myself because I hate the fact that the realization that the implementation
(12:28):
is failing and has not been thought through just goes to show how much the government and the
agency have not learned from the last 10 years of rolling the NDIS out. They have gone, let's do 2.0,
but let's use exactly the same methods that we have done in the past to get a different outcome.
(12:53):
And we all know that if trying the same thing and expecting a different outcome doesn't equate to
sanity. We're all smashing our heads against a brick wall here. Yeah. It's very disappointing
that the agency and the government are throwing this around, creating absolute shit storm for
(13:18):
providers, for participants, and then just going, oh, okay, well, you know what? Nothing happened.
Nothing to see here. We'll just have a look at it, step back without actually kind of acknowledging
that they're fucking up. Why would they? They never have before. That's unfortunately a very
good point. One could hope. I mean, this is as much of an admission of fucking it up as they've
(13:45):
ever done where they're walking it back and going, oh, you know, we've already done 1 million reviews,
but we're going to do 1 million on one because we got smashed about this. So Sam, let me tell you
something else happening in NDIS land. Let's hear it, Anna.
(14:07):
The NDIS National Call Centre, the NCC, is changing how you identify yourself when you call. These
changes are coming into effect on the 16th of December, 2024, which was actually last week
(14:30):
when this episode comes out. So you need to already start being prepared, but I'm going to explain a
little bit about exactly what this change is. And you need to start explaining this to participants
and providers alike because this is potentially going to be pretty annoying. So let's break it
(14:56):
down now. The NDIS is enhancing their identification process to ensure the security of your information.
But when you call the National Call Centre, they will ask you for more information about how
to identify you to make sure it's you. First, they'll try to send you a one-time code to the
(15:23):
phone number that they have on record for you. But don't worry, Sam, if this doesn't work out,
if you don't have the right phone number connected to them or you don't have a mobile smart mobile
phone, they have other ways to confirm it's you. They might ask you for details from letters or
(15:46):
notices they've sent to you, information you've shared with them before, specifics about your
plan or budget. They might ask about your past interactions with the NDIS, details about your
plan use and the support you receive. Or they might ask you about information in documents you've
(16:10):
provided them before. I know it sounds like a lot to remember, but the call centre staff have assured
us that they will talk you through it. When you do call the NCC, make sure you have your NDIS
number ready and that will make the whole process a little smoother. The other thing to do is make
(16:34):
sure the NDIS has your current phone number on file so that the SMS can be sent to the correct
number. Well, that sounds a little complicated for some people there. Yeah, it's complicated,
but hopefully it'll end up being straightforward. Although we know that every single time they change
(16:56):
something, it is never straightforward. So at least we've explained to you what is happening,
why it's happening and hopefully with that warning, you at least know what you're in for when you call.
Yeah, so that's the participant side, but providers aren't getting out of it easily either.
(17:19):
So there's changes that are coming in that will handle the online verification and authorization
for identifying providers. So this is a pretty big change as well. The key thing to remember about
these changes, they're not actually set to take effect until the mid of next year. It might seem
a bit far away, but everything changes in a day. So let's make sure we've got... Yeah, it's never too
(17:41):
early to start preparing. So we can get all our sort of ducks in a row to be organized for that.
So currently providers and staff use Prodol to provide their identity when connecting with the
NDIA, but that's changing and moving to what's now called MyID, which was formerly MyGovID.
This is a little bit confusing for a lot of providers and it's based off a foundation and a
(18:09):
program that's called a relationship authorized manager or RAM. This is a thing that the government
uses to identify business owners or directors and anyone that's kind of connected in with
an entity to make sure that they're correct. The government ID, the MyID app is a painful thing
to set up and definitely take a day to do so because finding all your information for it
(18:35):
can be absolutely painful. And that it's not straightforward. And I'm a relatively tech
savvy person and even I wanted to pull my hair out trying to organize MyID. It's painful.
(18:56):
And it gets more annoying as well because it has different levels of authentication essentially.
Like you've got... It's not called bronze to gold sort of thing, but let's just use them because
I can't think of what it actually is off the top of my head. But if you only got your ID in there,
you only get the lowest level of authorization. To get the highest level, you also need a passport.
(19:19):
Yeah, which I don't have. I don't have a passport.
I can never get that too. So anytime that I need to have that level to interact with any other
government departments for anything for the business, I've got to go through multiple other
jumps just to get that. But it's because I don't have a passport, which is a very difficult
(19:39):
and very painful. But yeah, so the key point for providers to know is all staff members who use
NDI system will need to set up their own MyID account. So get started on that and find the
information to get out to your staff because this is painful. It will take a very long time
and planning and preparation prevents poor performance as the six Ps of life are.
(20:04):
The NDS and Quality Safeguards Commission will be moving Proto to RAM, but that will also happen
later on. So this will also need to happen for staff to access Proto moving forward.
So there's some kind of very technically complicated things, especially with verifying
your identity that we need to take care of. Get our heads around.
(20:27):
Yeah, identifying your identity from lots of different angles. Look, and I understand that,
you know, these days with all of the scamming and identity fraud and identity theft that is happening,
you know, we need to be more careful that the right person has the right information. But
(20:50):
this makes life complicated.
Yeah, very true.
But let's talk a little bit about conflicts of interest. Now, this is a topic I'm really,
really passionate about. The NDIS has just released a new position statement on this topic.
(21:13):
It's a big deal for both participants and providers. And me because, you know,
it's deliberately why I set up my support coordination company originally to be
independent and not do anything else. So the NDIA apparently spent a whole three months
(21:36):
from May to July 2024 talking to participants, providers and disability organisations.
They wanted to understand people's experiences with conflicts of interest and what resources
would help to manage them. But they didn't ask me, Sam. So, you know, I don't know, I believe
(21:58):
that there was that much consultation. But anyway, and now they've come out with this position
statement with a whole bunch of new resources. It's all about making sure everyone understands
what conflicts of interest are and how to handle them properly. Here are the key points from the
statement. The NDIA is making clear that all providers, whether they're registered or not,
(22:24):
need to do a few things. One, try their best to avoid conflicts of interest in the first place.
Well, shouldn't people have been doing that the whole time?
If I'm not registered, it doesn't apply to me.
It does apply to you.
It does apply to you. Even if you're unregistered, it applies to everybody.
(22:45):
If there is a conflict, they need to declare it and manage it to the highest standard.
Three, be completely transparent with participants around the nature of the conflict.
Four, talk through options with participants to manage any risks associated with the conflict.
(23:05):
Five, write down their management strategies and keep reviewing the situation regularly.
The NDIA has created some new resources. They've got a guide for participants on managing conflicts
of interest, updated information for support coordinators, fact sheets with case studies
(23:26):
about common conflict situations, checklists to help both participants and providers manage conflicts.
Here is what you can do. If you're a participant, check out the new participants guide on the NDIS
website. It'll help you understand your rights and what to look out for.
Providers, take a look at your current policies and procedures. Make sure they line up with this
(23:53):
new position statement. Everyone should familiarise themselves with the new resources.
They're designed to help you manage these tricky situations.
If you're unsure about a potential conflict of interest, don't hesitate to speak up.
Transparency is key here. All providers just don't need to do all the services all the time, Sam.
(24:18):
That creates conflicts of interest. Don't refer internally and you should be fine.
This has been an ongoing topic since the dawn of time in the NDIS world.
I had a very good read through all of these resources the other day,
(24:40):
building out some process flows and maps for some of my providers and also building out some
policy and procedure updates as well. They're fantastic. They're really clear, concise on
how to walk through the process, where you shouldn't continue and when you can continue
specifically. As we said, transparency is key. Just making sure you follow a document, document,
(25:05):
document, document, document, document, recurring.
Yeah, look, I've had these situations where I've heard of even things like support coordinators
only ever referring to the one or two OTs or only ever referring to two different providers.
(25:32):
Or, you know, so even with that, like it can be a conflict of interest
or a perceived conflict of interest if you are consistently just referring to one or two providers.
So make sure you've got a few in your back pocket. Also, so, so often I've seen providers
(25:58):
who go, oh, I've got this participant who we have for community participation. Oh, they need a physio.
We've got a physio right here. We've got a really good physio. You should use our physio.
I'll make the referral, you know, and just stop it.
Yeah, so it's like this industry has been built up by connections, by networking.
(26:27):
But what we've also currently kind of see happening is these groups that are almost dedicated to trading participants.
Yeah, and you have to be super careful with that. So what I did was I tried to often connect with
(26:51):
as many different providers as humanly possible and offer different participants different options,
because also different participants need different things. And so to me, there was never a need to
constantly suggest one person or another, because actually no two participants needed the same person.
(27:17):
So like that makes no sense to me. But yes, make sure you document everything.
Yeah. Now, keeping up with the ongoing changes in the world, we a bit late on bringing this out
in the NDIS space, but we do have some changes within the NDIS, calling and safeguards commissions itself.
(27:41):
Yeah, so we've got a new commissioner in town. Her name is Louise Glamville. But what does this mean
for NDIS participants, providers, the commission and everything else? So Louise brings a wealth of
experience. She's been a CEO, chair and deputy secretary across various sectors. But what's really
(28:01):
interesting is her background within the NDIS. Louise was actually the former deputy CEO of the
National Disability Insurance Agency. And she was part of the team that rolled out the NDIS pilots
across Australia. As commissioner, Louise's main job is to be an advocate for the health, well-being
and safety of people accessing the NDIS. So it's not just Louise who's new as well. There's been a
(28:27):
whole shake up in the commission team. We have a new role called the associate commissioner,
who is Natalie Wade. And Natalie is a fantastic human being. She is a disability rights lawyer
and advocate. And she's been leading the task force to ensure the provider and worker registration
leads to better outcomes for participants. I'm excited about Natalie and Louise. And I really
(28:54):
hope that they live up to the hype that has been surrounding their appointment. Oh, look, I am
super excited, especially with the appointment of Natalie Wade. I've been a big fan of hers for,
oh, good, half a decade now. And she's just very passionate and raw. And she's a person with
(29:18):
disability herself. And she has faced the real battles and hurdles that people with a disability
face and the barriers that are in the community and generally in life. So it's super exciting.
So I'm very, she's also a no bullshit type of person, which hopefully will be a refreshing
(29:41):
change. Hopefully that doesn't get dulled by being part of bureaucracy. That's what always makes me
nervous that people can be brilliant people with all the best intentions. And then the being part
of the bureaucracy smashes that because you can't actually make changes within that system. Or you
(30:14):
can, but it's really hard. It's really slow going, you know, all of those sorts of things. And it
can dull those sorts of people. And Natalie is a unique person. And I just get so nervous about
people like that, you know, going into these kinds of positions. But anyway, let's
(30:37):
Kind of like my optimism at the start of the year about the excitement from the review.
Haven't I been eating my words in the last couple of months? Anyway, enough about me eating my words.
But along with the, along with Louise and Natalie in their position, there's a lot more shakeup and
a lot more roles that have been put in place for the commission. We've got a lot of people
(30:59):
who are in the commission. We've got a new deputy commissioner of complaints and engagement,
regulatory policy, regulatory operations, and practice quality. There is also a new general
council and a chief operational operating officer role, which means it's a bigger team,
(31:21):
a fresh perspective and potentially new approach to ensuring the quality and safety of the NDIS
that we want. Yeah, I'm hopeful, but not optimistic, I guess.
Well, I'm not going to say I'm optimistic because last time I did, I've spent like the
last five episodes of the podcast fucking walking my words back. But yeah, congratulations to all
(31:48):
the new people and we're rooting for a new change of pace, I guess.
Yes, yes, for sure. More breaking news, Sam. Amanda Richworth, the minister for social services,
who works very closely with Bill Shorten, has brought out the new 10 year national
(32:13):
CARA strategy. But some people are unhappy with it, Sam.
Shock and horror. I know, I know, you can't believe it. So strap yourself in and let me tell you
what is happening with it and why it is so frustrating. And I love that this is an audio
(32:36):
only platform and Sam just mimed putting on a seatbelt. So for all the listeners out there.
As I said last episode, faces for radio.
So let me tell you a little bit about what's in the national CARA strategy. They are increasing
(32:58):
the number of phone counselling sessions through CARA Gateway by 10,000 sessions per year.
This is anticipated to help more than 1,600 additional CARAs annually. They are also extending
the hours of CARA Gateway support service, making it more flexible for CARAs to access
(33:25):
when they need it. Which makes fucking sense. Why wasn't that already a thing that was there?
Anyway, plus they're expanding access to peer support services and training.
Okay. So that all sounds lovely, doesn't it? To me, this is frustrating and misses what CARAs
(33:50):
really need. And me being one currently and you've been one a CARA for a long time. So
we understand this, right? Don't get me wrong. These things are needed. That CARAs need money
and housing. The government would do more good for CARAs if they actually had a housing strategy
(34:17):
that doesn't take until 2050 to take effect. They need to increase the CARAs pension so that
CARAs aren't living below the poverty line. I don't need more counselling. The issues I have
aren't going to be resolved by more fucking talking about it. What I need is money and housing. Sam.
(34:42):
Relief. Actual support, not intangible support.
Right. Not leaving aside, I do understand that CARA Great Way are great and they do a lot of good
and a lot of people do get a lot from it. And I am in no way saying that it's useless what
(35:08):
Minister Rushworth has come out with, but it's not enough. So in the meantime, I do encourage
everyone to check out CARA Great Way and see what they have to offer because even if you've checked
it out before and went, not for me, it is expanding and they are putting in more things all the time.
(35:33):
So check back in with them every now and again because I think you'll be surprised by what's
coming and you might actually find something that is useful, especially with the new money they've
just been given to expand what they're doing. So yeah.
(35:54):
Yeah. And if you are a CARA, I would 100% and you haven't touched out to them, reach out,
have a chat with them, see what services are for. Yes, we say that talking doesn't necessarily
fix the problem at the end of the day, but I know I had to use their services quite a lot because
only child, no other family other than the person I'm caring for, it was an invaluable service over
(36:20):
the period that I had as well. But definitely a lot more could be done to relieve a lot of pressures
and stresses that add on top of our already hard enough and full enough plate.
Yeah, exactly. What else is going on? There's been some big movement.
(36:40):
Well, the other big one that we haven't talked about since it's happened is good old Bill
Shorten's resignation and jumping out of it, jumping ship into the property and then
ship into the private sector. So he loved a grenade and then went running in the opposite
(37:03):
direction going to do nothing to see here. 100%. It was so he's moving over to the University
of Canberra, which we should disclose that is currently chaired by Lisa Paul, who was also
the co-chair for the NDIS review. And just also noting that university appointments don't happen
(37:27):
overnight, but as I said, he's thrown a grenade into the mix and is running away is essentially
how it's perceived. Yeah, he's blown up the NDIS in a shocking way and then he's run away.
And it is so frustrating. I feel like going, no, no, you fucked it up. You need to clean
(37:55):
it up the fuck you doing. But at the same time, Sam, don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the
back of him because I'm annoyed with what he's done. So it's a hard one to sort of go. I'm
totally glad or totally pissed off. I'm neither of those. Just, I guess, a general feeling of
(38:22):
pissed off-ed-ness, I guess. Well, it just reflects the overall sentiment about how we're
here, how we're kind of genuinely feeling about everything, I guess. Good point. Now, sorry,
after we've got, since we've gone through that, there has been a magnitude of a shit show of shit
happening. So take us through a little bit about what happened this year. Well, we had, first up,
(38:48):
the pace rollout. And it wasn't that the shit show. Well, actually, I don't know if it was the shit
show of the year, but it definitely was a shit show for the year, slowing the whole system to
a complete and utter standstill, causing more pain and pressure. Let's just say that there was
the starting point of the kettle boiling for providers to have to deal with the clusterfuckery
(39:16):
of shit coming at us. Yeah. And we're still seeing problems with it. Oh, yes. And we're still seeing
plans take months and months and months to get anything done or any decisions made, just like
(39:38):
we talked about with Sue in the last episode. It's ridiculous. And it also seems like with some of
the changes coming out from the NDIS Act and the changes to plan reviews, they're using
changing people's plans from the old system into PACE as a trigger to do that reassessment.
(40:03):
Yeah. Yeah. It's...
But also is very concerning. And from the stuff that we're hearing as well, what the actual fuck?
What do we got next?
Next. Another thing that we went through this year, specifically in October, was the change
(40:27):
from AAT to ART or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to the Administrative Review Tribunal.
Now, this came out at about because of the Robo debt scandal under Centrelink. So what happened
(40:53):
after all of the reviews into Robo debt was they went, well, AAT was part of the problem.
And they decided that we needed to change to ART and that ART would have a two tier system, except,
(41:13):
right? Because ART, also AAT, look after a lot of different areas. And NDIS and Centrelink are only
two. They also look at immigration and a whole lot of things about the government. So Centrelink is
(41:34):
the only one, or Social Security is the only one that gets the two tier system. NDIS still has the
one tier and that is it. That is where you go. So there was a brilliant article this morning, Sam,
in the Saturday paper. I love the Saturday paper and anyone who is interested in NDIS stuff really
(42:05):
should sign up to it. And particularly, I love Rick Morton, who is their journalist that mainly
covers NDIS stuff. Now he wrote a great article that came out today, which today is Saturday,
(42:26):
the 14th of December. He is talking about the ART because it's actually gone to shit.
Who would have thunk it? So under the AAT, the AAT was publishing decisions made by AAT at a rate
(42:55):
of 12 a day, which was meant to be 20% of all decisions made. Now, the move over to ART,
how many do you think they have published, Sam? I would like to say the equivalent or if not more,
(43:17):
but we're going to know that's not true. They've published exactly zero, not even one a day,
not even the equivalent of 12 a day, exactly zero since they came in two months ago. Now,
they have blamed this on a system IT error. Bullshit. Bull fucking shit. I called them out.
(43:44):
Bullshit. But also fix it, fix it and go back and release all of the ones you should be releasing.
Now, the reason that it is so important that they release the findings of or the decisions that are
(44:04):
made by the members is that it helps everyone else who is applying to ART to understand the general
vibe of what is happening and what kind of decisions are being made. Also, the other bit
of shitfuckery that is happening at ART is that people who had applied before the 3rd of October
(44:31):
and whose case is still worming its way through the system, now after the 3rd of October where
the new legislation came in, the ART are now saying, oh, we're going to make decisions based on
after the October 3rd legislation came in, right? Which is bullshit because people
(44:58):
originally applied before that came out and they had no idea that that was coming
when they first applied. And so, to me, this is a baffling decision. So, it really has put a lot
(45:18):
of people on the back foot and is making going to ART more stressful. Because that's all we need is
more stress. Yeah. So, that's what's happening in that section of NDIS world. Speaking of reforms
and changes that haven't gone too well, we are on to the bill that tore out the heart of the NDIS.
(45:47):
Didn't it just? Well, as we've pretty much covered throughout the whole of this,
it's been the implementation has definitely been a shit show. The whole process of how we got to here
has been a shit show. And we're not seeing any kind of indicator that we're not going to end up with
(46:13):
any more shit shows either. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. We also saw the registration task force bring
back their recommendations. They did this even though there was a Royal Commission,
an internal review and the own motion inquiry. Talk about overkill, Sam. Oh, isn't that true?
(46:37):
And speaking about the Royal Commission, didn't we get a not response to that? Oh, man, I am still
angry about the Royal Commission because they spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars.
Now, Bill himself goes on and on about sustainability and the money and blah, blah, blah,
(47:02):
and taxpayer money. So why, why would you spend millions of dollars into the Royal Commission
and then turn around and go, yeah, we're actually, we don't like the findings. So we're just not going
to respond, I think. Well, it seems to be the current government approach to a lot of things
(47:29):
because the other thing that we haven't really got a response to is the NDIS review recommendations.
Well, yeah. I mean, you can take the bill as a response to that. There's been a lot of informal
responses. My point is that there hasn't been the formal response. Sure. Sure. Yeah. It's, it's so,
(47:51):
so frustrating. And now, you know, on top of all of those reviews, we're now going back to do an art
and music therapy review as if it hasn't already been looked at by at least a million different
ways, by a million different inquiries. Like, stop it. Come on. You already know the answer.
(48:17):
You already know what's going on. Yeah. It's definitely been a thing. Yeah. Yeah. But we've
had some other interests that were, well, some more positive and lighter sides. Yeah. It's been
a fun year for the podcast. Yes. Hasn't it just? Yeah. We had two episodes with the most cursed
(48:38):
words per episode than any other. I will not take responsibility. No, I'm a big enabler and a
scary person myself. So that's fine. Absolutely. And we've also seen a dramatic uptick in the number
of our listeners as well to the podcast. And it's to all of you that we thank you for spreading the
(49:01):
word and thank you for keeping us going and empowering us to do what we do. Yeah. It's,
it's been so wonderful. And the people who have sent us emails to say how much they love the podcast,
that helps massively because sometimes it's a bit unnerving when you just throw this up to the
(49:25):
internet and then, you know, like statistically we know people are listening. We get those
statistics, but at the same time, it feels like nobody's listening. No, we do. We absolutely love
what we do. And we're very grateful for all our listeners who tune in, drop us a line and all the
(49:47):
participants as well that really value what we come out with is ultimately like we, we here to
support providers, but we do this for the participants. Yeah. We do this to empower and uplift the sector
and it's what we love. Yeah, exactly. And next year we've got more exciting stuff happening for
(50:12):
the podcast. We're going to do a live show, Sam. Our second one. I know. I'm getting better though,
this time it will be bigger and better, more exciting. And so it's going to be on the 12th
of February and we're going to have a panel of people that have all been on the podcast before,
(50:35):
which I think is really cool. Yeah. So here we got, we've got Justin McDonald from episode 38,
who is there to talk about SDA. We've got Sarah Raffel from episode 24, who is a speechy. We've
got Julian Carmichael from episode 19, who is a physio and Greg Fakuri from episode 44, who is a
(51:03):
provider, which gives a really great range of people who are representing lots of different
sides of the NDIS. And of course, to round out the panel, who could forget there's going to be you
and me. Of course. I mean, we have to be there because we host the podcast. It's kind of an
(51:26):
obligation now, isn't it? Yeah, I think so. We love it. We'll also be having an awesome networking
event prior to the show. So providers will have tables where they can showcase how awesome they
are. Also, we'll be having an awesome twist for the day, which I am so excited about.
We, you get to dress in your favourite outfit. So that could be your emoji suit, Sam, or the
(51:57):
smiley face or the jelly beans one, or I feel like I've got to wear something outrageous though.
And I feel like it's probably got to be something new. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It could be an Elmo onesie.
It could be your favourite black tie suit, whatever your favourite outfit is, that is what we want you
(52:18):
to wear. This will help with chatting to others because you'll be able to go up to them and go,
Hey, great outfit. I love it. You know, where does it come from? What do you love about it? That kind
of thing, which will be so much fun. Yeah, I absolutely love this. And I am very excited to
(52:40):
see our attendees come in their favourite, please do come in your favourite outfit. Yes. And don't
tell me your work outfit is your work attire is your favourite outfit. No, because we know that's
bullshit. Now attending, Hannah. Yeah. So if you are a provider and would like to get a table,
(53:04):
please get in touch with me. And if you would like to attend, the ticket price is
free. So just jump on the link in the description, or it will be on our socials, on our website.
Just make sure you secure your spot because even though they're free, we do need to know numbers.
(53:29):
And we would definitely all love to see our visitors, our listeners come in, especially
the Queensland one. Interstates, please do come up and enjoy our lovely little state, bring some
tourism up with you. Yes, so it will be in Brisbane, and it will be at the Seven Hills hub.
(53:49):
So we're really, really excited about that. Very much. But I think that gives us a wrap on this
year. Yeah, I think that's, that's about it. Anything else you'd like to add? Yeah, I think
else you want to tell the listeners about your year? I don't know about the year, but just next
year, could everyone be a little bit more kind of and not buy into the fake that has started to come
(54:18):
out in this industry. We all know this conversation around dodgy providers and bad people and all of
the kind of stuff that we're hearing in the media. But as a sector, we're pretty good at
bullshit detecting. What we're forgetting to do is actually use that bullshit detector. Stop buying
(54:40):
into fake. Stop enabling the wrong people and be a lot kinder. Yes, please, please be kind,
because you never know what someone else is going through. All right, until next year.
Huzzah! Bye!
Thank you for listening. Please share with people you know. Until next time,
(55:03):
as the Green Brothers say, don't forget to be awesome.
We acknowledge the original owners of the land on which we podcast, whose stories were told for
(00:05):
thousands of years. Today we are recording in Meanjin. We pay our respects to elders past
and present who may be listening. Sovereignty was never ceded. A quick note before we get started,
that there may be some swearing in today's podcast. If you don't like swearing or usually
listen with children in the car, you have been warned! This episode of What in the NDIS Now is
(00:32):
brought to you by Astalty. Astalty is the software solution for NDIS professionals built by NDIS
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(00:56):
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(01:20):
today's episode. You're listening to What in the NDIS Now, a podcast where I, Hannah Redford,
and my friend Sam Rosenbaum interview participants and providers about all things NDIS.
(01:48):
Hey everybody, welcome. This is the last episode of the year, so we're going to go through
some new announcements from the NDIA because of course they just announced things just yesterday
before we record. And then we're going to go through some old stuff and reflect on the year
(02:11):
that was, tell me Sam, how was your year? Well, hi Hannah, it was definitely a year.
I feel like I'd rather go back to 2019 to be honest. But yes, it's definitely been a year.
It's a lot of tribulations and trying times as we've all kind of experienced within the sector,
(02:36):
both from provider side and participant side, it's a roller coaster. That would be an apt
description if there was any upside to any of this, where as you go down the roller coaster,
you're meant to then come up the other side to then go down again. It's been a very big corkscrew.
(02:58):
It's just like a spiral. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I like that one better. My year sucked and I'm
pretty happy for this year to be done. This year I stopped being a support coordinator. I started
a new business. My 13 year old was in hospital for a number of weeks. The NDIS got severely fucked
(03:23):
up. So yeah, overall, not a great year. It has definitely been one where I was a bit of a
wimp. It has definitely been one where I want to be an ostrich and throw my head in the sand.
Although I feel like I've actually done that for part of it, to be honest.
(03:46):
But as we said, we've got some interesting things, some new things, some old things,
and some weird things have been around, but we haven't quite identified previously or really
touched base on, which is something that you picked up as well. Yeah, yeah. So some of this
episode might be a little dry, but we're going to try and keep it as light and fun as we can.
(04:13):
But as you know, 2024 was a big year for changes and they haven't stopped coming. So in case of
emergency, put your head between your knees and kiss your ass goodbye. So here we go, Sam.
All right. What's up first?
We want to talk about Work Safe Queensland. Oh yes.
(04:36):
So this is a really specific topic to Queenslanders. So I'm sorry to the rest of the country
because this is really weird and nuanced thing for Queensland. Yay Queensland for being weird.
Who would have thought? But it's a crucial topic and it's little understood for participants and
(05:00):
homeowners alike. It's called Household Workers Insurance. Many people hire cleaners, babysitters,
or gardeners to help around the house. But did you know that by doing so, you might be considered an
employer? And this is where Household Workers Insurance comes into play. It's a policy that
(05:24):
could save you from potentially hefty costs if someone gets injured while working for you.
Let's break it down a little more. Work Safe Queensland offers this policy and it's particularly
important for self-managed NDIS participants or those who directly employ support workers.
(05:44):
But who exactly is considered a household worker? Well, it's a really broad category, Sam,
and I'm going to try and do my best to tell you as many as I can think of. It includes
cleaners, which anybody even not on the NDIS might have in their home, the same with nannies,
(06:07):
babysitters, house sitters, gardeners, handy people, and even contractors with their own ABN
if they're individual sole traders. And here's the kicker. These workers don't necessarily have
to be in your home to be covered. They could be in your backyard, on your roof, or even running
(06:31):
errands for you. For example, your nanny might be covered while taking your kids to school or a
cleaner maintaining your recreational yacht for all of those with so many recreational yachts.
Oh yeah, I got mine out the back. Just sitting in my pool.
(06:54):
And that's at the marina that I pay for. But they're also included and you need this insurance for
that sort of thing. Did you know that some household worker compensation claims can reach
over a hundred thousand dollars? It's, yeah, a bit ridiculous. There's a lot there.
(07:15):
It's a lot of money. So the household worker's insurance is $60 for two years. So it's not that
much. And when we found out about it, we have decided to take it out just in case. And the NDIS
(07:40):
doesn't cover that, which is how I found out about this because I was going through the Facebook
forums and suddenly someone said, hey, the NDIS is refusing to pay this insurance for me. And I went,
what? So then you and I had a lot of discussions about what the heck this is.
(08:02):
Yeah, well, it caught me by surprise on that one. When I was going through the Facebook
forums and seeing that one. And it does seem, because I very much doubt many of our listeners
slash also the wider population in Queensland actually knows about this in the first place.
(08:23):
Although I really hope now saying that there isn't people going, why are they talking about
this? It's not new news to me. But for all those out there listening that don't actually have that
repertoire and go, this is news news to me, just what the actual fuck? Right? But yes, it's
definitely going to catch out a lot of people in the sector because we have multiple providers
(08:48):
coming into our homes. We've got providers taking our family members out into the community.
And we kind of just go, they're a business, they've got their own insurance.
Yeah. Yeah. And not realising that we have to have insurance on our side as well.
(09:08):
It's definitely a bit of an interesting one. But as you said, it is 60 dollars. But for some people,
60 dollars is not something they regularly have in their bank account to spare.
No, exactly. And that's one of the reasons why I think it is an important topic. Right?
Yeah. And why it is important to talk about, well, who is going to cover this cost for us?
(09:36):
And the simple fact is there isn't anyone. We have to find it ourselves. There's no funding body
that takes this up. So yeah, it's a bit scary. Yeah. But if you're wanting to know more
information or wanting to check out if you need to take out this insurance, definitely get in touch
(09:58):
with WorkSafe Queensland, check out their website or call them on their number. We'll have that all
in our show notes. So as we're preparing for our final episode, we will be getting into some of
the shitfuckery from the changes and most particularly at the moment, the clusterfuck that
have become the music and art therapy following the changes from October 3rd. And we have
(10:22):
and we are had to dive deep and done some nice research and got some stuff together to go
out and bring all you lovely listeners the latest information on the clusterfuckery only to find out
this morning that there is more clusterfuckery and they're admitting to their clusterfuckery
and walking back a little bit. Yeah. This is really annoying and I'm so glad I noticed it
(10:47):
before we jumped on to record, but essentially there is a huge update with music and art therapy.
Yeah. So the agency has announced that they will be undertaking a review of the pricing
and the appropriateness of supports for music and art therapy. They are running an independent
(11:12):
review on the pricing for it. So that means that they're putting a pause on the changes that they
were going with removing the arts and music therapy out of the support structure and leaving it in its
place. And they're flak of the better words going, oh, we didn't do anything. Let's just keep on
going until this comes back. Yeah. So you can continue exactly as you are right now with all
(11:42):
your music and art therapy. Nothing is going to change until potentially July when this expert
advisory committee comes back and maybe they'll have a new, hopefully they'll have a new recommendation
that says music and art therapy is actually really important. You idiots. Yeah. This just
(12:07):
definitely goes in to show how much of a kind of a shit show the changes and the rollout
that have been implemented have become. And when we'll, I've said this a few times now,
but I'm going to repeat myself because I hate the fact that the realization that the implementation
(12:28):
is failing and has not been thought through just goes to show how much the government and the
agency have not learned from the last 10 years of rolling the NDIS out. They have gone, let's do 2.0,
but let's use exactly the same methods that we have done in the past to get a different outcome.
(12:53):
And we all know that if trying the same thing and expecting a different outcome doesn't equate to
sanity. We're all smashing our heads against a brick wall here. Yeah. It's very disappointing
that the agency and the government are throwing this around, creating absolute shit storm for
(13:18):
providers, for participants, and then just going, oh, okay, well, you know what? Nothing happened.
Nothing to see here. We'll just have a look at it, step back without actually kind of acknowledging
that they're fucking up. Why would they? They never have before. That's unfortunately a very
good point. One could hope. I mean, this is as much of an admission of fucking it up as they've
(13:45):
ever done where they're walking it back and going, oh, you know, we've already done 1 million reviews,
but we're going to do 1 million on one because we got smashed about this. So Sam, let me tell you
something else happening in NDIS land. Let's hear it, Anna.
(14:07):
The NDIS National Call Centre, the NCC, is changing how you identify yourself when you call. These
changes are coming into effect on the 16th of December, 2024, which was actually last week
(14:30):
when this episode comes out. So you need to already start being prepared, but I'm going to explain a
little bit about exactly what this change is. And you need to start explaining this to participants
and providers alike because this is potentially going to be pretty annoying. So let's break it
(14:56):
down now. The NDIS is enhancing their identification process to ensure the security of your information.
But when you call the National Call Centre, they will ask you for more information about how
to identify you to make sure it's you. First, they'll try to send you a one-time code to the
(15:23):
phone number that they have on record for you. But don't worry, Sam, if this doesn't work out,
if you don't have the right phone number connected to them or you don't have a mobile smart mobile
phone, they have other ways to confirm it's you. They might ask you for details from letters or
(15:46):
notices they've sent to you, information you've shared with them before, specifics about your
plan or budget. They might ask about your past interactions with the NDIS, details about your
plan use and the support you receive. Or they might ask you about information in documents you've
(16:10):
provided them before. I know it sounds like a lot to remember, but the call centre staff have assured
us that they will talk you through it. When you do call the NCC, make sure you have your NDIS
number ready and that will make the whole process a little smoother. The other thing to do is make
(16:34):
sure the NDIS has your current phone number on file so that the SMS can be sent to the correct
number. Well, that sounds a little complicated for some people there. Yeah, it's complicated,
but hopefully it'll end up being straightforward. Although we know that every single time they change
(16:56):
something, it is never straightforward. So at least we've explained to you what is happening,
why it's happening and hopefully with that warning, you at least know what you're in for when you call.
Yeah, so that's the participant side, but providers aren't getting out of it easily either.
(17:19):
So there's changes that are coming in that will handle the online verification and authorization
for identifying providers. So this is a pretty big change as well. The key thing to remember about
these changes, they're not actually set to take effect until the mid of next year. It might seem
a bit far away, but everything changes in a day. So let's make sure we've got... Yeah, it's never too
(17:41):
early to start preparing. So we can get all our sort of ducks in a row to be organized for that.
So currently providers and staff use Prodol to provide their identity when connecting with the
NDIA, but that's changing and moving to what's now called MyID, which was formerly MyGovID.
This is a little bit confusing for a lot of providers and it's based off a foundation and a
(18:09):
program that's called a relationship authorized manager or RAM. This is a thing that the government
uses to identify business owners or directors and anyone that's kind of connected in with
an entity to make sure that they're correct. The government ID, the MyID app is a painful thing
to set up and definitely take a day to do so because finding all your information for it
(18:35):
can be absolutely painful. And that it's not straightforward. And I'm a relatively tech
savvy person and even I wanted to pull my hair out trying to organize MyID. It's painful.
(18:56):
And it gets more annoying as well because it has different levels of authentication essentially.
Like you've got... It's not called bronze to gold sort of thing, but let's just use them because
I can't think of what it actually is off the top of my head. But if you only got your ID in there,
you only get the lowest level of authorization. To get the highest level, you also need a passport.
(19:19):
Yeah, which I don't have. I don't have a passport.
I can never get that too. So anytime that I need to have that level to interact with any other
government departments for anything for the business, I've got to go through multiple other
jumps just to get that. But it's because I don't have a passport, which is a very difficult
(19:39):
and very painful. But yeah, so the key point for providers to know is all staff members who use
NDI system will need to set up their own MyID account. So get started on that and find the
information to get out to your staff because this is painful. It will take a very long time
and planning and preparation prevents poor performance as the six Ps of life are.
(20:04):
The NDS and Quality Safeguards Commission will be moving Proto to RAM, but that will also happen
later on. So this will also need to happen for staff to access Proto moving forward.
So there's some kind of very technically complicated things, especially with verifying
your identity that we need to take care of. Get our heads around.
(20:27):
Yeah, identifying your identity from lots of different angles. Look, and I understand that,
you know, these days with all of the scamming and identity fraud and identity theft that is happening,
you know, we need to be more careful that the right person has the right information. But
(20:50):
this makes life complicated.
Yeah, very true.
But let's talk a little bit about conflicts of interest. Now, this is a topic I'm really,
really passionate about. The NDIS has just released a new position statement on this topic.
(21:13):
It's a big deal for both participants and providers. And me because, you know,
it's deliberately why I set up my support coordination company originally to be
independent and not do anything else. So the NDIA apparently spent a whole three months
(21:36):
from May to July 2024 talking to participants, providers and disability organisations.
They wanted to understand people's experiences with conflicts of interest and what resources
would help to manage them. But they didn't ask me, Sam. So, you know, I don't know, I believe
(21:58):
that there was that much consultation. But anyway, and now they've come out with this position
statement with a whole bunch of new resources. It's all about making sure everyone understands
what conflicts of interest are and how to handle them properly. Here are the key points from the
statement. The NDIA is making clear that all providers, whether they're registered or not,
(22:24):
need to do a few things. One, try their best to avoid conflicts of interest in the first place.
Well, shouldn't people have been doing that the whole time?
If I'm not registered, it doesn't apply to me.
It does apply to you.
It does apply to you. Even if you're unregistered, it applies to everybody.
(22:45):
If there is a conflict, they need to declare it and manage it to the highest standard.
Three, be completely transparent with participants around the nature of the conflict.
Four, talk through options with participants to manage any risks associated with the conflict.
(23:05):
Five, write down their management strategies and keep reviewing the situation regularly.
The NDIA has created some new resources. They've got a guide for participants on managing conflicts
of interest, updated information for support coordinators, fact sheets with case studies
(23:26):
about common conflict situations, checklists to help both participants and providers manage conflicts.
Here is what you can do. If you're a participant, check out the new participants guide on the NDIS
website. It'll help you understand your rights and what to look out for.
Providers, take a look at your current policies and procedures. Make sure they line up with this
(23:53):
new position statement. Everyone should familiarise themselves with the new resources.
They're designed to help you manage these tricky situations.
If you're unsure about a potential conflict of interest, don't hesitate to speak up.
Transparency is key here. All providers just don't need to do all the services all the time, Sam.
(24:18):
That creates conflicts of interest. Don't refer internally and you should be fine.
This has been an ongoing topic since the dawn of time in the NDIS world.
I had a very good read through all of these resources the other day,
(24:40):
building out some process flows and maps for some of my providers and also building out some
policy and procedure updates as well. They're fantastic. They're really clear, concise on
how to walk through the process, where you shouldn't continue and when you can continue
specifically. As we said, transparency is key. Just making sure you follow a document, document,
(25:05):
document, document, document, document, recurring.
Yeah, look, I've had these situations where I've heard of even things like support coordinators
only ever referring to the one or two OTs or only ever referring to two different providers.
(25:32):
Or, you know, so even with that, like it can be a conflict of interest
or a perceived conflict of interest if you are consistently just referring to one or two providers.
So make sure you've got a few in your back pocket. Also, so, so often I've seen providers
(25:58):
who go, oh, I've got this participant who we have for community participation. Oh, they need a physio.
We've got a physio right here. We've got a really good physio. You should use our physio.
I'll make the referral, you know, and just stop it.
Yeah, so it's like this industry has been built up by connections, by networking.
(26:27):
But what we've also currently kind of see happening is these groups that are almost dedicated to trading participants.
Yeah, and you have to be super careful with that. So what I did was I tried to often connect with
(26:51):
as many different providers as humanly possible and offer different participants different options,
because also different participants need different things. And so to me, there was never a need to
constantly suggest one person or another, because actually no two participants needed the same person.
(27:17):
So like that makes no sense to me. But yes, make sure you document everything.
Yeah. Now, keeping up with the ongoing changes in the world, we a bit late on bringing this out
in the NDIS space, but we do have some changes within the NDIS, calling and safeguards commissions itself.
(27:41):
Yeah, so we've got a new commissioner in town. Her name is Louise Glamville. But what does this mean
for NDIS participants, providers, the commission and everything else? So Louise brings a wealth of
experience. She's been a CEO, chair and deputy secretary across various sectors. But what's really
(28:01):
interesting is her background within the NDIS. Louise was actually the former deputy CEO of the
National Disability Insurance Agency. And she was part of the team that rolled out the NDIS pilots
across Australia. As commissioner, Louise's main job is to be an advocate for the health, well-being
and safety of people accessing the NDIS. So it's not just Louise who's new as well. There's been a
(28:27):
whole shake up in the commission team. We have a new role called the associate commissioner,
who is Natalie Wade. And Natalie is a fantastic human being. She is a disability rights lawyer
and advocate. And she's been leading the task force to ensure the provider and worker registration
leads to better outcomes for participants. I'm excited about Natalie and Louise. And I really
(28:54):
hope that they live up to the hype that has been surrounding their appointment. Oh, look, I am
super excited, especially with the appointment of Natalie Wade. I've been a big fan of hers for,
oh, good, half a decade now. And she's just very passionate and raw. And she's a person with
(29:18):
disability herself. And she has faced the real battles and hurdles that people with a disability
face and the barriers that are in the community and generally in life. So it's super exciting.
So I'm very, she's also a no bullshit type of person, which hopefully will be a refreshing
(29:41):
change. Hopefully that doesn't get dulled by being part of bureaucracy. That's what always makes me
nervous that people can be brilliant people with all the best intentions. And then the being part
of the bureaucracy smashes that because you can't actually make changes within that system. Or you
(30:14):
can, but it's really hard. It's really slow going, you know, all of those sorts of things. And it
can dull those sorts of people. And Natalie is a unique person. And I just get so nervous about
people like that, you know, going into these kinds of positions. But anyway, let's
(30:37):
Kind of like my optimism at the start of the year about the excitement from the review.
Haven't I been eating my words in the last couple of months? Anyway, enough about me eating my words.
But along with the, along with Louise and Natalie in their position, there's a lot more shakeup and
a lot more roles that have been put in place for the commission. We've got a lot of people
(30:59):
who are in the commission. We've got a new deputy commissioner of complaints and engagement,
regulatory policy, regulatory operations, and practice quality. There is also a new general
council and a chief operational operating officer role, which means it's a bigger team,
(31:21):
a fresh perspective and potentially new approach to ensuring the quality and safety of the NDIS
that we want. Yeah, I'm hopeful, but not optimistic, I guess.
Well, I'm not going to say I'm optimistic because last time I did, I've spent like the
last five episodes of the podcast fucking walking my words back. But yeah, congratulations to all
(31:48):
the new people and we're rooting for a new change of pace, I guess.
Yes, yes, for sure. More breaking news, Sam. Amanda Richworth, the minister for social services,
who works very closely with Bill Shorten, has brought out the new 10 year national
(32:13):
CARA strategy. But some people are unhappy with it, Sam.
Shock and horror. I know, I know, you can't believe it. So strap yourself in and let me tell you
what is happening with it and why it is so frustrating. And I love that this is an audio
(32:36):
only platform and Sam just mimed putting on a seatbelt. So for all the listeners out there.
As I said last episode, faces for radio.
So let me tell you a little bit about what's in the national CARA strategy. They are increasing
(32:58):
the number of phone counselling sessions through CARA Gateway by 10,000 sessions per year.
This is anticipated to help more than 1,600 additional CARAs annually. They are also extending
the hours of CARA Gateway support service, making it more flexible for CARAs to access
(33:25):
when they need it. Which makes fucking sense. Why wasn't that already a thing that was there?
Anyway, plus they're expanding access to peer support services and training.
Okay. So that all sounds lovely, doesn't it? To me, this is frustrating and misses what CARAs
(33:50):
really need. And me being one currently and you've been one a CARA for a long time. So
we understand this, right? Don't get me wrong. These things are needed. That CARAs need money
and housing. The government would do more good for CARAs if they actually had a housing strategy
(34:17):
that doesn't take until 2050 to take effect. They need to increase the CARAs pension so that
CARAs aren't living below the poverty line. I don't need more counselling. The issues I have
aren't going to be resolved by more fucking talking about it. What I need is money and housing. Sam.
(34:42):
Relief. Actual support, not intangible support.
Right. Not leaving aside, I do understand that CARA Great Way are great and they do a lot of good
and a lot of people do get a lot from it. And I am in no way saying that it's useless what
(35:08):
Minister Rushworth has come out with, but it's not enough. So in the meantime, I do encourage
everyone to check out CARA Great Way and see what they have to offer because even if you've checked
it out before and went, not for me, it is expanding and they are putting in more things all the time.
(35:33):
So check back in with them every now and again because I think you'll be surprised by what's
coming and you might actually find something that is useful, especially with the new money they've
just been given to expand what they're doing. So yeah.
(35:54):
Yeah. And if you are a CARA, I would 100% and you haven't touched out to them, reach out,
have a chat with them, see what services are for. Yes, we say that talking doesn't necessarily
fix the problem at the end of the day, but I know I had to use their services quite a lot because
only child, no other family other than the person I'm caring for, it was an invaluable service over
(36:20):
the period that I had as well. But definitely a lot more could be done to relieve a lot of pressures
and stresses that add on top of our already hard enough and full enough plate.
Yeah, exactly. What else is going on? There's been some big movement.
(36:40):
Well, the other big one that we haven't talked about since it's happened is good old Bill
Shorten's resignation and jumping out of it, jumping ship into the property and then
ship into the private sector. So he loved a grenade and then went running in the opposite
(37:03):
direction going to do nothing to see here. 100%. It was so he's moving over to the University
of Canberra, which we should disclose that is currently chaired by Lisa Paul, who was also
the co-chair for the NDIS review. And just also noting that university appointments don't happen
(37:27):
overnight, but as I said, he's thrown a grenade into the mix and is running away is essentially
how it's perceived. Yeah, he's blown up the NDIS in a shocking way and then he's run away.
And it is so frustrating. I feel like going, no, no, you fucked it up. You need to clean
(37:55):
it up the fuck you doing. But at the same time, Sam, don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the
back of him because I'm annoyed with what he's done. So it's a hard one to sort of go. I'm
totally glad or totally pissed off. I'm neither of those. Just, I guess, a general feeling of
(38:22):
pissed off-ed-ness, I guess. Well, it just reflects the overall sentiment about how we're
here, how we're kind of genuinely feeling about everything, I guess. Good point. Now, sorry,
after we've got, since we've gone through that, there has been a magnitude of a shit show of shit
happening. So take us through a little bit about what happened this year. Well, we had, first up,
(38:48):
the pace rollout. And it wasn't that the shit show. Well, actually, I don't know if it was the shit
show of the year, but it definitely was a shit show for the year, slowing the whole system to
a complete and utter standstill, causing more pain and pressure. Let's just say that there was
the starting point of the kettle boiling for providers to have to deal with the clusterfuckery
(39:16):
of shit coming at us. Yeah. And we're still seeing problems with it. Oh, yes. And we're still seeing
plans take months and months and months to get anything done or any decisions made, just like
(39:38):
we talked about with Sue in the last episode. It's ridiculous. And it also seems like with some of
the changes coming out from the NDIS Act and the changes to plan reviews, they're using
changing people's plans from the old system into PACE as a trigger to do that reassessment.
(40:03):
Yeah. Yeah. It's...
But also is very concerning. And from the stuff that we're hearing as well, what the actual fuck?
What do we got next?
Next. Another thing that we went through this year, specifically in October, was the change
(40:27):
from AAT to ART or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to the Administrative Review Tribunal.
Now, this came out at about because of the Robo debt scandal under Centrelink. So what happened
(40:53):
after all of the reviews into Robo debt was they went, well, AAT was part of the problem.
And they decided that we needed to change to ART and that ART would have a two tier system, except,
(41:13):
right? Because ART, also AAT, look after a lot of different areas. And NDIS and Centrelink are only
two. They also look at immigration and a whole lot of things about the government. So Centrelink is
(41:34):
the only one, or Social Security is the only one that gets the two tier system. NDIS still has the
one tier and that is it. That is where you go. So there was a brilliant article this morning, Sam,
in the Saturday paper. I love the Saturday paper and anyone who is interested in NDIS stuff really
(42:05):
should sign up to it. And particularly, I love Rick Morton, who is their journalist that mainly
covers NDIS stuff. Now he wrote a great article that came out today, which today is Saturday,
(42:26):
the 14th of December. He is talking about the ART because it's actually gone to shit.
Who would have thunk it? So under the AAT, the AAT was publishing decisions made by AAT at a rate
(42:55):
of 12 a day, which was meant to be 20% of all decisions made. Now, the move over to ART,
how many do you think they have published, Sam? I would like to say the equivalent or if not more,
(43:17):
but we're going to know that's not true. They've published exactly zero, not even one a day,
not even the equivalent of 12 a day, exactly zero since they came in two months ago. Now,
they have blamed this on a system IT error. Bullshit. Bull fucking shit. I called them out.
(43:44):
Bullshit. But also fix it, fix it and go back and release all of the ones you should be releasing.
Now, the reason that it is so important that they release the findings of or the decisions that are
(44:04):
made by the members is that it helps everyone else who is applying to ART to understand the general
vibe of what is happening and what kind of decisions are being made. Also, the other bit
of shitfuckery that is happening at ART is that people who had applied before the 3rd of October
(44:31):
and whose case is still worming its way through the system, now after the 3rd of October where
the new legislation came in, the ART are now saying, oh, we're going to make decisions based on
after the October 3rd legislation came in, right? Which is bullshit because people
(44:58):
originally applied before that came out and they had no idea that that was coming
when they first applied. And so, to me, this is a baffling decision. So, it really has put a lot
(45:18):
of people on the back foot and is making going to ART more stressful. Because that's all we need is
more stress. Yeah. So, that's what's happening in that section of NDIS world. Speaking of reforms
and changes that haven't gone too well, we are on to the bill that tore out the heart of the NDIS.
(45:47):
Didn't it just? Well, as we've pretty much covered throughout the whole of this,
it's been the implementation has definitely been a shit show. The whole process of how we got to here
has been a shit show. And we're not seeing any kind of indicator that we're not going to end up with
(46:13):
any more shit shows either. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. We also saw the registration task force bring
back their recommendations. They did this even though there was a Royal Commission,
an internal review and the own motion inquiry. Talk about overkill, Sam. Oh, isn't that true?
(46:37):
And speaking about the Royal Commission, didn't we get a not response to that? Oh, man, I am still
angry about the Royal Commission because they spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars.
Now, Bill himself goes on and on about sustainability and the money and blah, blah, blah,
(47:02):
and taxpayer money. So why, why would you spend millions of dollars into the Royal Commission
and then turn around and go, yeah, we're actually, we don't like the findings. So we're just not going
to respond, I think. Well, it seems to be the current government approach to a lot of things
(47:29):
because the other thing that we haven't really got a response to is the NDIS review recommendations.
Well, yeah. I mean, you can take the bill as a response to that. There's been a lot of informal
responses. My point is that there hasn't been the formal response. Sure. Sure. Yeah. It's, it's so,
(47:51):
so frustrating. And now, you know, on top of all of those reviews, we're now going back to do an art
and music therapy review as if it hasn't already been looked at by at least a million different
ways, by a million different inquiries. Like, stop it. Come on. You already know the answer.
(48:17):
You already know what's going on. Yeah. It's definitely been a thing. Yeah. Yeah. But we've
had some other interests that were, well, some more positive and lighter sides. Yeah. It's been
a fun year for the podcast. Yes. Hasn't it just? Yeah. We had two episodes with the most cursed
(48:38):
words per episode than any other. I will not take responsibility. No, I'm a big enabler and a
scary person myself. So that's fine. Absolutely. And we've also seen a dramatic uptick in the number
of our listeners as well to the podcast. And it's to all of you that we thank you for spreading the
(49:01):
word and thank you for keeping us going and empowering us to do what we do. Yeah. It's,
it's been so wonderful. And the people who have sent us emails to say how much they love the podcast,
that helps massively because sometimes it's a bit unnerving when you just throw this up to the
(49:25):
internet and then, you know, like statistically we know people are listening. We get those
statistics, but at the same time, it feels like nobody's listening. No, we do. We absolutely love
what we do. And we're very grateful for all our listeners who tune in, drop us a line and all the
(49:47):
participants as well that really value what we come out with is ultimately like we, we here to
support providers, but we do this for the participants. Yeah. We do this to empower and uplift the sector
and it's what we love. Yeah, exactly. And next year we've got more exciting stuff happening for
(50:12):
the podcast. We're going to do a live show, Sam. Our second one. I know. I'm getting better though,
this time it will be bigger and better, more exciting. And so it's going to be on the 12th
of February and we're going to have a panel of people that have all been on the podcast before,
(50:35):
which I think is really cool. Yeah. So here we got, we've got Justin McDonald from episode 38,
who is there to talk about SDA. We've got Sarah Raffel from episode 24, who is a speechy. We've
got Julian Carmichael from episode 19, who is a physio and Greg Fakuri from episode 44, who is a
(51:03):
provider, which gives a really great range of people who are representing lots of different
sides of the NDIS. And of course, to round out the panel, who could forget there's going to be you
and me. Of course. I mean, we have to be there because we host the podcast. It's kind of an
(51:26):
obligation now, isn't it? Yeah, I think so. We love it. We'll also be having an awesome networking
event prior to the show. So providers will have tables where they can showcase how awesome they
are. Also, we'll be having an awesome twist for the day, which I am so excited about.
We, you get to dress in your favourite outfit. So that could be your emoji suit, Sam, or the
(51:57):
smiley face or the jelly beans one, or I feel like I've got to wear something outrageous though.
And I feel like it's probably got to be something new. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It could be an Elmo onesie.
It could be your favourite black tie suit, whatever your favourite outfit is, that is what we want you
(52:18):
to wear. This will help with chatting to others because you'll be able to go up to them and go,
Hey, great outfit. I love it. You know, where does it come from? What do you love about it? That kind
of thing, which will be so much fun. Yeah, I absolutely love this. And I am very excited to
(52:40):
see our attendees come in their favourite, please do come in your favourite outfit. Yes. And don't
tell me your work outfit is your work attire is your favourite outfit. No, because we know that's
bullshit. Now attending, Hannah. Yeah. So if you are a provider and would like to get a table,
(53:04):
please get in touch with me. And if you would like to attend, the ticket price is
free. So just jump on the link in the description, or it will be on our socials, on our website.
Just make sure you secure your spot because even though they're free, we do need to know numbers.
(53:29):
And we would definitely all love to see our visitors, our listeners come in, especially
the Queensland one. Interstates, please do come up and enjoy our lovely little state, bring some
tourism up with you. Yes, so it will be in Brisbane, and it will be at the Seven Hills hub.
(53:49):
So we're really, really excited about that. Very much. But I think that gives us a wrap on this
year. Yeah, I think that's, that's about it. Anything else you'd like to add? Yeah, I think
else you want to tell the listeners about your year? I don't know about the year, but just next
year, could everyone be a little bit more kind of and not buy into the fake that has started to come
(54:18):
out in this industry. We all know this conversation around dodgy providers and bad people and all of
the kind of stuff that we're hearing in the media. But as a sector, we're pretty good at
bullshit detecting. What we're forgetting to do is actually use that bullshit detector. Stop buying
(54:40):
into fake. Stop enabling the wrong people and be a lot kinder. Yes, please, please be kind,
because you never know what someone else is going through. All right, until next year.
Huzzah! Bye!
Thank you for listening. Please share with people you know. Until next time,
(55:03):
as the Green Brothers say, don't forget to be awesome.
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