The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was initiated by the Australian Government for Australians with a disability, including people with intellectual, physical, sensory and psycho-social disabilities. It creates a managed market for disability services in Australia. The NDIS is established by the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013. The NDIS commenced being rolled out nationally on 1 July 2016
The NDIS is meant to give participants more control over what services they hire and what providers they work with.
This has worked for some – and not for others.
Professional Organisers do help people live independent lives, get around their homes easier and function in their households.
Because we are not a registered profession, accessing funding through the NDIS has been challenging.
I know very few POs – and all of them outside of NSW – that have gone down the route of being a registered service provider.
Because of the above-mentioned unregulated nature of our profession, but mostly because we can’t (currently) register for services in the ‘capacity building’ category, which means the hourly rate that gets covered by NDIS in the Home Help category, doesn’t cover our cost. (This conundrum is shared by a lot of suppliers – and makes it hard for participants to find a service.)
These are the three categories of funding:
If you receive funding in the first tow categories, hiring a PO using your NDIS support is a possibility.
It does also help if other health services support this arrangement, like a letter of recommendation from an OT or geriatric specialist, to just name a few.