23Rd European Social Services Conference, 6-8 July 2015, Lisbon

23rd European Social Services Conference, 6-8 July 2015, Lisbon

Report on Workshop 11: The National Disability Insurance Scheme: building and managing a world-leading scheme for all Australians

Following the Scheme Actuary’s plenary talk on the NDIS, our workshop’s initial presentation gave some brief background to the Scheme and then focussed on one of the key tools that will be used to monitor progress of participants and the Scheme: the NDIS Outcomes Framework. The need for an outcomes framework, how it was developed, and the lifespan approach were discussed. The final part of the presentation concerned the recent pilot study that was conducted to test the outcomes framework questionnaires. Design and implementation of the pilot study were discussed, and some preliminary results were presented. More detailed results were made available as handouts to workshop participants.

Our intention following the presentation was to organise breakout groups to discuss the detailed results of the pilot study, using some key questions as context. However the participants took the session in another direction, with overwhelming interest in the Scheme generating a large number of questions and extensive discussion.

The discussion commenced with the concept of the NDIS as an insurance scheme, and what this actually means. The distinction with traditional insurance, the insurance principles on which the Scheme rests, paying for the Scheme, and the role of government were all discussed. Some of the other wide-ranging discussion included:

• The experience of other countries, for example, the UK experience with personal budgets and how their increasing use has been accompanied by a decrease in cost and increase in satisfaction, and has fostered innovation.
• The involvement of actuaries and the importance of data and risk management.
• The need for a “whole of government” approach in looking at costs, including all service usage, not just disability. The need for data linkage in order to investigate whole of government costs.
• Feedback on the outcomes framework, including
• What will its message be? For example, is it “we will make this investment in order to achieve these outcomes”?
• “Has the NDIS helped?” question: what is this actually measuring? Need to be careful to measure outcomes rather than satisfaction.

Outcomes from the workshop

In summary, even though our workshop took a different course than planned, for us it ultimately achieved some key objectives: to hear about what happens in other countries, to get feedback on elements of the NDISand the outcomes framework, and to build connections. We hope that those who took part in our workshop came away with a greater understanding of the NDIS and its aims, some new ideas, and food for thought.