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NDIS Service Providers Respond to the NDIS Corona COVID-19 Virus Strategies and Risks to Vulnerable Australians with Disability Nation Wide

Announcement posted by Australian Communities Pty Ltd 23 Mar 2020

COVID-19 Disability Sector Responds to NDIS Minister Announcements

Open Letter to the Hon Stuart Robert MP

Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme

Minister for Government Services

 

Minister.Robert@dss.gov.au

 

The recent announcement of NDIS strategies to support Service Providers and Participants during the Corona Virus Pandemic is a great start but I believe it is currently missing some significant critical issues and immediate risks to a range of agencies and stakeholders.

 

Service Providers that provide 24 hour Supported Independent Living (SIL) service options to participants with complex disability support needs cannot cease services abruptly and must manage and sustain operations. This may also involve additional service delivery when Participants may not be able to attend day programs and community access events. The Participants in these settings need these reasonable and necessarily levels of support, hence why they are funded for them. Should these service settings have to cease abruptly, due to a chronic lack of staffing options, when staff become unwell or the participant becomes unwell, the result will be an unsustainable impact on emergency services, hospitals and informal supports. This is a real and catastrophic possibility looming, especially for complex and high intensity service settings, where 1:1 support is required. Hospitals may be the only options for many of these Participants should this scenario unfold. SIL service options appear to have been excluded from most of the strategies put forward, however, they are the most complex and high risk of settings that must have continuity planning and support from your agency, due the immediate risk and impact on other agencies should the situation escalate.

 

A pay day advance or loan for Service Providers puts off the financial impact but still appears to expect Service Providers to somehow self-fund the potential disaster relief this extraordinary event is creating in our Disability Service Sector. Services do not have the capacity to support casual staff off sick and engage agency staff and additional operational staff at this level. By offering a loan or pay advance option you enable a scenario where Providers will create debts that many may not be able to repay, as they do everything in their power to continue providing supports to an extremely vulnerable population. Regardless of paying for it now or later, it’s an expense that is above and beyond the extreme reality of this current scenario.

 

Please do not consider these debt creation options only. With an underspend in the NDIS rollout previously and other non-essential grant programs that may be utilized, I would like you to consider grant options, loading options (inclusive of SIL), one off or ongoing payments per rata to provide support for Service Providers so that they can ensure continuity. Additional supports and funding will be required, not a debt creation strategy only.

 

I call on you to liaise with the Australian Tax Office and secure further tax credits and relief for payroll expenses for Service Providers immediately. I would also like to see the Department of Health partner with your agency to look at the impact on Health Care Services should providers not be able to manage and Participants with complex needs be left with no other options than Hospital admission. Given these Participants will require 1:1 staff support in Hospital also, this will be unmanageable, so a middle ground to support Service Providers with some additional funds to manage this scenario and avoid Hospital inundation is a worthy goal.

 

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is also unobtainable at present in most cases. To fully protect staff in a residential setting a massive amount of PPE is immediately required. Staff cannot be put at risk and will exercise their right to refuse to work in an unsafe setting. This also then creates a scenario where Hospital’s will be faced with unnecessary admissions due to Service Providers being unable to practically source the PPE they could use, to keep Participants supported in their homes when unwell.

 

Your leadership on this issue allows us all to continue to provide support to a significant and valued population in our community receiving SIL services and by working together we may be able to minimise the impact on many Australians at increased risk.

 

Kind Regards

 

Mr River Night

CEO

Australian Communities Pty Ltd

NDIS Provider Number: 4050040571