CatholicCare Parramatta and the NDIS

CatholicCare Social Services is a registered NDIS service provider.
CreateAbility participants Mark and Kylie with Melissa Caldwell, CatholicCare Parramatta Disability Services Manager. Photo: Elizabeth McFarlane.

Catholic Outlook, June 2016

What is the NDIS?

atholicCare Parramatta is a registered NDIS service provider,

CatholicCare Parramatta is a registered NDIS service provider.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is the new way of providing individualised support for people with disability, their families and carers.

The NDIS replaces the existing state system with an approach based on an entitlement to support people with a disability. The NDIS is being implemented by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

The NDIS aims to help people who have a disability in economic and social participation within the community, lifetime support, and empowering them with choice and control.

The NDIS will support approximately 460,000 Australians under the age of 65 with significant and permanent disability and their families and carers to make their own decisions and live the lives they want to.

Under the NDIS, funding is assigned directly to the person with the disability instead of being allocated to service providers. This means there is much great control over where funds are spent, and it provides the ability to ‘shop around’ to find the right provider to meet specific needs and wants.

The NDIS is guided by the following principles:

  • People with disability have the same right as other members of the community to realise their potential;
  • People with disability, their families and carers should have certainty they will receive the care and support they need;
  • People with disability should be supported to exercise choice in the pursuit of their goals and the planning and delivery of their supports; and
  • The role of families and carers in the lives of people with disability is to be acknowledged and respected.

Who is eligible for funding?

To access assistance from the NDIS you must:

  • Need supports from a person or equipment to do everyday activities for themselves because of an impairment or condition that is likely to be permanent or lifelong;
  • Be aged less than 65 when you first access the scheme;
  • Be an Australian citizen, live in Australia and hold a permanent visa or hold a Protected Special Category Visa; or
  • Need support now to reduce support needs in the future (early intervention).

Completion of the My Access Checker on the NDIS website will assist in determining whether you are eligible: www.ndis.gov.au

What types of supports are included?

The NDIS funds ‘reasonable and necessary supports’ that help a participant to reach their goals, objectives and aspirations and to undertake activities to enable the participant’s social and economic participation.

Funded supports must:

  • Assist the participant to pursue the goals objectives and aspirations;
  • Assist the participant’s social and economic participation;
  • Represent value for money;
  • Be, or likely to be, effective and beneficial for the participant;
  • Takes into account of what is reasonable to expect families, carers, informal networks and the community to provide; and
  • Be appropriate for the NDIS to fund or provide.

The NDIS will not fund supports:

  • Not related to the participant’s disability;
  • Related to day-to-day living costs; and
  • Likely to cause harm to the participant or others.

Some supports include:

  • Daily personal activities;
  • Transport to enable participation in community, social, economic and daily life activities;
  • Workplace help to allow a participant to successfully get or keep employment in the open or supported labour market;
  • Therapeutic supports including behaviour support;
  • Help with household tasks to allow the participant to maintain their home environment; and
  • Help to a participant by skilled personnel in aids or equipment assessment, set up and training.

When does the NDIS become available?

In the Diocese of Parramatta, the NDIS will become available from July 2016 in the Local Government Areas of Blacktown, Holroyd, Parramatta, The Hills Shire, Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury and Penrith.

CatholicCare Social Services

CatholicCare Social Services Diocese of Parramatta is a registered NDIS service provider, supporting people with disability to enable them to have the best chance to access mainstream opportunities and to participate fully in the community.

CatholicCare provides support for employers at Mamre House and Farm as well as day support through its CreateAbility programs. CatholicCare can also provide supports such as living skills and other therapeutic supports.

For further information about the supports that CatholicCare can provide please contact Melissa Caldwell – Disability Services Manager: tel (02) 9002 3197, send an email to melissa.caldwell@ccss.org.au or click here

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