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Place grassroots navigation support at the centre of NDIS reforms and the transition to Foundational Supports

The design and rollout of Foundational Supports, and the design and piloting of a new navigation role, must be top priorities for the federal government in 2025.

When designing the NDIS, the role of Local Area Coordinators (LACs) under the NDIS was to be pivotal to advancing the life chances of Australians with disability. Unfortunately, as found by the NDIS Review,1 the implementation of the LAC role has lacked the clarity of purpose and practice needed to ground the Scheme within the local context of each participant. It is critically important that this changes. A new navigation role is needed, and this should be at the forefront of developing Foundational Supports. It should be designed to maximise the transformational benefits of Foundational Supports for people with disability. We believe people with disability should have a choice of navigator to ensure they are the agent of the person. This means the person with disability would have the opportunity to choose the navigator that fits them best.

The navigator role must be inherently local. The current largescale commissioning of LAC providers has not achieved the objective of harnessing grassroots resources and realising positive outcomes at a community level. The role needs to focus on unlocking genuine grassroots connections in local communities and linking people to opportunities and both formal and informal supports. While there are additional challenges in providing navigational supports in remote areas with ‘thin markets’, a developmental approach to commissioning programs offers a pathway to an effective solution.

A nationally consistent framework for the navigator role should be developed in partnership with state and territory governments. This needs to be coupled with a carefully planned approach to testing the new navigation model, including through pilot programs. The new navigator role should be introduced through a staged transition.

The transition to a new model should be accompanied by strong monitoring and evaluation mechanisms that ensure proper measurement of impact and outcomes, which was identified as a shortcoming of LACs in the NDIS Review.2 Critically, the design and piloting of the new role should occur as a priority and in tandem with the design and rollout of Foundational Supports, to ensure all elements are complementary and function as a joined-up whole.  

Well-designed and appropriately funded Foundational Supports can deliver many benefits for Australians with disability, as well as their families, informal supports, allies, the disability sector, governments, the economy, and society. Unfortunately, as the NDIS was rolled out across Australia, governments withdrew funding from their ongoing responsibilities; something that has proven to be a grave mistake that now requires urgent attention and resources. Foundational Supports are not an additional initiative, as is sometimes suggested, but rather a much-needed investment in existing responsibilities after a period of severe neglect.  

This type of investment could help reduce the need for some people with disability to obtain an individual NDIS plan, because their life chances have improved, or been defended, by accessing Foundational Supports. Further, committing to prioritising Foundational Supports will boost community confidence in the proposal in light of widespread anxiety and confusion.

In summary, JFA Purple Orange is calling on all political parties and candidates in this election to commit to:

  • Prioritising the design of a new NDIS navigator role that is inherently local in nature, focuses on grassroots connections and supports, and serves as agent of the person.
  • Developing a nationally consistent framework for the navigator role in partnership with state and territory governments.
  • Piloting the new NDIS navigator role prior to undertaking a careful, staged transition.
  • Undertaking thorough monitoring and evaluation of the new navigator function.
  • Co-designing every element of Foundational Supports with Australians with disability.
  • Drawing on the recommendations of the DRC – particularly those of Commissioners with lived experience – when developing Foundational Supports. This would exclude funding for new or existing segregated services or programs.
  • Committing sufficient long-term federal funding to the design and rollout of Foundational Supports, in line with the Commonwealth’s funding responsibilities and its commitments in Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031.
  • Committing to provide ongoing funding for all services, programs and supports that will be replaced by Foundational Supports until this new program is fully established.

Key Question

Do you commit to prioritising the design, piloting and staged rollout of a new NDIS navigator program; prioritising and co-designing a well-funded system of Foundational Supports; and continuing existing funding arrangements for all services, programs, and supports for which the NDIS Review proposes replacement Foundational Supports until such options are fully established and working well?

References

1 NDIS Review, ‘Final Report: Working together to deliver the NDIS’, 2023, p.42, available at https://www.ndisreview.gov.au/sites/default/files/resource/download/working-together-ndis-review-final-report.pdf.

2 Ibid.