Elba Incorporated

02/10/2024

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27/09/2024

The new NDIS law has just passed parliament. Some of these changes will come into effect from October 3rd 2024, whereas others will be phased in over a longer timeframe. These include:

▻ A new way to define NDIS supports: The NDIS Bill is highly dependent on a definition of an NDIS support, but doesn't define it in the Bill itself. After a brief consultation, the Government is finalising transitional Rules that define an NDIS support. Information about ‘the far-reaching draft lists of NDIS supports’ is detailed in this article. Final legislative Rules will be developed with states and territories in the future.

▻ Changes to access: The legal definition of an NDIS support will also inform access decisions. Under the access criteria, applicants will need to require ‘NDIS supports’ for their lifetime, rather than just a ‘support’.

▻ ‘New' v 'old' framework plans: The Bill makes the distinction between ‘new’ and ‘old’ framework plans. New framework plans will be developed based on a needs assessment, and this process has not been designed yet. The NDIA have advised that new framework plans will be rolled out mid-2025 following updates to PACE. Participants will be notified about when they will transition to a new framework plan. Old framework plans are developed through the current process of plan reassessment, with some notable changes (see below).

▻ Planning for 'old framework plans': For old framework plans, Planners will still consider each support against the reasonable and necessary criteria. Additionally, from October 3rd, people will only be able to receive support for impairments they met the access criteria for, and the definition of an NDIS support will replace the 'most appropriately funded by the NDIS’ part of the reasonable and necessary criteria.

▻ Notice of impairment: From January 2025, once a person meets access, the NDIA will provide a ‘notice of impairments’. This will state what impairments the person has met the access criteria for. The NDIA will only be able to fund supports arising from impairments that meet the access criteria at the time of planning. Existing participants will also receive a notice of impairment prior to their transition to new framework plans.

▻ Change of situation: Under new framework plans the NDIA will be able to determine when a person can request more funding in the middle of the plan. In future, the NDIA will only be able to add more funding to a plan in very specific situations. These include when crisis or emergency funding is needed because of a significant change to support need, there is a threat to the person’s life, health or safety, or they have been victim to fraud or financial exploitation.

▻ Compliance: The NDIA will have new compliance tools to deal with situations where a person spends their funds on non-NDIS supports or not in accordance with their plan, such as spending too quickly. This includes changing the way the plan is managed, imposing shorter plan periods through a plan variation and raising a debt. These changes, including the decision not to waive a debt, will be appealable.

▻ Revocation: The NDIA will be able to request information or an assessment to determine a person’s ongoing access to the Scheme. If the person doesn’t provide it within the set timeframe (and it was reasonable for the person to have complied) the NDIA may choose to revoke the person’s access to the Scheme.

▻ New claims and payment framework: Providers will need to make claims within two years. There will be a 12-month grace period to get older claims in. These powers are enforceable when the law comes into effect, but the details are still unclear.

26/09/2024

😕

An Adelaide family's plan to move into a retirement village with their adult son, who lives with cerebral palsy, is coming unstuck because operators say he is too young to join them.

25/09/2024

Welcome Back Chiara 💖👋

25/09/2024

💃🕺Ballroom Fit provides dancing classes for people with a disability. We are registered for Innovative Community Participation.

Below is a list of their classes. Each class is $17, which can be paid in cash or with a Support Plan paid through the NDIS.

They can also provide private dancing lessons in venues at a time that suits our clients.

24/09/2024

Organising a night out is exhausting work for young people with disabilities like Alessa — from checking the terrain, doorways, entrances, and adequate space for a wheelchair.

19/09/2024

💸Tax agents who try to defraud the National Disability Insurance Scheme “will be caught” as part of an intensified, multi-agency crackdown, outgoing Disability Minister Bill Shorten says.
https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/.../20385-you-will-be...
Shorten said the Fraud Fusion Taskforce had recently ramped up investigations to stop dodgy actors ranging from practitioners to sophisticated criminal gangs.
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