Jo Stewart started working at the Summer Foundation in 2014 assisting young people living in aged care to connect to the NDIS. This work was done knowing that in the future connection to the NDIS would increase opportunities for younger people in aged care and that these opportunities would be beneficial.
Making the Connection
With the Aged Care Royal Commission now under way, we are encouraging anyone with a story to tell around being a young person in aged care, or at risk of going into aged care, to make a submission.
The Summer Foundation has a tenancy matching service to support SDA providers who are developing new properties across the country, as well as housing seekers who believe they may qualify for the SDA funding.
The Summer Foundation has again partnered with Social Ventures Australia to undertake a survey of how much and what types of Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) development is being planned and built around Australia.
CONSUMER & FAMILY CARER NETWORK UPDATE – SUMMER 2018
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There is a buzz around the office as the NDIS makes improvements to its processes. We’re really pleased to see decisions approving new build specialist disability accommodation (SDA), which bodes well for the new opportunities in apartments in NSW and Queensland and provides confidence for those wanting to build SDA.
The Housing Hub is a new way for people with disability to find suitable housing.
People with lived experience joined hospital discharge staff and disability sector professionals at our Annual Public Forum to discuss the best ways to support people to return to living in their communities.
The Summer Foundation has developed a suite of materials that will assist people with disability who have complex support needs to make a short, personalised training video for their support workers.
The NDIA has announced the rollout of a new Complex Support Needs Pathway.
A new online resource aims to help people understand appeals against NDIS decisions.
The latest quarterly report from the NDIA included a new set of market data relating to specialist disability accommodation (SDA). It showed that at the end of September 2018, more than 9,500 NDIS participants across Australia had an SDA payment in their NDIS plan and over $90m had been committed in SDA payments. There were 2,200 registered SDA dwellings, and of these, 260 were newly built.
Our CEO Luke Bo’sher and policy manager George Taleporos met with Royal Commissioner Lynelle Briggs and her team in November. We are very pleased to report that young people in residential aged care and the issues related to this group are a high and early priority for the Commissioner.
Applications are open for Summer Housing apartments in quality new developments in the Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba and Sydney suburb of Rockdale.
CFC UPDATE – SPRING 2018
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We welcome the Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement of a Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Prime Minister Morrison purposefully included mention of young Australians who live in residential aged care.
The Royal Commission will look at the quality and safety of care in aged care. It’s not clear if it will also look at the system changes that need to happen to stop young people ending up in aged care in the first place. We think it’s really important to include this in the Royal Commission, so that young people will stop being forced to live in aged care because there are no other suitable options. Read more
In 2009 Penny suffered a stroke. Four years later a motor vehicle accident caused further injury.
Through her NDIS plan Penny was funded for home and car modifications, support hours and equipment.
Her first plan increased her independence and social interactions – she says:[it was] a good package and opened up my world. I felt liberated.
However, at subsequent reviews items were removed. Penny’s informal supports had also broken down in the meantime and despite needing additional support hours, her package was reduced. Getting less support at home resulted in more frequent hospital admissions
for Penny.
Penny has been forced to pay for the community nursing and items not covered by health or disability funding out of her own pocket, which means less money for food and other essentials.
Penny has worked in the disability sector for a number of years, so is well informed and has a good understanding of the sector, but she too has had to work tirelessly to navigate the health and disability systems.
Penny will be speaking about her discharge experiences with the NDIS at the upcoming Annual Public Forum
on October 11.
The NDIS is still working out what is reasonable and necessary for people with disability and complex needs. Difficulty accessing appropriate health supports is one of the reasons young people are admitted to aged care.
So we were pleased with the decision by the Administrative Appeal Tribunal (AAT) in relation to Mazy v. the NDIA. Mazy requested the provision of care by a registered nurse to administer regular insulin, which was declined by the NDIS. After an internal review, Mazy took her case to the AAT. The AAT found that it was a reasonable and necessary support for a registered nurse to administer her insulin (in accordance with s 34(1) of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth)). For details of the decision: http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/AATA/2018/3099.html
If you need access to nursing care to live well in the community you may want to print this decision to take to your planning meeting. Or, if your plan does not meet your needs, consider seeking advocacy support to request a review. To find an advocate see https://disabilityadvocacyfinder.dss.gov.au/disability/ndap/
We’ve written a useful guide to help you navigate your way through the search for mainstream housing. “Mainstream Housing Options” is written specifically for people with disability and is part of a series of guides that we put together to help people with disability find suitable housing.
The Summer Foundation has produced new resources that explain residential aged care fees and what charges are covered by the NDIS.
RAPID HOUSING PROJECT
When someone with complex support needs is ready to leave hospital, a lack of suitable housing often results in them having to stay for longer periods of time in hospital or rehabilitation or they are forced to move to aged care. While this option may be seen as a temporary solution, often people remain there for many months, or end up staying permanently.
Our Get Building SDA initiative has been launched in regional NSW.
Get Building SDA aims to increase the number of SDA properties for NDIS participants and, as a result, increase the hours of Supported Independent Living (SIL) delivered in NSW.