The latest Coronavirus and NDIS news - without the spin or jargon

Hi Supporter,

At this uncertain and worrying time it is more important than ever that everyone has good clear simple information about what is happening – and what it means for you.

We have been doing everything we can over the last couple of weeks to make sure you get the information you need – and fast.

So just in case you missed it, here is what has been happening over the last few days:

Changes to plans…

📌 Yesterday the NDIA announced that plans will no longer end. On the day your plan is due to expire, the NDIA will automatically extend it for 365 days. You will not need to do anything – it will happen automatically. That way there will be no gaps between plans for anyone to worry about.

📌 Your extended plan will have the same budget and supports as your current plan.

📌 The NDIA are trying not to have any face to face meetings at the moment (for obvious reasons). So around the time you are due for a review meeting, the NDIA will contact you to see if you are happy with your current plan. If you are, they will simply extend it for up to 24 months. No muss, no fuss.

📌 If you don’t currently have support coordination in your plan you can now use some of your core funding to employ a support coordinator to help you. For people trying to juggle their supports at this difficult time, this might really be a help.

We know this won’t fix everything for everyone – but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

We know there is much more that needs to be done – and we will keep pushing for it to happen.

Find out more about what has changed [[link removed]] And a couple of other things…

Last weekend (boy that already feels like a long time ago) the Minster for the NDIS Stuart Robert also announced some other important changes to help people with disability and their families manage over the coming weeks and months. They included:

📌 The NDIA will start calling “high risk” participants to make sure they have what they need

📌 A more flexible approach to using NDIS funds, including allowing people to switch between core and capacity building categories. This will only happen however with the assistance of “specialised” teams of planners. You will need to contact the NDIA if you would like to do this.

You can read more about what has changed on our website [[link removed]]

Now we know everyone still has tons of questions – we do too.

So what we are doing is talking to the NDIA regularly about what your questions are – and trying to get answers.

In the next few days we will have a new section on website which will allow you to send us your questions more easily.

In the meantime, you can find lots of information and resources on our current Coronavirus page.

Coronavirus info and resources [[link removed]] We are still in there fighting…

We have joined organisations from across Australia in calling on all levels of government to urgently develop a plan [[link removed]] to make sure people with disability and their families are safe and get the support they need over the coming weeks and months.

We also joined in calls [[link removed]] to include people who receive the Disability Support Pension to get the extra $550 a fortnight which has been given to others who receive government payments.

You can read more about what we have been up to on our website.

Read more about what we think the plan should cover [[link removed]] And just one more thing…

It’s a tough time at the moment. The world’s been turned upside down and nothing feels quite the same.

But some things definitely have not changed – like the way everyone in this community looks out for each other.

We heard some wise words from a friend this week. She said stay well, stay safe, stay strong – and stay connected.

Because the only way we are going to get through this is together.

Kirsten and the Every Australian Counts team

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