WA disability insurance rollout to start a year later than the rest of Australia
The Statewide rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in WA has been put off until July 1 next year - a year later than in other States and Territories.
But a further 2700 people with a disability are to gain access to the NDIS in the meantime, with two trials already under way in WA to be expanded.
The design of WA’s disability services model is still being finalised, but the State and Federal governments will announced today that they have reached an agreement on the timing.
The NDIS is scheduled to be rolled out across all other States and Territories from July 1 this year, but eligible West Australians with a disability have faced ongoing uncertainty as negotiations over their state’s disability services model dragged on.
Social Services Minister Christian Porter said the agreement, to be announced today, would give certainty to about 10,900 current and future participants of ongoing support and ensure West Australians would benefit from the NDIS while details of the full scheme model were being finalised.
He said the Federal Government was working closely with WA on the details of the full scheme and expected to agree on the State’s final NDIS model later this year.
Two trials are under way in WA - the WA NDIS trial in the Lower South West, Cockburn and Kwinana and the Federal Government’s National Disability Insurance Agency-run model in the Perth Hills.
They were due to be completed by July, but have now been extended until July 2017.
The WA NDIS trial will expand to Armadale, Murray and Serpentine-Jarrahdale from October 1, while the NDIA trial will grow to include Bayswater, Bassendean, Chittering, Toodyay, York and Northam from January 1 next year.
WA Disability Services Minister Donna Faragher said the full implementation of the NDIS in WA would draw on lessons learnt from the trials, but also apply the same eligibility requirements and portability of supports as the rest of the country.
“We need to ensure that the NDIS in WA is accountable to the West Australian community and builds on the State’s existing relationships and long history of disability reform,” Ms Faragher said.