- We built a new computer system to help us improve the way we deliver the NDIS.
- We started using our new computer system and introduced improvements to the way we work in Tasmania in November 2022.
- Our new computer system will help us deliver the outcomes of the 2023 NDIS Review and our co-design activities.
We’ve been working on how we can improve the way we deliver the NDIS. We’ve spent time talking to participants, our staff, NDIS partners and the disability community to work out the ways we can improve the experience people have with the Scheme.
The 2019 Tune Review showed us there were changes we could make to improve participant experience and outcomes.
That’s why the Participant Service Guarantee was legislated and changes made to the NDIS Act in 2022. We also developed the Participant Service Improvement Plan to set out how we deliver a Scheme that meets participants’ expectations.
Our existing computer system was introduced in 2016. It has never been fit for purpose and is coming to the end of its life. It can’t help us do what we need to do.
We built our new computer system to help us deliver the Participant Service Guarantee and meet our commitments in the Participant Service Improvement Plan.
Our new computer system is matched to the everyday work of our staff, making it simpler and faster for our staff and partners to do their job. The system will make changes easier and allow us more time to better serve participants, create meaningful connections and work together on complex and challenging situations.
2023 NDIS Review and co-design projects
It’s important to remember that our new computer system and the process improvements it introduces does not define the future of the NDIS, or how the NDIA operates. There will be more for us to do.
It will take us some time to deliver everything we want to, and to make the NDIS a great experience for everyone.
We expect the 2023 NDIS Review to tell us more about the kinds of improvements participants and the community want to see in the NDIS.
We will be guided by the 2023 NDIS Review, the Disability Royal Commission and the more than 6 co-design projects currently underway, as well as our evaluation of the Tasmania test.
Our new computer system is just one resource to help us do what we need to do to meet the directions of the Government and provide a quality service to participants, providers and the disability community.
The NDIS test in Tasmania
We chose to introduce our new system in Tasmania because the State represents the broad NDIS population, with more than 500 registered providers and two experienced NDIS partners.
We started a test of our new computer system in Tasmania in November 2022.
Testing in Tasmania meant we could learn from the experience, collect feedback from participants, providers, Agency staff, local area coordinators and early childhood partners and the community.
We learnt a lot from our Tasmania test to help us improve our new computer system, making improvements in real-time.
Our staff, NDIS partners, providers, participants, and the wider disability community in Tasmania are now using the new system and processes.
Our new computer system and test in Tasmania does not change the rules or the way the NDIS works.
It will help us improve the consistency of service to participants and set us up for the long-term improvements to the participant experience and outcomes identified by governments and the disability community.
Testing the way we work in real-time allowed us to make changes and improvements before we began using our new computer system in the rest of Australia.
We are improving ways we can:
Support connections
By helping people with disability, young children with developmental delays and concerns, and their families to support greater and earlier connections to community and mainstream supports.
Support people and families apply to the NDIS
NDIS local area coordinators and early childhood partners will guide people and families to gather the information needed to request access to the NDIS.
Make transparent and consistent decisions
The NDIA planner who makes decisions about a participant’s NDIS plan will meet with them to discuss their situation, plan, budget and how decisions are made.
Help participants to make the most of their NDIS plan
NDIS contacts will spend time with participants at a plan implementation meeting, offering additional support for them to use their plan.
Provide more accessible tools and resources
We’ve built a new participant portal to work with our new computer system and we’ve updated the my NDIS app. Both systems are now more accessible, intuitive and user-friendly.
Streamline and safeguard our payment process
We’ve introduced a way to record the relationship between participants and providers they work with regularly, called my providers.