NATIONAL DISABILITY
INSURANCE SCHEME — ROLLOUT
462. Hon JACQUI BOYDELL to the Minister for Disability Services:
I refer to question without notice
422, which I asked last week.
(1) Can the
minister please elaborate on the number of members, membership requirements and
period of application for both the WA executive steering committee and the WA
officers' working group?
(2) Before the
July 2019 transition date, how many individuals in the midwest–Gascoyne
region and great southern region are waiting to be enrolled in the National
Disability Insurance Scheme?
(3) If a significant
number of individuals are still waiting to transition past the existing
November deadline, how will the minister commit to ensuring that individuals
are able to access ongoing support, especially those in regional Western Australia?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) The Western Australian executive steering
committee is jointly chaired by the Department of Communities and the
National Disability Insurance Agency and was established in December 2017 to
monitor progress against agreed arrangements in the bilateral agreement,
operational plan and transfer plan. The WAESC membership
comprises senior officials from the NDIA, the Department of Communities, the
commonwealth Department of Social Services and the Department of the
Premier and Cabinet. There are 19 members, and additional attendees are
co-opted for specific matters, as required. The WA operational working group
was established in February 2018 to support the WAESC to implement the National
Disability Insurance Scheme in WA by overseeing the delivery of operational
activities to support the successful transition to the Australia-wide NDIS. The
WAOWG membership comprises senior officials from the NDIA, the Department of
Communities and DPC. There are 18 members, and additional attendees are
co-opted for specific matters, as required. Both the WAESC and the WAOWG will
continue until the transfer and transition of people with disability in WA to
the Australia-wide NDIS is completed.
(2) As at 30
April 2019, 629 individuals in the midwest–Gascoyne region and 813
individuals in the great southern region were known to the Department of
Communities and were waiting to transition to the NDIS. People not known to the
department may also be looking forward to accessing the NDIS. These regions are
scheduled to roll in on 1 July 2019.
(3) I remain
committed to ensuring that people with disability in WA will not be
disadvantaged if there is any delay in the transfer or transition to the
Australia-wide NDIS, as individuals will continue to receive their current
state-based supports until such time as they have an approved NDIS plan.