Access to NDIS for First Nations Australians improving

According to the NDIS quarterly report, as of September 30, the NDIS was providing disability support to 40,842 First Nations participants, up from 34,378 at the same time last year – an increase of more than 18 percent.

NDIS Minister, Bill Shorten is pleased to see the number of First Nations participants increase, as the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) looks to increase access to services for First Nations peoples.

“The NDIA recognises First Nations people need better support to understand the NDIS and how they can become participants,” says Mr Shorten.

“There’s a clear connection that when we engage and support First Nations the best way possible, they can live the life they choose.”

Informed by the NDIS findings, the NDIA will also start a co-design process to develop a new First Nations Strategy to improve outcomes for First Nations people living with a disability.

The NDIA has discussed the potential of a partnership agreement with First Peoples Disability Network Australia (FPDN) and other stakeholders for the co-design of the Strategy.

FPDN has indicated it is pleased with the direction the NDIS is taking to better support First Nations people, saying on Twitter, “We’re working with the NDIA to make sure those numbers continue to grow as we know too many mob are still not getting the support they need.”

The Strategy was suggested as a tool to support the cohort at the First Nations Employee Network (FNEN) event earlier this month.

The FNEN conference was a chance for almost 50 First Nations NDIA staff to collaborate on how the agency can increase the number of First Nations people in its workforce and ensure staff are reflective of the communities they serve.

Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians and Northern Territory Senator, Malarndirri McCarthy, was a guest speaker at the conference and touched on the Federal Government’s aim to increase the number of First Nations staff working at the NDIA and how the latest NDIA inclusion plan could help support this.

“The network’s conference will help the NDIA’s efforts to deliver culturally appropriate NDIS support to First Nations communities,” she explains.

“The conference also explored the actions in the NDIA First Nations Employment and Inclusion Plan 2022-25 and what the Agency could do to bring those actions to life, including career development, recruitment and retention of First Nations peoples.”

In the 2022 Australian Public Service Census, only three percent of NDIA staff identified as First Nations people, highlighting the need to increase staff diversity in order to improve access for the growing number of participants.