Big changes are needed for the SDA market to meet its potential to help provide housing for an estimated 28,000 young people with disability.
Positive response to SDA Investor Think Tank report
The UpSkill Provider Directory was launched at the beginning of September. The platform gives people with disability online access to a searchable directory of support coordinators and NDIS allied health professionals.
The Summer Foundation’s Reasonable and Necessary podcast has attracted high-powered talent to discuss key issues and opportunities for the NDIS.
Following April’s historic decision by a majority of Building Ministers to incorporate mandatory minimum accessibility standards into the National Construction Code (NCC), it is now up to each state and territory to adopt the new NCC.
So far Victoria, Queensland, ACT, NT and Tasmania have agreed to do so, while NSW, Western Australia and South Australia have declared that they will opt-out.
In July, the Summer Foundation completed its 2-year NDIS Housing Options Project with the Department of Social Services’ Jobs and Market Fund Program.
The Summer Foundation–La Trobe University Research Program is designed to understand the issue of young people in aged care. By researching the issues at each stage of the critical pathways that lead young people to aged care we can provide the evidence needed to create systems change that will solve this problem.
The Housing Hub has a suite of new resources on the website for people who are thinking about moving out of a nursing home or other housing that doesn’t suit them.
The new Support Portal on the Housing Hub website is for professionals who are supporting people with disability to look for suitable housing. It makes everything about clients’ housing searches easier.
Housing Hub Lived Experience Coordinator Rebecca Evans took time out of her busy schedule to tell us about herself.
Not-for-profit organisation, the Summer Foundation, has today launched the UpSkill Provider Directory, a searchable online directory of support coordinators and allied health professionals with the skills and experience to assist people with complex support needs to live well in the community.
The platform, made possible by funding partner Gandel Philanthropy, also provides eligible professionals with a way of showcasing their services to potential clients free of charge.
People with disability, families and others who assist them will be able to search the directory for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) support coordinators and allied health professionals in their area.
Summer Foundation Head of Government Relations and Policy, Amelia Condi, said the UpSkill Provider Directory will enable NDIS participants with complex support needs to connect with a network of experienced support coordinators with the right skills to support participants to navigate the NDIS service system.
“Our focus for the UpSkill Provider Directory over the coming months is to build listings – it will continue to grow and evolve as more support coordinators and health professionals come on board,” Ms Condi said.
The directory is the newest tool in the Summer Foundation’s UpSkill program, which delivers training, capacity building and professional development to support coordinators and NDIS allied health professionals across the country. These professionals are integral in supporting people with complex support needs to achieve good outcomes and live well in the community.
Support coordinators and NDIS allied health professionals who have completed UpSkill training are eligible to create a profile on the directory. They are also eligible to join the UpSkill Community of Practice, a networking platform for members to troubleshoot barriers and inspire each other to think innovatively and share information, ideas and practices.
Gandel Philanthropy Chief Executive Officer, Vedran Drakulic OAM said: “From alternative housing demonstration projects to building workforce capability through UpSkill, the Summer Foundation has been at the forefront of innovative strategies to prevent younger people with disability from languishing in aged care.
“The UpSkill Provider Directory will offer vital online connections and supports so that every young person with disability can choose where they live and who they live with.”
Click here to access the UpSkill Provider Directory.
New podcasts, videos and support tools are now available on the Housing Hub website to help people moving out of aged care. Emma Gee, Summer Foundation staff member, speaks about creating these tools with a group of people with experience of the moving process.
Source: Pro Bono | Author: Sabina Curatolo and Di Winkler
A new industry report on investment funds in the specialist disability accommodation market highlights the need for greater government oversight to increase investor confidence, write Di Winkler and Sabina Curatolo.
Representatives from the Summer Foundation and investment industry leaders – all members of a recently established Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Investor Think Tank – have welcomed the Federal Government’s supportive response to their collective views about the future of the Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) market.
A group of investment fund managers, philanthropic investors and supporting organisations met with the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Linda Reynolds, and National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) representatives as part of Minister Reynolds’ SDA Roundtable last Friday to discuss what needs to be done to drive the next phase of the SDA market’s development.
Minister Reynolds described the Think Tank report as a “great piece of work” with sensible recommendations. After reviewing and discussing the report at the Roundtable, Minister Reynolds outlined a plan to get further input prior to getting endorsement to implement solutions.
The Summer Foundation appreciates Minister Reynolds’ commitment to listening and working with Think Tank members and SDA Roundtable to develop and implement joint solutions.
SDA is the most significant impact investment opportunity in Australia today and represents a solution to a disability accommodation problem the government cannot solve on its own. However, the rapid growth of the SDA market has outstripped the evolution of government infrastructure causing some instability in the market.
The Summer Foundation established the SDA Investor Think Tank in mid 2021, in collaboration with a group of investment fund managers, to consider how the market could best be supported through the next growth stage. This work built on the SDA Explainer for Investors which included a survey of investors.
The SDA Think Tank, which includes investment fund managers, who have collectively invested nearly $650 million in the SDA market produced the Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Investor Think Tank Findings and Recommendations report which identifies issues and opportunities that require collective attention to help achieve market maturity.
Recommendations outlined in the report centre around improving market engagement and signalling as well as optimising the demand and supply pipeline.
Think Tank contributors hope the findings and recommendations in the report will support NDIA stewardship of the SDA market, provide a platform for collaboration and help build confidence among market players.
The meeting comes at a time when the sustainability of the NDIS is the focus of conversation. requiring review by the government as rising costs are placing significant pressure on the Scheme. The SDA market has the potential to leverage $5-$12 billion of private capital to address the unmet demand for housing and the redevelopment of old stock that is reaching the end of its useful life. An estimated two thirds of disability housing stock built before 2016 needs to be rebuilt or completely refurbished because it does not meet contemporary standards.
SDA funding is intended for 28,000 NDIS participants, up to 30,000 by 2025, with extreme functional impairment for whom mainstream housing is not an option. It is anticipated an additional 12,000 SDA homes will be required in the near future.
The commitment to working towards a sophisticated SDA market is welcome news for NDIS participants who qualify for SDA funding and those waiting to have their applications considered. Emerging evidence from research by the Summer Foundation and La Trobe University has found significant improvements in wellbeing and community participation for people living in SDA.
The commitment from Minister Reynolds also reaffirms that effective collaboration is essential in an emerging market in order to meet the needs of the government, the NDIA, participants, providers and investors. Everyone benefits if the SDA market reaches its full potential – participants access appropriate housing, investors and providers are able to offer housing which enables positive outcomes, and the government leverages private capital that helps to achieve NDIS sustainability.
You can access the full Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Investor Think Tank Findings and Recommendations report below.
A shortened version of the recommendations outlined in the report are provided below:
SDA Investor Think Tank Recommendations
Think Tank members are hopeful that the findings and recommendations in the SDA Investor Think Tank Findings and Recommendations report will support NDIA stewardship of the SDA market, provide a platform for collaboration, and help build confidence among market players.
Members have recommended that the NDIA should take the following actions:
1. Work with SDA stakeholders to develop a Stakeholder Engagement Framework that articulates a platform for open communication.
2. Make a senior appointment with primary responsibility for SDA market stewardship, which would be the key point of engagement between the Agency and market players.
3. Release a quarterly SDA Market Statement to provide guidance that supports informed decision-making by market players.
4. Develop the capability and systems needed to routinely release detailed and timely demand data that includes:
- A forecast of the total expected demand for SDA, including design categories
- The number of participants seeking SDA determinations and what types of SDA match their needs
- Assumptions behind the modelling for the annual budget for SDA
5. Undertake a demand activation campaign to support awareness among SDA-eligible participants, including by:
- Identifying SDA-eligible people on the NDIS database
- Contacting SDA-eligible people and providing capacity building on housing options so participants can outline their housing needs and preferences
6. Implement a plan to eliminate the backlog of decisions under review and appeals. Resolving this issue will lead to a decrease in financial pressures for some SDA providers, and increased market confidence.
7. Increase the transparency and consistency of SDA eligibility determinations by:
- Publishing plain language guides on SDA eligibility
- Defining the decision-making processes for SDA and associated supports, including details of decision-makers and timeframes
- Committing to decision timeframes and releasing performance reports on adherence to timeframes
8. Commission an independent review of the costs of SDA and associated supports to ensure assumptions about relationships between Supported Independent Living (SIL) and SDA are evidence-based.
Source: Australian Financial Review | Author: Michael Bleby
Specialist housing for disabled people, which has grown from nothing into a $2.5 billion asset class in just five years, is poised to expand a further fivefold in response to demand for housing that meets the needs of an estimated 28,000 young people, a new industry report shows.
G’day people,
My name is Greg and I’m 51. I have been living with a brain injury since I was 18 years old. I suffered this brain injury when I was on my way home from work. You can watch my story here.
Everybody says “it will never happen to me” and that’s what I used to say. You can acquire a brain injury in many different ways. We are all individuals. As you can see, life for me is a struggle and it hasn’t all been kicks and giggles. Before my accident I was a bit of a lair. Since my brain injury, I’ve been trying to prove the doctors wrong. They told me I’d never walk, speak or sit up again. Well I’ve proved them wrong as I am out and about sitting up in my wheelchair. I can also speak clearly now. My next goal is to walk and I will not give up until my toes are pointing to the sky.
Having seen life from both sides of the wheelchair, I can say people can be so careless or cruel because they don’t understand. People need to understand. Brain Injury Awareness Week is important.
Don’t think less of me, don’t think less of us because we have a brain injury – we are ‘above average!’
The Summer Foundation’s Curator, Emma Gee, chats with 1 of the organisation’s Lived Experience Facilitators, Shanais Nielsen, about their experiences of living in lockdown.
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Liz’s poem tells how she embraces life with her support workers.
The Summer Foundation welcomes the announcements made by Minister Reynolds on Friday 9 July 2021 advising the outcomes of the Disability Ministers’ Meeting.
The first night Wendy spent in her new apartment, she cried tears of joy.
“It hit me just how lucky I was to have a home like this,” Wendy says.
Wendy moved into her spectacular new apartment in February this year. It has amazing views and immaculate styling, and is just minutes away from Westfield Doncaster. It is everything Wendy hoped for.
Wendy’s story is featured on the Housing Hub website.
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Access to appropriate housing for people with disability can be challenging. This challenge is more so in thin markets, including rural and remote areas, where there are often fewer housing options generally.
National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) CEO Martin Hoffman has opened up about where the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is heading in an exclusive interview with Summer Foundation Policy Manager and disability advocate, Dr George Taleporos.
Welcome to our winter update. It comes at a time of greater public focus on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), particularly around new independent assessments, personalised budgets and challenges within the specialist disability accommodation (SDA) sector.
The Summer Foundation recently launched a new-look website. We invite you to head to the site and take a look around.