Subsequent to last year’s agreement for a $20 million expansion for the National Community Connector Program (NCCP), the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) announced on the 2^nd of July, 2020 of its decision to move ahead with the expansion plan.

The minister of the NDIS, Stuart Robert, Federal Member for Herbet, Philip Thompson OAM M and Townsville NDIS Partner in the Community Feros Care, met in Townsville were the announcement was made.

The following four population groups have been the main focus of an ongoing connectors program linking service:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
• People Experiencing psychological disabilities
• Ageing Parents or Carers of People with Disability
• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities

This is going to enable better support for Australians in remote locations and use the urban and rurally located service providers to spread accessibility, said the minister.

‘As trusted community members, Community Connectors will play a critical role in reaching out to people with disability in these harder-to-reach communities, increasing awareness of the NDIS and providing support for people to access the Scheme,’ Mr Robert said.

‘We made a promise to deliver this program nationally, and as of today, we are now delivering the expanded National Community Connector program in urban and regional locations across Australia. These organizations have been selected to deliver the Community Connector program because of their bonds across these communities and specialized understanding of the issues and support needed.’

The NCCP in association with NDIS Partners selected the following organizations for delivering the service base:

• National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organization
• Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia
• National Ethnic Disability Alliance Mental Health Australia
• Mental Health Australia
• First Peoples Disability Network

The program incorporates use of in-language webinars and radio programs, on-call service and support options as part of a greater virtual connectors initiative also in the pipeline.

The NIDA, NDIS and Tender Hearts are aware of personal information and the importance of accessibility to this information while keeping it secure and ensuring its integrity. For this purpose, the NDIA has announced the launch of its new Participant Information Access effort which will enable better communication between involved parties, participants and the related organizations.

Any information being hosted by the NIDS for a patient, participant or member will be accessible via this initiative with much more flexibility and regulations making sure authorized third-parties can also have access to vital information without compromising an individual’s rights to privacy.

The information can be requested for purposes of:

1. Reviewing information, plan and access information
2. Plan strategy and the metrics according to which a plan was developed
3. Documentation including medical reports provided to NDIS

Note: Due to the nature of the work, the NDIS will aim to entertain all enquiries within 2 weeks however, it will never take longer than 28 days.

For further information, please visit the NDIS Participant Information Access page.

For the residents of these locations, the return to stage three of the stay at home order will fall into effect after the 29^th of July, 2020.

For the purpose of convenience, the residents of the aforementioned locales may reach help and information desk via:

Any and all queries are important in this time and these conditions. For this purpose, the NDIS and Tender Hearts will make sure to respond to you in a timely manner. Live chat and telephone service will be available 8am to 8pm AeDT, Monday through Friday.