DANA recently made a submission to the consultation on Foundational Supports.
The introduction of Foundational Supports, as recommended in the 2023 NDIS Review, aims to create a stronger, more cohesive system of support for people with disability. These supports are designed to sit between NDIS-funded individual supports and mainstream services to meet community needs.
In October, DANA published an issues paper and invited feedback and input from our membership, as advocacy organisations possess great expertise in delivering information and capacity building supports and know what does and doesn’t work for people with disability in their communities. Our submission reflects the themes we heard via an online survey, and a discussion forum in November, making 18 recommendations, including for:
- Immediate bridge funding to advocacy and representative organisations to play roles in mapping need, monitoring roll out and also delivering Foundational Supports
- Increased parallel funding for disability advocacy to meet demand and need; and
- Other needed components and principles for establishing effective Foundational Supports
Due to funding cliffs and a widening gap in supports, an urgent interim approach is needed to ensure people with disability can maintain access to vital information and capacity building supports during the transition period and ensure that Foundational Supports in their maturity are accessible, place-based, fit for purpose and led by people with disability.
Advocacy organisations are people-centred and people-powered, and often disability-led or governed, and can therefore be incredibly responsive to needs of the local communities they have grown up from. DANA believes that our members and other disability-led organisations, who are already delivering Foundational Support-type services, could deliver a bridge to the full roll out of Foundational Supports. This would ensure that people with disability would have local sources of information and capacity building that they trust and recognise.
Our core ask is for immediate bridge funding. This funding should be reserved solely for rights-focused and community-driven advocacy and representative organisations, who are well-situated to provide independent information, peer support, capacity building and self-advocacy activities. The interim funding should be provided for a minimum of 18 months to 1 July 2026, (or longer if Foundational Supports have not yet been established) and should include:
- New funding to continue current ILC funding for existing programs due to cease on 30 June 2025;
- New funding for peer support and capacity building programs that previously received Information Linkages and Capacity Building funding, and did not receive ILC or NDIA grants in 2024;
- Increased funding for existing information, peer support and capacity building programs to begin delivering expanded supports from 1 July 2025;
- New funding for innovation in peer support and capacity building to support the development of new initiatives and approaches.
The advocacy sector can also assist in mapping need and providing oversight and on-the-ground impact feedback through a Foundational Supports Oversight Council.
This interim funding should be in addition to and distinct from organisations’ existing independent advocacy work through Federal and State and Territory programs, which also needs additional investment to increase the capacity, continuity and security of the disability advocacy sector. As we heard strongly from consultation with the advocacy sector, independence and clear guidelines to manage any conflicts in organisations delivering multiple programs are vital. Funding arrangements must preserve flexibility, and the valuable grassroots diversity of advocacy organisations delivering a range of models and specialised supports for different communities and disability types.
Lastly, we highlight the need for Foundational Supports at no cost and minimal administrative burden on people with disability needing to access them. DANA has drawn on previous consultation during our Priorities Project, to identify key ideas for principles and policies that build from existing systems and effectively meet the needs of people with disability.
We sincerely thank all those who took the time to contribute their valuable thoughts and insights on this topic.