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May 20, 2025
DANA hosted our first Members Leadership Forum for the year on Wednesday, May 14, welcoming over 40 members nationwide to discuss the advocacy landscape in a new political era.
Members who joined the event heard from newly appointed DANA CEO El Gibbs and our guest speaker Natalie Wade, Associate Commissioner at NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
Key takeaways:
- Over 40 members joined DANA’s first Leadership Forum of the year.
- New CEO El Gibbs outlined major political changes impacting advocacy.
- DANA to lead consultations on the new Individual Disability Advocacy Program (IDAP).
- Key funding updates: $18k per org for data, $90k for rural/remote advocacy.
- Action taken against providers falsely claiming to be advocates.
- Guest speaker Natalie Wade emphasised stronger enforcement at the NDIS Commission and upcoming reforms.
- Members raised urgent concerns: delayed funding, rising demand, NDIA plan review issues, and Section 10 Rule risks.
SECTOR UPDATE:
DANA CEO El Gibbs opened the forum reflecting on the recent federal election’s surprising Labor majority and the significant ministerial portfolio shifts impacting the disability advocacy sector. Advocacy responsibilities, as far as we know at this stage, are now spread across three ministers and two departments, complicating governance and accountability:
- Tanya Plibersek (Department of Social Services)
- Mark Butler (Department of Health, Ageing, and parts of Disability)
- Jenny McAllister (Minister for the NDIS)
El acknowledged that while the splitting of the NDIS portfolio presents challenges, the move away from framing disability supports solely as welfare toward a broader care and support system could offer benefits—if clarity on advocacy funding oversight is swiftly established.
DSS Consultations & the New Advocacy Program
DANA has been contracted by the Department of Social Services’ (DSS) to undertake sector consultation on the Individual Disability Advocacy Program (IDAP). This program aims to replace current advocacy models with a more streamlined approach. Details remain sparse, but DANA will lead member consultations, facilitated by Policy Officer, Siobhan Clair, and Strategic Advisor, Ruth Richter.
Ongoing uncertainty around foundational supports and their relationship to Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) funding was also flagged. DANA intends to pursue a sector-led position on the proposed navigators, informed by member input, like our previous white paper on foundational supports and advocacy.
Funding News
The one-year contract rollovers for NDAP and ILC through 2025–26 will happen, proportional with 2024-25 funding, with indexation decisions sitting with the new Minister.
Key funding highlights include:
- $18,000 per organisation for data and reporting efforts
- $90,000 additional funding for regional, rural, and remote organisations for 2024–25 and 2025–26
- Support for a sector-wide data analyst and recruitment of a new data and education lead at NCDA
False advertising by service providers
DANA has taken formal action against providers falsely posing as advocates and charging fees, by submitting complaints to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Members are urged to report any similar breaches.
Other DANA news
As well as the new appointment of CEO, El Gibbs, DANA has adopted a new leadership structure featuring three directors overseeing critical portfolios.
Earlier this year we launched the National Regional, Rural and Remote Members Network , which has already held two productive meetings. Members who are interested in joining can contact DANA’s Member Engagement Officer, Ainslie Whitburn.
GUEST SPEAKER:
NATALIE WADE, ASSOC. COMMISSIONER
NDIS QUALITY AND SAFEGUARDS COMMISSION
Natalie raised serious concerns about providers falsely presenting as advocates, sometimes charging participants for advocacy or blending it with service provision — practices she emphasised as damaging and contrary to the sector’s values.
Since joining the Commission in October 2024, alongside Commissioner Louise Glanville, Natalie has been part of a shared leadership model embedding disabled leadership at the executive level. The Commission is evolving from an education-based regulator to a strong enforcement agency, with priorities including:
- Banning workers and providers who breach regulations
- Issuing infringement and compliance notices
- Prosecuting breaches of the NDIS Code of Conduct and civil penalties for participant harm
- Focusing enforcement resources on serious risks such as violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation
Regulatory Reform
The Commission is advancing reforms for mandatory registration of platform providers, Supported Independent Living (SIL), and Support Coordinators, currently in public consultation with a report due June 2025.
Natalie affirmed that, regardless of ministerial changes, the Commission remains committed to delivering critical insights to government and collaborating with advocates to uphold participant safety and sector integrity.
MEMBERS Q&A:
Funding
- RIAC raised concerns about an 11-month delay in receiving details on the $90,000 RRR advocacy funding.
- El Gibbs confirmed the funding likely resulted from DANA’s 2023 pre-budget submission — advocacy is having an impact, though progress is slow.
Election outcomes
- Members welcomed the election of Carol Berry (MP for Whitlam) — a long-time disability advocate with sector experience.
- Ali France, a person with disability, also won the seat of Dickson from opposition leader Peter Dutton.
- Illawarra Advocacy highlighted the value of MPs who understand advocacy from within.
Increased advocacy demand
- Villamanta: Reported a 60% increase in requests for support, on top of last year’s record highs.
- Leadership Plus had to close intake and shift toward supporting self-advocacy due to overwhelming demand.
- MEDA shared that waitlists are months-long for individual advocacy and years-long for citizen advocacy.
- Members requested advice on how to engage new MPs about the urgency of advocacy funding.
- El advised focusing on building awareness of advocacy’s critical role and cost-effectiveness with incoming parliamentarians.
NDIS and Section 10
- ACD flagged ‘plan reviews’ were being undertaken with no or limited notice, leading to plan cuts without proper participant understanding — a concern about procedural fairness.
- SWAN Advocacy raised the Section 10 Rules (on what’s “in” or “out” of the Scheme) as a new area of concern that may limit participant access to necessary supports, and were still supporting people who had their eligibility revoked.
- DANA confirmed this is an area under active review.
UPCOMING 2025 LEADERSHIP FORUMS:
All of our bi-monthly Leadership Forums have been scheduled for 2025, so please feel free to RSVP below and save the events to your calendars.
“This is going to be a big year — full of transition, reform, and critical conversations. But we’re here, we’re ready, and together we’ll make sure advocacy is heard.”
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