$5.8 million to support QLD transition to NDIS

The Hon Jane Prentice, Assistant Minister for Social Services and Disability Services, today announced more than $5.8 million in funding to the Queensland Department of Communities (QDoC) to assist Queensland’s disability sector transition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Mrs Prentice made the announcement at AMPARO Advocacy which supports people with disability and their families from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities to engage and participate in the NDIS as it is rolled out across QLD.

She said AMPARO Advocacy will be one of two providers in  south east Queensland that will continue the Queensland Government’s Participant Readiness Initiative until 2017-18 along with The Queenslanders with Disability Network Limited who were also present at the announcement.

“Non-government organisations funded under the Participant Readiness Initiative have already delivered more than 1,089 workshops to help in excess of 12,800 attendees understand the opportunities presented by the NDIS and prepare for its rollout,” she said.

Mrs Prentice said another project will aim to expand the disability sector workforce in Queensland, by engaging, attracting and connecting people to jobs.

“The project will support the expansion of the disability sector workforce to meet the rise in demand for workers in the disability sector as the NDIS rolls out across the state,” she said.

A third project will target small organisations delivering in hard to reach markets and rural and remote communities.

It will also support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specialist providers, and service providers delivering supports to people with complex needs, or from CALD backgrounds.

The NDIS Sector Development Fund invests in projects that assist the disability sector including people with disability, their families, carers, service providers and workforce, transitioning to the new arrangements for disability support under the NDIS.

The proposals were submitted through an open grant funding round in 2016, with funding provided for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 financial years.

More information on the Sector Development Fund can be found on the NDIS website.