Launch of DisabilityCare Australia in Western Australia

DisabilityCare Australia, the national disability insurance scheme, will become a truly national scheme with the historic agreement today between the Commonwealth and Western Australian Governments to a two year launch, commencing from July 2014.

The Commonwealth and WA Government will jointly fund a DisabilityCare Australia launch site in the Perth Hills area, with around 4,300 participants.

This will be delivered by the DisabilityCare Australia Agency under national governance arrangements set out in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Act 2013.

Our two Governments will also jointly fund two sites that will operate under Western Australian My Way model, in the Lower South West and Cockburn-Kwinana, with around 4,080 participants.

These sites will be delivered by the Western Australia Disability Services Commission under State legislation.

Around 8400 West Australians with disability, their families and carers will benefit from the DisabilityCare Australia and MyWay sites in WA.

The launch of DisabilityCare Australia, the national disability insurance scheme, in Western Australia will offer people with disability and their families and carers in the launch sites the reassurance they will get the support they need over their lifetimes.

An independent evaluation of the services and outcomes in both sites will be undertaken throughout the launch period so the lessons learnt can be shared and taken into account in the future delivery of services in Western Australia and full roll-out of DisabilityCare across Australia.

Under the agreement reached today, the Western Australian and Australian Governments will share the costs of the launch of DisabilityCare on the same basis as the agreements reached with other jurisdictions.

Today’s agreement is another important step forward in the implementation of DisabilityCare Australia.