On 1 December 2020, the Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS released its final report on NDIS planning. The Report outlines 42 broad-ranging recommendations that the Committee has made to address long-standing issues with the NDIS planning process.

In its final report, the Committee has referred to aspects of AudA’s submission, highlighting the following issues and concerns raised by our members:

* the funding discrepancies for participants with similar needs and goals in the area of assistive technology.

* the possibility that access to NDIS funding may be inconsistent within and across different regions, and may be dependent on how much advocacy a participant has and the planner’s knowledge of and attitudes towards hearing services.

* participants being told that the level of funding that they could receive for a given device was higher through the Department of Health’s Hearing Services Community Service Obligation scheme.

* people organising the planning meeting or other contacts not following participants’ requests for preferred methods of communication.

* people with hearing loss being told by the NDIS that communication with them must be done by telephone.

The Committee also noted the following key points in AudA’s submission:

* that funding for specific devices should be based on individual goals and needs and should at least be comparable across all Government-funded programs.

* participants unable to access face-to-face services, especially in remote areas, would benefit if the NDIS were to fund teleaudiology through increased and more timely access to audiological services.

You can read the Committee’s final report here.