The Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS reported on NDIS Market Readiness.

Basically, the Committee found that the disability sector is not “market ready” and the NDIA needs to do much more to ensure that the NDIS achieves its goals.

The report concludes:

The committee received a wealth of information and evidence throughout the inquiry and thanks all those who participated. As a result, the committee has made 29 recommendations, which aim to ensure that appropriate strategies and responses are swiftly implemented to stimulate the growth of the marketplace and ensure that all NDIS participants have access in a timely manner to the necessary and reasonable supports they are entitled to.

There are major implications for autistic NDIS participants, but these are not recognised. For example, its recommendations include:

Recommendation 6

2.70 The committee recommends the NDIA urgently implement the tailored pathways designed to support:

• participants with complex support needs,
• children aged zero to six,
• participants with psychosocial disability,
• participants from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds,
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities,
• remote and very remote communities, and
• LGBTQIA+ communities.

The report (and officials generally) don’t recognise that autistic people are a major part of all the subgroups … yet officials continue to ignore the distinct needs of autistic Australians.

The report is available from the Committee’s website or from the link below.