Submissions

It’s no secret that providers in the Community Mental Health and Wellbeing sector have struggled to transition from the old block funding model (in which they were paid upfront to provide supports to a certain number of people with disability) to a market-based system (in which people with disability choose their provider and providers are paid for supports delivered). However, it’s not just community managed providers transitioning from block funding who are finding it hard to maintain financial viability under the Scheme; anecdotally, we hear that new providers of psychosocial supports are also struggling to sustain the provision of psychosocial supports under the current pricing model.

QAMH have repeatedly raised these challenges facing NDIS service providers, including our concerns that operating within such tight margins risks provider viability and the ability to provide high-quality supports.

Our comments on how the NDIA can support the development of the sector and build the capacity of providers to deliver high quality supports for the 60,864 Australians with psychosocial disability receiving NDIS funded packages covers the following areas:

• Pricing caps for participants with complex needs
• Pricing arrangements for remote and very remote areas
• Suitability of fee for service model and alternatives