‘I’m not really sure but I hope it’s better’: early thoughts of parents and carers in a regional trial site for the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme

Perspectives of the National Disability Insurance Scheme: participants’ knowledge and expectations of the scheme

“…Similar to this study, 50% of their sample indicated having no knowledge of the NDIS and when NDIS specific information was provided, it did not provide adequate information for participants to understand the NDIS. The findings from this study andHoward et al (2015) provide evidence that individuals are under-informed about the NDIS.…”

“…In Australia, participants' limited understanding about the NDIS has been identified in research investigating future participants' perspectives of the NDIS. For example,Howard et al (2015) explored the perspectives of parents and care givers of children with disability about the NDIS. Participants were located within the Hunter Region, New South Wales, where a trial site was set to be established.…”

‘Off My Own Back’: Precarity on the Frontlines of Care Work

“…Consistent with the risk economy literature (Beck, 2006;Beddoe, 2010), these programmes represent a shift in risk and responsibility from the government to individual citizens, in the form of frontline employees and care recipients (Giddens, 1999;Howard et al, 2015;Lymbery, 2014). The recommodification of labour (Greer, 2016;Rubery et al, 2018) works hand-in-glove with the downloading of risk, generating a sector where new workers accept precarity and insecure employment as 'normal' and long-time workers argue that 'things were better before', including permanent employment, reasonable hours and income and better care provided to people with disabilities.…”

Using a logic model to evaluate the Kids Together early education inclusion program for children with disabilities and additional needs

“…The model is also consistent with an individualised package approach to disabilities support provided by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), a major reform in the way people with disabilities are supported in Australia (National Disability Insurance Scheme 2014). The move from program based funding to individualised support packages promises new opportunities, but also poses important challenges for service providers in the disabilities services sector which have been highlighted in recent research from the NDIS trial site (Howard, Blakemore et al 2015). Howard et al (2015) for example describe "a parade of different services" in the ECECs in the NDIS Hunter trial and report parents' distress at having continuous staff changes or different professionals providing components of support in isolation.…”

“…The move from program based funding to individualised support packages promises new opportunities, but also poses important challenges for service providers in the disabilities services sector which have been highlighted in recent research from the NDIS trial site (Howard, Blakemore et al 2015). Howard et al (2015) for example describe "a parade of different services" in the ECECs in the NDIS Hunter trial and report parents' distress at having continuous staff changes or different professionals providing components of support in isolation. Two other significant challenges with the NDIS changes include assumptions about the capacity of parents and families to support their children through this new approach and equity of access to appropriate services, particularly in regional and rural settings (Howard, Blakemore et al 2015).…”