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What is a Foundational Support?
It might surprise some, but of the 5.5 million people in Australia living with a disability, only 660,000 receive NDIS funding. That’s just above one in ten people.
As the first chairman of the NDIS, Professor Bruce Bonyhady, once described it, the NDIS is like an oasis in a desert.
The introduction of Foundational Supports marks a significant shift in Australia's disability support framework. Jointly co-designed by people with disability and funded by Commonwealth, State, and Territory Governments, these supports will aim to provide essential assistance to people outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This initiative follows recommendations from the NDIS Review and reflects the National Cabinet's December 2023 commitment to broader inclusivity.
Foundational Supports encompass a mix of general and targeted assistance, aiming to meet the needs of people with disability who might not qualify for the NDIS. The goal is to ensure that more Australians with disability can access the resources needed to maintain their well-being and live fulfilling lives.
General Foundational Supports are available to all people with disability under 65. General supports would include Navigators in place of Support Coordinators, Psychosocial Recovery Coaches and Local Area Coordinators, as well as individual advocacy, employment services and general advice among other supports.
Whereas targeted Foundational Supports will be for people with disability under 65 who are not eligible for the NDIS, but still require early intervention or less intensive support. These supports would include home and community care, early intervention and support for life transitions, assistive technologies and more.
Why are they being introduced?
A review into the NDIS was introduced late 2022, calling for a disability support system broader than what is currently available within the scheme, known as Tier 2 supports.
These Tier 2 supports are provided by community groups, organisations, not-for-profit organisations, and local government. Some examples of supports include social skills groups, self-management, and academic support.The review recommended a new support system for people with disability who exist outside of the NDIS.
The review received almost 4,000 submissions, making 26 recommendations which included introducing Foundational Support to address the financial gap between people with disability inside and those living with disability outside the NDIS.
The original thinking around Foundational Supports was that they would be less than a full NDIS plan, but a service that can make a critical difference to people’s lives if they have access to it.
Will it be possible to receive both NDIS and Foundational Support?
Those currently on the NDIS will be able to access General Supports.
According to the Department of Social Services frequently asked questions page regarding Foundational Supports, it states that:
“Accessing these supports will not impact your individualised NDIS package. Some Foundational Supports are intended to be available to all people with disability, whether they are on the NDIS or not. These may include information and advice and capacity building supports.”Will any existing supports be discontinued once Foundational Supports are in place?
Foundational Supports are proposed to replace Tier 2 supports. Tier 2 supports are a type of NDIS service in place for people with disabilities who don't need individualised support.
Sue Olney, an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, says the evolution of the NDIS saw Tier 2 supports for people with disability outside the NDIS fail due to dwindling resources:
“Tier 2 supports were supposed to be services that were in place to delay or prevent or reduce the need for people to seek individual NDIS funding…because that wasn't done properly, we saw very high demand for individual NDIS funding that started to threaten the sustainability of the scheme."
She explains the creation of the NDIS saw most resources for disability support from federal and state governments being directed to the 10 percent of Australians with disability who are eligible for the scheme.
However, access to Tier 2 services is declining due to a number of factors. These include a lack of volunteers in the sector, upon which, in the absence of appropriate funding, many Tier 2 organisations are increasingly dependent.
Recent research by the Melbourne Disability Institute, University of Melbourne, shows that 90 per cent of people with disability in Australia who are not on the NDIS report being unable to access the services and support that they need.
They don't always exist where people live, or they don't always fit the needs and circumstances of the people who need them.
This is where the new Foundational Supports come into play.
However, nothing within the proposed Foundational Supports system has been finalised.
Professor Olney is calling for more clarity around how much money will be attached to the supports, how they might be delivered, and where the workforce is going to come from to deliver them.
“I would like to know what's going to be different about these general Foundational Supports…are there things that will be included under the umbrella of certain lifestyles? We don't know yet what the eligibility criteria for Foundational Supports will be.”
So…what’s the problem?
Professor Olney says the proposed Foundational Supports are similar to what we've seen before. “My concern is that the general Foundational Supports look very much like what we've already had and that hasn't worked.”
She explains previous attempts to implement support systems have failed partially due to policy makers framing strategies around the medical model of disability.
“Something we grapple with all the time in thinking about disability policy…is when we talk about the social model of disability, but we actually ration access to resources using a medical model.”The social model of disability views disability as the result of interactions between people living with impairments and an environment filled with physical, attitudinal, communication and social barriers. Whereas the medical model of disability creates low expectations and leads to people losing independence, choice and control in their lives.
Disability advocates developed the social model of disability because the traditional medical model did not help to develop more inclusive ways of living.
Professor Olney explains in the absence of coordinated oversight of this and proper resourcing, there are real risks that the government could leave more people with disability disadvantaged by the NDIS reforms.
“We'll just see government shifting the problem around without ever actually resolving it.”
How Far Off Are We From Foundational Support?
Some of those close to the development say what is happening now with development of Foundational Supports is happening in a real minefield of competing data, evidence, ministerial accountability, priorities and interests.
According to Professor Olney, a lot of people who might need foundational supports are invisible in government data sets.
“It’s not always consistent across different groups, service systems or different jurisdictions, how people define disability, all of those kinds of questions are very difficult” she says.
“A lot of the consultation around foundational supports has involved people who are in the NDIS and not so much people who are outside the NDIS, who were actually a focus of the original intent of foundational supports.”
However former Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Graeme Innes, disagrees.
“I'm not sure that's correct,” he says.
Innes argues there has been consultation with those who will benefit from the supports.
“There may be other people involved in the conversations, but I believe that the consultations are taking place with the relevant people…because that's what co design is all about.”
What’s Next?
According to the Department of Social Services, a summary report from the consultations will be published in early 2025.
Governments will use the feedback received from consultations with the community to inform the design of Foundational Supports. It is expected some Foundational Supports will commence later in 2025, and implementation will be begin to be phased into communities.