If you haven't filled in an information form yet, please complete our Participant First Information form (opens in new window) before expressing an interest in any opportunities. You are more likely to be selected for an opportunity if you have completed the Participant Information form. We do this to make sure the people with the right experience are selected.
Opportunity 1:
Accessing an early childhood education and care service - Document review focus group
Expressions of interest close Sunday, 25 June 2023
Focus Group Purpose:
Early childhood education and care services are for children who are 0 to 6 years of age. Across Australia they may be known as childcare, preschool, kindergarten, or family day care and can include any formal early years learning centres.
We want to make sure families have access to information about early childhood education and care for their child. To support this, we have created two documents that aim to make it easier for families to:
Choose an early childhood education and care service that will best suit their child and family.
Have conversations with early childhood education and care service educators about their child's individual strengths and needs.
We want to hear from 12 family members, carers or representatives of children who are 0 to 6 years old and have developmental concerns, developmental delay or disability. We want to speak to people who are already connected with, or are thinking about connecting with, an early childhood education and care service for their child.
We will hold two focus groups and your feedback will help us make sure our documents:
Are easy to understand.
Are written in plain English.
Include the right information.
Date:
Thursday, 6 July 2023 or Monday, 10 July 2023
Time by state:
11.00 am to 12.30 pm WA
12.30 pm to 2.00 pm NT, SA
1.00 pm to 2.30 pm VIC, TAS, ACT, NSW, QLD
Paid pre-reading time:
30 minutes. We will send you the meeting documents one week before the Focus Group.
We are updating Would We Fund It - Home automation to provide greater clarity around home automation supports. In particular, the update focuses on home automation supports the NDIS may fund for participants in Specialist Disability Accommodation
In our focus session we asked the group about their thoughts on the Would We Fund It. We discussed the language used, whether the information is clear, and how the examples relate to their own situation.
Based on the feedback we heard, we are making updates to the Would We Fund It to include:
more clarity on the difference between home modifications and assistive technology
more clarity on the responsibility of the NDIS for participants living in Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA), and what SDA providers are responsible for
more explanation on why we would or wouldn't fund the supports in each of the examples
sympathetic wording and tone, particularly around what we wouldn't fund
We also heard feedback that we will consider for longer term updates in the future. This includes:
make the Would We Fund It available in easy read and languages other than English
an overview of the scope and definition of home automation
an introduction summary, with relevant key words
an example involving children and young people.
The Would We Fund It - Home automation will be published in the coming months.
Thank you again to the Participant First focus group members who attended our session, for sharing their experiences and for their considered feedback.
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us about having conversations about pronouns and gender identity in a culturally safe and inclusive way. Your time and knowledge has been invaluable in making sure the new guideline will benefit all NDIS participants.
The updated guideline (opens in new window) explains how we will process changes to legal and preferred names, pronouns and information about gender and what participants and applicants need to do.
For participants and applicants who are wanting to update their personal details, we have also published:
These resources will make it easier for participants and applicants to update their names, pronouns and information about their gender with the NDIS.
If you have questions or feedback about these guides, please email [email protected].
We only need you to send your information form once, and nothing else.
If you need help with the form, or you have any questions, please email us or call or text us on 0436 649 469 or 0439 406 141.
Friendly reminder:
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A box will appear at the top of the screen with Submission Completed. If you press the Submit Form a second time it will create an error message, however your form has been completed and you can now close your browser.
Invite a family member, carer or friend
If you know anyone you think might be interested in taking part in any of the opportunities or joining the Participant First Engagement initiative, please let them know they can do so by completing the Participant First Information form (opens in new window).
General Feedback and Enquiries
We know sometimes you may have important general feedback or enquiries about the NDIS which does not relate to the Participant First Engagement initiative. We'd like to remind you that you are able to submit your queries to the email addresses below: