In this newsletter there are 2 external opportunities from The Achieve Foundation. They want to speak to people with disability about their experience seeking employment.
In our outcomes of engagement section, you can read about how your feedback is helping to shape the NDIS. This week's updates include the Guide for understanding supports for children who are blind or have low vision, and Guides for understanding supports about supporting your child with assistive technology.
Thank you for your ongoing support for the Participant First Engagement Initiative.
External opportunity 1: Disability employment focus group
Expressions of interest close Friday, 29 September 2023
Focus group purpose:
The Achieve Foundation wants to speak to people with disability about their experience of seeking employment. They also want to ask for feedback about a proposal. The proposal discusses a new employment plan. The new employment plan will place, train and support people with disability to work in the disability sector.
This initiative is led by the Achieve Foundation. The Achieve Foundation has partnered with Yooralla, Achieve Australia and Life Without Barriers to start the initiative. It is not connected with the NDIA or NDIS.
The Achieve Foundation is looking to speak to a diverse group of people with disability who:
have experience seeking employment and/or using employment services.
are happy sharing their experiences in a group setting
are happy to give feedback about a proposed service model in a group setting
Expressions of interest close Friday, 6 October 2023
Co-design panel purpose:
The Achieve Foundation is working to make Australia a more inclusive place for people with disability. They are led by a small team, including staff with disability.
The Achieve Foundation is recruiting people with disability for a co-design panel for the Disability Employment Catalyst. This initiative is funded by the Paul Ramsay Foundation. This initiative is not connected with the NDIA or NDIS.
What is the Disability employment catalyst?
The Disability employment catalyst helps people with disability to find a job in the disability service sector. These are open employment jobs.
The Disability employment catalyst will make sure that the person with disability has support throughout the employment process. People with disability can tell us what they want and need from a job. We will listen and try to find the best job to suit them.
We will help people access training if they need. We will also provide support once the person is in the job. We want people to continue to build skills to progress in their workplace.
The Disability employment catalyst will also benefit the employer. The employers will have access to more staff because of the Disability employment catalyst.
Three organisations are involved with the Disability employment catalyst. These organisations are Yooralla, Life Without Barriers and Achieve Australia. We want to expand the Disability employment catalyst into more industries and across Australia to drive change.
The co-design panel will help make decisions about how the Disability employment catalyst is developed.
The Achieve Foundation is looking for people with disability who:
have experience searching for a job and/or have experience using an employment service
are happy to share ideas and feedback in a group setting
If email is more accessible for you, please contact [email protected].
Outcomes of engagement
GUS - Guide for understanding supports for children who are blind or have low vision
We are creating a series of Guides for understanding supports for children who are blind or have low vision. During 2 focus groups in August and September 2023, we asked for feedback about some examples of topics that might be in the first draft of the Guides.
From the feedback you gave us, the first draft of the new Guides will:
Include the ages and stages of development for children.
Highlight allied health and early intervention supports.
Focus on psychological health throughout the Guides, including children with deteriorating vision.
Include information on finding suitable peer supports for your child.
Highlight available community supports, both integrated and specific to different disabilities.
Guides for understanding supports - Supporting your child with assistive technology
Assistive technology (AT) can help some children work towards their goals. This can help with family relationships, friendships, education, play and household tasks.
The series of Guides for understanding supports is a resource to help people with disability, their families and carers think about what supports best suit their individual needs.
If you live in rural or regional Australia and have questions about the NDIS, we will be visiting rural and regional New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia from 19 September to 14 December.
NDIA staff and partners will be alongside the Services Australia Mobile Service Centre either in person or online.
We can talk to you about:
understanding the NDIS, including early childhood and local area coordination services
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:
When completing the Participant First information form please make sure you press the Submit Button once only to end the session.
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: