The end of the year has seen us doing a great deal of consultancy and advocacy work within the NDIS space. AAPi CSO Amanda Curran met with the Allied Health Professions Australia Disability Working Group and the NDIS Information Gathering For Access and Planning Steering Committee to provide our perspectives on the issues currently within the NDIS system, including the process of determining if clients are eligible for NDIS. Amanda is also a representative for Allied Health Professions Australia on both the NDIS IGAP Project Professional Advice Panel and the NDIS Mental Health Sector Reference Group.
Amanda has spoken with or been in email communication with many of you over the past months to garner your feedback about the NDIS. This information was key to being able to advocate effectively for changes within the system and bring respect back to the clinical reasoning of psychologists working within the disability sector. This work will continue, and paired with the current NDIS review, we are hopeful for significant changes to the NDIS so that there is improved access to psychologists for the disabled community and reduced distress for those who apply for NDIS. We also thank our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Expert Reference Group for adding your voice to the contribution AAPi was able to make. Your perspective was taken on board, and this now provides an opportunity for the NDIS to step up and start to do things differently in a culturally safe and community-led manner for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.