1. Developing the Workforce:
The NDIS and Mental Health Workforce Scoping Project
Tina Smith, Senior Policy Advisor
Mental Health Coordinating Council
THeMHS Conference - 25 August 2016
Organisational and Workforce Development

2. National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
Funded disability support services for 430,000 Australians with very high levels of disability to increase social & economic participation
57,000 of these will be people with psychosocial disability related to a mental, health condition (19,000 in NSW)
Administered by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)
Individually funded disability/recovery support services delivered by NGOs
‘Learn and build’ approach to implementation
Many opportunities and challenges

3. Project Partners
NDIS Sector Development Funds through the Mental Health Australia NDIS Capacity Building Project (2013/16)
MHCC funded as lead agency on behalf of CMHA
MHCC partnered with HCA

4. Project Objective Early foundational work to:
Scope the community managed mental health sector’s emerging WFD needs in relation to people with psychosocial disability & NDIS implementation (ie, explores NDIS impact on the MH workforce)
Make findings & recommendations about these (ie, in the context of national implementation of the NDIS & the Commonwealth DSS NDIS ‘Integrated Market Sector and Workforce Strategy’).

5. Project Methodology Project Advisory Group Key informant interviews
Policy/literature scan
Audit of CMHA NDIS WFD related activity
Survey of indicative sector sample (May/June 2015 – 2 year mark for NDIS implementation; n = 34)
Findings, recommendations & final report.

6. Survey sample N = 34 but only 15 (53%) had NDIS experience
Employing about 1,800 workers

7. Key tensions arising related to ….
NDIS as a challenging environment & proving difficult to stay faithful to recovery orientation:
NDIS pricing for psychosocial disability supports (ie, versus rehabilitation)
Workforce skills & qualifications (erosion of Certificate IV standard)
Quality & safety (including emerging industrial issues)
Tensions needed to be ‘resolved’ to reach ‘agreement’ to findings and recommendations … but still early days for NDIS!

8. Project Outcomes HIGH IMPACT: 7 key findings & 10 recommendations
NDIS has affected the nature of work being performed
A change in work has influenced a change in skills requirements
Employment and deployment of workers (casualisation)
Attempting to understand future impact of NDIS on the workforce
Quality assurance / continuous improvement processes
Workforce size
The need to identify good practice in MH WFD in an NDIS context

9. Project recommendations
As described by MHA:
Need for further research
Support for mental health qualifications
Support for effective implementation of necessary workforce flexibility
Sector communications about good practice, and
Effective information dissemination to support organisations to engage with the NDIS

10. Finding 1. Nature of work being performed
65% of those with NDIS experience had changes to the work required (more home based domestic assistance)
56% change to service delivery models

11. Finding 2. Change in work/skills requirements

12. Finding 3. Staff employment/deployment
Peer WFD!

13. WFD Pathway?
Psychosocial disability support and/or rehabilitation/ recovery workers (certification)?

14. Finding 7
What does good practice community sector mental health workforce development look like in an NDIS environment?
Too early to discern good practice
Some innovations arising (eg, peer workforce development)
Flexible workforce approaches needed to move through NDIS implementation and contribute to good practice learning
Importance of customer based marketing approaches
Placing consumers at the heart of WFD decision making.

15. Some final MHCC thoughts ….
Commonwealth DSS Integrated Market, Sector & Workforce Strategy (TBA: Innovation WF Fund 2016/18; ‘Management’ EOI $5M)?
Role delineation/pricing and quality issues (ie, recovery oriented treatment, rehabilitation & support service provision; especially as this relates to early intervention, prevention and promotion)
Public mental health sector NDIS workforce impacts?
Interface with MH reforms through PHNs & WF requirements?
CMHA priorities?: Different needs, preferences & resources in different state/territories

16. Thank you for your participation!
NDIS & MH Workforce Paper available at:
To contact Tina Smith:
For more information about Hunter NDIS and MH trial site activity:
… or … : MHCC NDIS