The team spent time yarning with community members to build understanding about the NDIS—what it is, how to access it, and how supports can be strengthened locally.
During the visit, community members shared their experiences, the challenges they face, and what extra help would make a real difference. There were also some great chats about new opportunities for individuals and the wider community to engage with the NDIS and grow local capacity.
The mental health system in Australia is unsustainable and is not meeting the needs of all help seekers. From June 2024 – April 2025, The Department of Health and Aged Care funded SANE to lead a sector-wide investigation into the key reasons driving this issue.
Thriving Kids will focus on identifying developmental concerns earlier and establishing a national system of supports for children aged 8 and under with mild to moderate developmental delay and autism, and their families. Children with permanent and significant disability will continue to be supported through the NDIS. The program will be delivered by scaling and building on existing mainstream and community services that can better support families and children in settings they already are connected to.
Important changes are being made to the NDIS to make it fairer, easier to navigate, and more flexible to support participants to work towards their goals.
A recent review confirmed art and music therapy can be effective and beneficial for some people in some situations. A new Therapy Support Operational Guideline will be published shortly.
The NDIS has officially selected the I-CAN (Instrument for Classification and Assessment of Support Needs, version 6) as its needs assessment tool for participants aged 16 and over. NDIA assessors will use I-CAN to determine a person’s required supports across 12 core domains, scoring both how often support is needed and how intensive that support must be.
Each year up to 25 people with disability are chosen to participate in this program. It provides a safe and inclusive environment to develop critical thinking, explore leadership theory, systems thinking and systems change, practice techniques, have inquiring conversations, build relationships, and connect with established leaders.
Inclusive Employment Australia is a new specialist disability employment program. It assists people with disability, injury or health condition to find and maintain work and grow their career. It will replace the Disability Employment Services (DES) program on 1 November 2025.
Provider Digital Access (PRODA) is being replaced with myID and Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM). All providers and their employees who access NDIS provider portals need to complete the transition to myID and RAM by 10 November 2025 to maintain access to the NDIA provider portals.
RJC Employment Survey looks to capture local employer demand, workforce challenges and skills needed in Mt Isa and Camooweal. Scan the QR code to have your say.