The NDIS Development Framework

 The NDIS supports participants to develop their life skills. These include developing decision-making capabilities, improving communication and fostering independent living.

The NDIS gives people with disability choice and control over how their supports are provided. This includes how, when and where they are delivered. This is known as the self-directed model.

Life skills

Life skills are abilities for adapting and positive behaviour that enable individuals to cope with the demands of everyday living. These skills are vital to independence, a sense of self-worth and overall quality of life. These skills are not innate but can be acquired through education, practice and support.

Life skill development is a key component of the NDIS. It enables participants to achieve their goals and aspirations, including greater independence, self-confidence, and community participation. It also provides a platform for pursuing employment opportunities and cultivating meaningful relationships.

To develop life skills, it is important to identify areas where improvements are needed and set measurable and realistic goals. Practicing these skills on a regular basis will help you achieve your desired outcomes. For example, if you have difficulty washing dishes, try installing motion-detecting taps or getting utensils with rubberised grips to make them easier to hold. This will improve your hygiene and ensure a comfortable lifestyle.

Supports

The NDIS provides a range of supports that can be accessed through individualised plans. These include support coordination, plan management and a variety of other services. The NDIS works with participants to identify what is'reasonable and necessary' for them, taking into account informal supports from family and friends, as well as community-based organisations. You can learn more about the types of supports available by reading the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits and Support Catalogue.

A unified ecosystem of disability support should include foundational support for 2.5 million Australians with disability, their families and carers. This should include parenting programs that build parents' confidence and skills to support their children with disability, which can reduce reliance on specialist supports in the future. It should also include greater investment in connections with the local community, including mainstream and universal service systems, through Local Area Coordination (LAC). LAC can help people to efficiently connect with a wide range of disability, community and mainstream support services.

Resources

The NDIS development life skills framework sculpts an inclusive society where people with disability are able to unfold their potential. It outlines how this can be achieved and offers metrics for success.

The framework also focuses on improving the NDIS interface with mainstream services and foundational supports. This includes addressing the issue of thin markets and strategies to support NDIS participants in aged care and hospital settings. The NDIS will also ensure that children with clear lifelong support needs continue to have access to the NDIS beyond age 9. Access decisions would be streamlined and based on development relative to peers.

Local area coordination (LAC) will include the development of relationships between the NDIS, people with disability, families and community organisations. LAC will also foster the contribution of lived experience to improve organisational and scheme outcomes. They will do this by building capacity through information, linking people to mainstream supports and enabling community inclusion activities.

Education

Education is essential to a person’s well-being and plays an important role in people with disability leading their lives. The NDIS can assist with this by funding supports that can provide specialised training and educational opportunities. These services can also help people develop life skills like problem-solving and decision-making.

The NDIS can also assist with the transition between educational levels such as from primary school to secondary and from secondary to tertiary. This can be difficult for many people with disability. Supports can be provided to help with this transition, such as assisting with accessing transport and providing accommodation for educational trips. The NDIS can also assist with the purchase of equipment to help with learning and mobility. This can include things like assistive technology and adaptive devices.