I've Got A Great Idea - Pitch Night

Karista hosted our first ‘I’ve Got A Great Idea’ pitch night at the Melbourne City Bowls Club on Wednesday 2nd October.

Congratulations to all our pitchers, who showed how innovative thinking and creative use of technology can improve lives.

Pitches were given by:

• Gary James of Busy Beans who provide barista training and support to participants, allowing them to move into either disability employment services or mainstream supportive employment. 

• Lisa Du of ReadyTechGo who provide personalised one on one technology training that empowers NDIS participants, enabling them to remain independent and connected in a digitally driven world.

• Alex Barty from Tali - an online assessment and therapy training tool for children with attention difficulties who struggle to focus their mind on a task, to listen, to absorb information or to control impulsive behaviors and emotional outbursts.

• Lisa Skaife of myDriveschool , who has developed a simulation game that teaches people how to drive online. Delivered via a PC with a portable steering wheel and foot pedals, it is designed to bridge the gap between theory and practical driver training.

• Paris Conte of genU GAMER - a digital technology initiative that embraces the gaming sub-cultures, by encouraging and supporting individuals through the use of digital technology and tabletop gaming. By utilising popular gaming hobbies, GAMER provides platforms for young people to develop social skills and build their capacity by exploring, testing and practising a wide variety of valuable life skills.

• Simone Dudley of Therapy Connect - who provide online therapy for speech pathology, occupational therapy and psychology. Online therapy uses videoconferencing technology to deliver therapy services over the internet. It is also known as “teletherapy”, “telepractice” or “telehealth”.

• Marion Van Nierop of NECAS - Working with Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) specialists, NECAS provide customised non-electronic communication aids to children and adults with communication difficulties.

Congratulations to Lisa Du from ReadyTechGo who was voted as the winner for the night by our audience.

Danielle and the Karista team would also like to thank our panelists:

• Sue Peden, Board member of Carers Australia,

• David Petherick, Deputy CEO of VALID (Victorian Advocacy League for Individuals with a Disability)

• Deb Dean, consulting with the NDIS on the Boosting the Local Care Workforce Program

We’d also like to thank all of the NDIS Support Coordinators who came along and contributed to our audience.

Congratulations once again to Lisa Du, we can’t wait to see how ReadyTechGo grows in the future.

The I’ve Got A Great Idea Pitchers

NDIS Changes in 2019

Changes are coming to the NDIS in 2019, what can you expect to change and how will this effect you?

Improved Planning Supports

• New participant pathways - changing how your journey starts, improved customer interactions when creating your NDIS plan

• Better links with all supports including informal, employment and community

• Face-to-face planning support will be offered to participants during the critical pre-planning and plan implementation stages.

• Improved connections between NDIA planners and and Local Area Coordinators (LACs), who will become a consistent point of contact during the participant's journey

• Improved training for LACs and planners - Helping them to understand the diverse range of needs and situations of their participants

• Critical information will be presented in Easy English and languages other than English.

Different Supports for Different Needs

• A complex needs pathway has been established. The aim is to provide specialised supports for people living with a disability who also have other complex needs. These people will now be supported by a specialised team of support coordinators, planning teams and NDIA liaison who have experience in managing those with complex and high needs.

• Clearer guidelines for determining which people with hearing impairments are eligible for the NDIS. Newborn children and people with severe or profound hearing loss or auditory neuropathy have been escalated for urgent response.

• Improvements are also being made to better-support people with severe and persistent mental health issues – known as a psychosocial disability – who are eligible for the NDIS.

• Training for support coordinators to improve planning and understanding of different disabilities

Provider Changes

• Clear and easy to understand policies for pricing

• Simplified registration process with a nationally consistent approach

• More efficient payments with a dedicated team to help resolve claiming issues and help providers understand the payment system better

• Regular engagements with providers to help the NDIA to better understand business needs and raise awareness of the purpose of the NDIS.

If you’d like to the full list of changes being made this year please follow this link .

Source: NDIS