National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants' Plans—South Australia) Amendment Rules 2016 (Cth)

National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans— South Australia) Amendment Rules 2016

National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013

I, CHRISTIAN PORTER, Minister for Social Services, make these Rules for the purposes of section 204 of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013.

Dated: 5 May 2016

The Hon. Christian Porter MP

Minister for Social Services

_____________________________________________________________________

1 Name of Rules

These Rules are the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—South Australia) Amendment Rules 2016.

2Commencement

1. These Rules commence on the day after this Instrument is registered.

3Amendment of National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—South Australia) Rules 2014

Schedule 1 amends the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—South Australia) Rules 2014.

Schedule 1 Amendments

Item 1Paragraph 1.2

Omit this paragraph and replace with:

“1.2 To enable an orderly transition, participants will be phased into the NDIS. There are two steps involved in accessing supports under the NDIS. The first is to become a participant: the prospective participant makes an access request and the CEO decides that they meet the access criteria. The second is for the participant to have a plan approved by the CEO of the Agency. These Rules relate to the second step, and the order in which the CEO will commence the facilitation of the preparation of plans for different classes of participants.”

Item 2Paragraph 1.3

Omit:

“1.3 In South Australia, the NDIS launch will initially be restricted to persons in particular age groups: see the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Becoming a Participant) Rules 2013. For the first year of the NDIS (1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014), only persons under the age of 6 can become participants. In the second year, the NDIS will become accessible to persons aged under 14, and from the third year, to persons aged under 15.

Item 3Paragraph 1.4

Omit this paragraph and replace with:

“1.4 These Rules explain how participants in South Australia will be phased into the NDIS.”

Item 4Paragraph 1.5

Omit this paragraph and replace with:

“1.5 The phasing schedule is intended to give effect to the agreements that have been reached between the Commonwealth and South Australia.”

Item 5Paragraph2.1

Omit this paragraph and replace with:

“2.1 Once a person becomes a participant, the CEO can commence facilitating the preparation of a plan for the person. The process for commencing the facilitation of the preparation of plans for participants in South Australia is detailed below.”

Item 6Paragraph2.2

Omit:

“2.2. This Part does not apply to a person who made an access request before 1 July 2014, unless the access request is decided by the CEO on or after 1 July 2014. This Part applies to persons aged under 14 on 1 July 2014 and who make access requests in the second year of the NDIS (between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2015), as well as to such persons who make access requests in the first year of the NDIS but whose requests are decided by the CEO in the second year. The phasing of participants in the birth to age 5 group who became participants in the first year of the NDIS (between 1 July 2013 and 30 June 2014) is done in accordance with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—South Australia) Rules 2013, which remain in force.”

Item 7Paragraph2.3

Omit this paragraph and replace with:

“2.3 The table in paragraph 2.6 sets out seven classes of South Australian participants and sets out the circumstances in which the CEO is to commence the facilitation of those participants’ plans.

Item 8Paragraph 2.4

Omit this paragraph and replace with:

“2.4 The CEO cannot make a decision to commence facilitating the preparation of plans for a class before the date specified in the table for that class. Otherwise, the sequence of classes is not inflexible. The CEO need not be satisfied that all participants in a particular class have had their plans facilitated before moving on to the next class; the Agency might have the capacity to commence the facilitation of plans in Class 2 before having fully completed that task for Class 1. Further, the classes do not close at any point in time. For example, a person in Class 1 who becomes a participant after the Agency has started to facilitate plans for Class 2 participants can still have their plan facilitated while participants in Class 2 are having their plans facilitated.”

Item 9Paragraph 2.5

Omit this paragraph and replace with:

“2.5 If a participant who is a resident of an NDIS area in South Australia does not fall within one of the classes in the table, the CEO is to commence facilitating the preparation of the participant’s plan as soon as reasonably practicable having regard to the CEO’s obligations to commence facilitating the preparation of other participants’ plans. Such participants are not part of the phasing sequence set out in the table; their plans will be facilitated as soon as reasonably practicable after they become participants. This ensures equity of access to the NDIS for such participants.

Paragraph 2.5 summarises the effect of subsection 32(3) of the Act.”

Item 10Paragraph 2.6

Omit this paragraph and replace with:

“2.6 In urgent circumstances, the CEO can commence the facilitation of the preparation of a participant’s plan at a particular time, despite the sequence set out in the table in paragraph 2.7 If the CEO does so, the CEO is able to delay the commencement of the facilitation of the preparation of other participants’ plans, so far as is reasonably necessary, even if that delay would be contrary to that sequence.

Paragraph 2.6 summarises the effect of subsection 32A(3) of the Act.”

Item 11Paragraph 2.7

Omit this paragraph and replace with:

“2.7 The seven classes of participants, and the circumstances in which the CEO is to commence the facilitation of plans for participants in those classes, are as follows:

Class	Participants in the class	Circumstances in which the CEO is to commence the preparation of the facilitation of the participants’ plans
Class 1	Participants who, on 1 February 2016, are aged under 15 years and who are receiving disability services provided or funded by the Commonwealth or South Australia	As soon as practicable after the participants become participants
Class 2	Participants who, on 1 February 2016, are aged under 15 years and who are not receiving disability services provided or funded by the Commonwealth or South Australia	As soon as practicable after the participants become participants
Class 3	Persons who are aged under 18	The CEO decides (on or after 1 January 2017) that the Agency has the capacity to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans, in light of the number of participants in Class 1 and 2 whose plans have been dealt with and the number yet to be dealt with
Class 4	Residents of the following districts of South Australia, as those areas are defined in Schedule A to this Instrument: • Barossa; • Light and Lower North; • Playford; • Salisbury and Port Adelaide Enfield (East)	The CEO decides (on or after 1 July 2017) that the Agency has the capacity to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans, in light of the number of participants in Classes 1, 2 and 3 whose plans have been dealt with and the number yet to be dealt with
Class 5	Residents of the following districts of South Australia, as those areas are defined in Schedule A to this Instrument: • Tea Tree Gully; • Limestone Coast; • Murray and Mallee.	The CEO decides (on or after 1 October 2017) that the Agency has the capacity to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans, in light of the number of participants in Classes 1, 2, 3 and 4 whose plans have been dealt with and the number yet to be dealt with
Class 6	Residents of the following districts of South Australia, as those areas are defined in Schedule A to this Instrument: • Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island; • Southern Adelaide; • Eyre and Western; • Far North; • Yorke and Mid North.	The CEO decides (on or after 1 January 2018) that the Agency has the capacity to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans, in light of the number of participants in Classes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 whose plans have been dealt with and the number yet to be dealt with
Class 7	Residents of the following districts of South Australia as defined in Schedule A to this Instrument: • Adelaide Hills; • Eastern Adelaide; • Western Adelaide.	The CEO decides (on or after 1 April 2018) that the Agency has the capacity to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans, in light of the number of participants in Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 whose plans have been dealt with and the number yet to be dealt with”

Interpretation

Item 12Paragraph 3.4

Insert:

“NDIS area has the same meaning as in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Becoming a Participant) Rules 2016.”

Omit the definition of South Australia and replace with:

“South Australiahas the same meaning as in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Becoming a Participant) Rules 2016.

Item 13Schedule A

Insert after the end of paragraph 3.5 in Part 3:

“Schedule A

NDIS areas – South Australia

District

Districts are comprised of the following local government areas of South Australia as at 1 January 2016

Barossa, Light and Lower North

Barossa

Gawler

Light

Mallala

Playford

Salisbury and Port Adelaide Enfield (East)

Playford

Salisbury

Port Adelaide Enfield (East)

Tea Tree Gully

Tea Tree Gully

Limestone Coast

Grant

Kingston

Mount Gambier

Naracoote and Lucindale

Robe

Tatiara

Wattle Range

Murray and Mallee

Berri and Barmera

Karoonda East Murray

Loxton Waikerie

Mid Murray

Murray Bridge

Renmark Paringa

Southern Mallee

The Coorong

Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island

Alexandrina

Kangaroo Island

Victor Harbour

Yankalilla

Southern Adelaide

Holdfast Bay

Marion

Mitcham

Onkaparinga

Eyre and Western

Ceduna

Cleve

Elliston

Franklin Harbour

Kimba

Lower Eyre Peninsula

Port Lincoln

Streaky Bay

Tumby Bay

Whyalla

Wudinna

Far North

Anangu Pitjantjatjara

Coober Pedy

Flinders Ranges

Port Augusta

Roxby Downs

Yorke and Mid North

Barunga West

Clare and Gilbert Valleys

Copper Coast

Goyder

Mount Remarkable

Northern Areas

Orroroo/Carrieton

Peterborough

Port Pirie City and Dists

Wakefield

Yorke Peninsula

Adelaide Hills

Adelaide Hills

Mount Barker

Eastern Adelaide

Adelaide

Burnside

Campbelltown

Norwood Payneham St Peters

Prospect

Unley

Walkerville

Western Adelaide

Charles Sturt

Port Adelaide Enfield (West)

West Torrens”