Review recommends major changes to specialist disability housing

States must upgrade all ageing specialist disability accommodation stock and the NDIA should commission SDA in regional areas rather than leaving it to the market to meet demand.

Disability generic

States must upgrade all ageing specialist disability accommodation (SDA) stock and the NDIA should commission SDA in regional areas rather than leaving it to the market to meet demand, the NDIS review has recommended.

The 329-page report, released on Thursday, recommended participants should go from receiving one-on-one supports in their homes to a ratio of one to three. The Disability Royal Commission urged an end to group homes, in which up to eight people with disabilities live in the same setting, sharing services.

There should be one support worker per three participants, the review said. It stressed that shared supports did not necessitate shared housing, with three participants able to live in the vicinity of each other and share a service.

 Supported independent living payments were $8.8bn this year. The scheme was designed to incentivise private developers to build SDA.

Inclusion Australia Catherine McAlpine said the emphasis on shared supports was welcome and would help phase out large group homes.

Former NDIS board member Martin Laverty said a lot of SDA was “dreadful” and new housing needed to be established. “There hasn’t been a co-ordination as to where new housing needs to be established,” he said.

SARAH ISON