South Australia faces disability accommodation crisis

Special Disability Accommodation (SDA) Smart Homes has responded to Disability Services Minister Bill Shorten, following his speech last week to the National Press Club.

In the speech, Mr Shorten addressed reports from last year which estimated 15 to 20 percent of Government costs associated with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) were the result of dishonest practices, fraud or mismanagement (rorting).

The six key points of the minister’s plan were: 

• Increase staff and specialists working at the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)
• Long-term planning and getting rid of the need for participants to constantly prove their disability status
• Lower costs by cracking down on providers overcharging for services
• Offer more in-home care
• Ensure providers are providing care worth the money
• Push states to support the NDIS to ease the Federal Budget.

Emma Hocking, Chief Executive Officer of SDA Smart Homes says that the proposed crackdown will be welcomed, but funding cuts would be a disaster given the current rental and housing markets.

“For many people in South Australia who qualify for SDA accommodation, they have nowhere else to go other than public hospitals or nursing and aged care accommodation in South Australia because of their need for 24 hour care,” says Ms Hocking.

Since the SDA programme was launched in 2019, SDA Smart Homes has continued to design and build housing for people living with a significant impairment, with the programme granted $700 million dollars in annual NDIS funding.

“That is why special disability accommodation was introduced and the demand for this accommodation continues to grow and will increase by 60 percent over the next seven years, based on figures from the NDIS. The challenge for the NDIS is not to cut funding, but to make current expenditure more efficient in the area of need,” says Ms Hocking.

The organisation believes that demand for SDA in SA is particularly concerning, leading to fewer options for people with disabilities or older people in aged care.

“There is a real problem in the South Australia region in finding enough of the right type and size of land to provide SDA housing,” she adds.

“The land is there but land developers have favoured the owner occupier market and have shunned the investor market over the last few years and that has impacted on the SDA program. It would be a disaster in the current rental and housing market if that continues.”

The Summer Foundation and La Trobe University reported many NDIS participants were in hospital between 1 – 3 months longer than needed, but there was “substantial variation” with some people spending months or years unnecessarily in hospital.

Last year, the SA Government criticised the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) for its “complex and lengthy processes,” during SDA planning.