Statement: Anglicare NT to exit NDIS Individual Support in Darwin

Anglicare NT has made the difficult decision to wind down and discontinue delivering Individual Support Services in Darwin under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

** Please note our NDIS Individual Support Services still operate as normal in Katherine and Nhulunbuy and NDIS Support Coordination operates NT-wide.

This is something we have worked hard to avoid, because we know the impact this will have on clients who our staff and organisation have cared for and built strong relationships with over many years of operations.

We are working closely with relevant support coordinators, family and guardians to transition existing clients to alternative service providers and are committed not to cease service provision until this has occurred, and we are working with the NDIA to make the transition to other providers as smooth as possible.

Flawed funding model

A recent internal review confirmed a significant financial loss for the organisation making it untenable for Anglicare NT to continue to offer Darwin Individual Support Services.

“Despite many alternative approaches being explored and implemented over a long period, we haven’t been able to reduce substantial losses that have continued to accrue over that time. This to a large degree reflects the NDIS funding model and challenges in delivering in a regional centre” said Craig Kelly CEO Anglicare NT.

Anglicare NT believes the NDIS funding model works best for service providers with almost no overheads as only face to face contact is funded. “Staff training, team meetings, supervisor support and reporting are unfunded because they happen outside of face-to-face contact. We conduct our services ethically and with a customer centric approach, and despite our best efforts, we can’t make the funding model work”.

“Under the regional centre model we simply can’t provide clients with the quality of services needed with the current funding allocation. This isn’t about making a profit, or breaking even, sustained losses eventually impact on the financial security of our other services. It’s been a difficult decision, but it just isn’t tenable for us to continue offering this service,” said Craig.

Anglicare NT supports funding model review

We strongly encourage a thorough review of the current funding model that would take into consideration the operational realities of metropolitan service delivery and the substantial quality and value add that medium to large organisations offer but cannot sustain in the current environment.