The Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman wrote this report. When you see the word ‘we’, it means the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

We wrote this report in an easy to read way. We use pictures to explain some ideas.

We wrote some important words in bold.

This means the letters are thicker and darker.

We explain what these bold words mean.

There is a list of these words in the word list.

This Easy Read report is a summary of another document. This means it only includes the most important ideas.

You can find the other document on our website.

www.ombudsman.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0026/114992/Investigation-into-the-National-Disability-Insurance-Agencys-preparation-to-meet-the-Participant-Service-Guarantee.pdf

You can ask for help to read this report. A friend, family member or support person may be able to help you.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a way of supporting people with disability around Australia.

The NDIS helps people with disability:

• get the supports and services they need

• work towards their goals.

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) runs the NDIS.

The NDIA must follow the Participant Service Guarantee (PSG).

Participants are people with disability who take part in the NDIS.

And a guarantee is like a promise.

The PSG is a new set of rules the NDIA must follow.

It has 2 parts.

Part 1 explains how long the NDIA can take to:

• make decisions

• do things to help participants.

Part 2 explains how the NDIA must treat participants.

The PSG helps participants know how long the NDIA will take to make decisions that affect:

• them
• people who support them.

The Australian Government made the PSG a law on 1 April 2022.

This means the laws the NDIA follows have changed.

It also means we must write reports about the:

• NDIA
• PSG.

The NDIA has shown they want to make things better for participants.

For example, the NDIA included both parts of the PSG in their Participant Service Charter.

The Participant Service Charter is a document that explains what participants can expect from the NDIA.

You can find an Easy Read version of the Participant Service Charter on the NDIA website.

www.ndis.gov.au/media/2621/download?attachment

We wanted to know what the NDIA did to get ready before the PSG became part of the law.

We checked if the NDIA is ready to follow the new PSG law.

Our report focuses on 4 different areas.

1. How the NDIA plans for the PSG

2. How the NDIA explains how well it’s going

3. How the NDIA communicates

Each area explains what we learned from our investigation.

Each area also explains what we recommend.

When we recommend something, we share an idea that will make things better.

These ideas will help the NDIA make their services better.

We learnt that the NDIA wants to deliver the PSG.

They will do this by including the PSG in information they share.

But the NDIA doesn’t have one document that explains how they will set up the PSG.

We recommend the NDIA combines all their plans into one document.

This means the NDIA can check:

• what they need to do
• how these plans connect with each other.

This will help the NDIA know when they’re not doing things on time.

The PSG explains how long the NDIA can take to make 20 types of:

• actions – things they must do
• decisions.

We learnt that the NDIA has goals for how long these actions and decisions should take.

We also learnt the NDIA didn’t share if they reached all 20 goals.

But they will write reports about these goals by the middle of 2022.

This will help everyone know how well the NDIA is going.

We learnt that the NDIA can do more to keep track of how well they treat participants.

We recommend the NDIA make a plan for how to share how well they are doing.

We learnt the NDIA can do a better job of explaining the PSG to:

• their staff
• the community.

And we think the NDIA can do a better job explaining how well they are going.

For example, they can make sure information about how well they are going is up to date.

We recommend the NDIA make a policy for their website about:

• sharing how well they are going
• when they share that information.

A policy is a plan for how an organisation should do things.

Policies are where rules come from.

We learnt the NDIA has ways of checking if they are following:

• laws
• policies.

This can help the NDIA make their services better.

We also learnt the NDIA are checking if they treat participants well.

We recommend the NDIA check the work they have done so far to make sure they’re treating participants well.

Guarantee

A guarantee is like a promise.

National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)

The NDIA runs the NDIS.

National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

The NDIS is a way of supporting people with disability around Australia.

Participant Service Charter

The Participant Service Charter is a document that explains what participants can expect from the NDIA.

Participant Service Guarantee (PSG)

The PSG is a new set of rules the NDIA must follow.

Participants

Participants are people with disability who take part in the NDIS.

Policy

A policy is a plan for how an organisation should do things.

Policies are where rules come from.

Recommend

When we recommend something, we share an idea that will make things better.

You can call us.

1300 362 072

You can send us an email.

ombudsman@ombudsman.gov.au

You can write to us.

GPO Box 442 Canberra ACT 2601

You can visit our website.

www.ombudsman.gov.au

The Information Access Group created this Easy Read document using stock photography and custom images. The images may not be reused without permission. For any enquiries about the images, please visit www.informationaccessgroup.com. Quote job number 4826.