Building the Allied Health Workforce for an NDIS Future

This project aims to develop strategies and resources to support the new challenges for service and education providers in how to best facilitate work-integrated learning student placements amid the changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) model.

We want to support the development of a quality allied health workforce who can respond to the changes the NDIS model presents for service provision and student training.

All stakeholders including NDIS participants, organisations, allied health practitioners and health professional students, would benefit from working together to design and offer services.

The focus of this project is on service provision in northern Adelaide suburbs.

Free online training

Visit the open learning website and sign up to access free, flexible online resources to learn about the challenges and opportunities involved with allied health student placements in the new fee-for-service model for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

This course is suitable for:

university academics and placement organisers
disability service providers
allied health students and NDIS participants.

Visit the open learning website

Impact on student training

The NDIS represents a shift away from historical block funding for public services and towards a fee-for-service model. In this new model, clients negotiate and engage services in a market environment.

This change impacts how students can gain experience in working with people who have disabilities. New challenges are brought up for service providers in how they facilitate student placements effectively and appropriately.

There has been limited investigation of these issues despite the expectation that the demand for allied health services in some areas of South Australia will quadruple.

Our project responds to the need for allied health professionals, educators and service providers to develop innovative and collaborative solutions that:

meet client needs;
fit with the capabilities of service providers; and
address student competencies.

The model, resources or strategies that are developed throughout this project aim to support training so students develop practical skills for future work with NDIS-funded clients. These skills will prepare students to work in disability settings after graduation.

Trial site - Northern Adelaide

Implementing the project in the northern area of Adelaide will give a real-world practice context to students and educators involved in the facilitation of student placements within the NDIS funding model.

Northern Adelaide is the first region to receive the full rollout of the NDIS in South Australia. The State aims to be fully transitioned by 2019.

Disability Workforce Hub

Northern Adelaide has been the focus of several workforce initiatives in South Australia. In order to respond to the increased demand resulting from the transition to the NDIS, the Disability Workforce Hub has been set up in Elizabeth.

The Disability Workforce Hub is a partnership between:

Northern Futures
State Government
National Disability Services SA (NDS)
The University of South Australia
Flinders University

Learn more

Partners

We will partner with stakeholders to:

Identify barriers and opportunities for NDIS providers to provide quality placement experiences for students.
Develop a model for incorporating student placements in NDIS funded services that meet the needs of the NDIS providers, participants, students and the professions.
Evaluate an implementation trial of the model in partnership with NDIS providers and other key stakeholders.
Inform development of resources or processes required to support implementation of the model.