The Australian Government is seeking suitable community based organisations to help deliver the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) partners in the community (PITC) program. Services will be delivered in 74 service areas across Australia for a five year period from July 2023. This will further improve participant access to support in their local communities.
PITC Program providers are the primary contact for more than 70 per cent of all NDIS participants, delivering local area coordination (LAC) and early childhood (EC) services on behalf of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), linking people with disability to the NDIS as well as to community and mainstream services.
Minister for the NDIS Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC said “I have listened to participants and their representatives, and after eight years’ of transitioning over 500,000 Australians into the insurance scheme, we are now focussed on further improvements to participant access to community and mainstream services, which is the original intent of the PITC program.”
“This also provides an opportunity to partner with organisations in some regional and remote parts of Australia, where services can be difficult to access, and connection to community and mainstream supports are so crucial.
“With the NDIS fully funded and now transforming the lives of so many Australians with a significant and permanent disability, my, and the Australian Government’s, focus is on maturing and improving how the NDIS supports participants and the sector.
“The Government has worked hard to deliver record NDIS funding of $142 billion over the next four years, compared to $8 billion a year for disability support when we came to office.
“I and the NDIA have worked closely with the sector to understand their vision for the future of the PITC program. As a consequence of this engagement, the NDIA will refocus the PITC program to ensure these organisations are truly part of a participant and non-participants trusted network in their community, the sharing of information and resources, and connect them to services to pursue their goals.
“The future PITC program will dedicate more time to the delivery of early supports for children, plan implementation support for individuals and their families or carers, and activities to facilitate greater community inclusion,” Minister Reynolds said.
The NDIA tender and assessment process will run until late 2022 and will ensure new contracts are in place before the current contracts approach their common expiry in June 2023.
To register, or find out further tender details, updates and application closing dates, visit the AusTender website.
