Foundational Supports- What we're hearing on the ground

If you're a person with a disability, a carer or work in the field, you may have been asked to Have Your Say about Foundational Supports (FS). This is a general term for every form of support that exists (or existed) for people with mental health/ disability outside the NDIS.

An island in a sea of unmet need

Approximately 4.4 million Australians (about 18% of the population) have a disability. Of these, around 550,000 are participants are in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Regarding mental health, about 1 in 5 Australians experience a mental illness in any given year, which translates to roughly 5 million people. The vast majority of people with disability not on the NDIS are getting community supports however they can, which currently amounts to little or nothing. This, according to partners such as People with Disability Australia and the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) is leading to tragic consequences.

Slammed by the system

In their submissions to the National Suicide Prevention Strategy, ACOSS and PWDA draw parallels between the housing/cost of living crisis and lack of community-based supports-

'People with Disability are three times more likely to die by suicide than those without disability, with a suicide rate of 33.5 per 100,000 people compared to 11.4 per 100,000 people without disability.' ACOSS

Young people, Aboriginals, people from non-English speaking backgrounds, LGBTIQA+ are especially at risk due to all the indicators of vulnerability. If you belong to any or all of these groups you are most at risk. A recent Government roundtable heard from people with disability about the importance of rolling out Foundational Supports as a matter of urgency.

?What is needed right now

Participants described an ecosystem of programs that existed prior to, and in the early days of the NDIS.

"Programs like Ability Links helped people find a job, live independently, develop friendships, pursue a dream- Whatever it was that you needed to thrive." Said Mark Pietsch, Disability Peer and Advocate.

"Whether you were on the NDIS or not, these programs were free with no time limit or diagnosis required."

"We don't have to reinvent the wheel. We just need what we had before, run by people with a lived experience. But properly funded and a greater scale," Mark Pietsch.

"I had a recovery coach who was there helping me through a very difficult time. They knew how to listen and, I mean this..." continued Jessica,

"...without that level of trauma-informed support I don't think I'd be here. How are people even managing right now with nothing? I'm guessing many are not." Jessica, mental health consumer and advocate.

“We need a single national or at least state-based point of contact to enter the system and a no wrong door approach, so that people can easily find out all there is available to them.” Giulia Jones, carer and CEO, Community Mental Health Australia.

Have you tried accessing community-based supports outside of the NDIS? What works for you and what would you like to see more of?