The Australian Government has outlined reforms to the NDIS that will ensure a better experience for participants and make sure the Scheme is there for the future.  

By co-designing the reforms the government aims to make better, more informed decisions and that people have greater ownership of the decisions made. It makes sure solutions are fit for purpose and do not exclude or marginalize people.

Working closely with people with disability and representatives from the disability community, six co-design initiatives were developed to support these reforms and to build a stronger NDIS.

These initiatives are called Reform for Outcomes (RFO) and focus on:

• Addressing workforce capability to improve the consistency of access and planning decisions. This includes increasing the number of specialised planners.
• Processes to support participants around better planning to manage their funding.
• Implementing a lifetime planning approach so plans are more transparent and enable flexibility for life events.
• Improving the consistency of supported independent living decisions.
• Helping participants understand and access evidenced-based supports.
• Supporting staff to detect, respond to, and reduce provider fraud and non-compliance. 
• Co-design working groups were established to support these initiatives. 

Co-design topics
The following topics have been prioritised for co-design, consultation and engagement activities:

• participant pathway experience
• assessments and budgeting  
• navigator functions  
• participant services  
• psychosocial disability  
• home and living  
• integrity and fraud prevention  
• workforce capability and culture  
• participant safety  
• supporting children and young people in the NDIS.