The Melbourne Disability Institute and the Brotherhood of St Laurence are co-funding a research project on the different housing pathways available for people with disability.
The project aims to provide practical resources for individuals and communities to build pathways to access and maintain housing for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants by promoting existing options and encouraging the transfer of proven models around Australia.
The project is framed around seven interconnected housing segments; new Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA), existing SDA, non-SDA supported accommodation, social housing, private rental, in own home and in family home. The project will focus mostly on those not in or eligible for Specialist Disability Accommodation, “the other 94%” on the basis there is money and skilled operators in the SDA space already.
Project aims
The project aims to:
- Identify and review existing information, services and research
- Produce resources in a variety of formats including digital
- Distribute the resources to a range of groups commencing with Local Area Co-ordinators
- Develop and pilot training packages based on the material produced
- Develop and pilot a community-based methodology to support community understanding and action to house the NDIS participants in their community.
- Promote research opportunities around NDIS and housing
The information and tools produced during the seven month project will be disseminated through an online platform open to people with disability, service providers and Local Area Coordinators to respond to the increasing need for accessible housing.
The project aims to provide information that will help people with disability find housing. If you have a housing-related question you would like answered, submit it here and we will do our best to address it through this project.
The project will be led by Joseph Connellan, who has been appointed as Senior Manager – Housing at the Melbourne Disability Institute. Joseph has 30 years’ experience in the development and delivery of housing and services to people with disability. He has worked as a consultant in this space for the last ten years through his company, MC Two, and has recently published “Two Hands: Delivering More and Better Housing for Australia’s NDIS.”
Two Hands: Delivering More and Better Housing for Australia’s NDIS Participants
This book provides information about the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and its development, details of current supply and the proposed Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) policies. It explores funding and growth opportunities and presents a framework to support the analysis of any housing project for people with a disability. Finally, it looks at the implications of some key policy directions, such as separation of housing and support and choice of provider.
Submit question here Read Q&A here
Your Housing questions answered
All Housing Segments
What are the barriers to accessing and maintaining housing for NDIS participants?
What types of housing are available for people with a disability?
What affordability benchmarks are used in housing?
New SDA
Can SDA recipients own their own SDA?
What options are available for a young person living in residential aged care?
What new governance models for group homes are out there?
Existing SDA
How have group homes changed?
Are people who get SDA allowed to claim Commonwealth Rent Assistance and how is it determined?
Non-SDA Supported Accommodation
How will the NDIS impact people living in Supported Residential Services (SRS)? Will they be able to access alternative options?
Social Housing
Why do social housing landlords require NDIS participants to have supports before considering their application? Is this requirement discrimination?
In Own Home
Who can I appoint as manager for the house (which we own) in which our son lives, who is not eligible for Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA)?
The NDIS Housing Pathways Project
What is the MDI NDIS Housing Pathways Project?
This page lists a number of links to websites which we think may contain helpful information. Please note this page is still under construction and will be added to over time.
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Housing and the NDIS
Information provided by the National Disability Insurance Agency on housing for NDIS participants.
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NDIA Publication: Housing Fact Sheet 2017
Factsheet outlining the supports the NDIS will fund in relation to housing and independent living
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Victorian Housing Register for Social Housing Access
The Victorian Housing Register is where you can register for social housing in Victoria.
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Belonging Matters
Belonging Matters has a series of free resources focusing on Home and Accommodation.
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Community Housing Industry Association Victoria (CHIA Vic)
CHIA Victoria works to support the growth of community housing as the most effective and efficient means of ensuring more disadvantaged Victorians can enjoy the dignity of safe, secure and appropriate housing.
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Housing Innovation Bank: Best innovative practice in housing and support, including Specialist Disability Accommodation. Final report
This report by the Housing Innovation Bank project aims to identify best innovative practice in the housing and support for participants, including people eligible for the Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) funds, within the National Disability Insurance Scheme; and understand what are the key elements that would enable the replication of the innovation in Australia to be sustainable and to reliably lead to early, positive and enduring outcomes for people with disability.
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Disability Database
Disability Database is a free, Australia-wide disability housing classifieds which connects people with a disability (and their families and Support Coordinators) to vacant rooms offered by different disability accommodation service providers across Australia. It's free to use and no payments are made through the website. Simply browse available rooms and make enquires about suitable homes.
These links are current and live to the best of our knowledge. If any of these links are broken or do not work, please let us know and we will fix it.
This page is still very much under construction and more content will be added here over time. We welcome your input; if you know of other useful information which is not yet listed here, please let us know.
Joseph is in the early stages of shaping the project and is interested in hearing from the community on the effective housing pathways which are currently being used and have the potential to be implemented more widely.
“If you have any suggestions, ideas or simply wish to keep in touch with the project, please contact me.” says Joseph.
For further information about the NDIS Housing Pathways Project, please contact Joseph Connellan, Senior Manager – Housing on:
E: joseph.connellan@unimelb.edu.au
T: 0438 388 444
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A lack of housing for NDIS participants in Castlemaine is preventing residents from living in their town in appropriate and sustainable housing. The window created by the rollout of the NDIS to develop new housing options is time limited and requires a coordinated, whole of community housing development effort resourced and sustained over multiple years. If housing is not secured not only will NDIS participants miss out on opportunities to participate in their community, the broader community will miss the opportunity for significant social change, economic activity and employment opportunities.
Mt Alexander Shire Accommodation and Respite Group (MASARG) is an independent, not-for-profit charitable organisation working to address the critical need for temporary respite, as well as permanent accommodation, for adults with disabilities in Castlemaine and the Mount Alexander region.
This MASARG Castlemaine Whole of Community Pilot is set over two years to promote and deliver housing for a small but diverse range of NDIS participants who wish to live in Castlemaine. The Pilot will have three broad aims:
- Inform and engage a specific community, in this case, Castlemaine, in pursuing housing for the NDIS participants who wish to live in that community, in this project, people with an intellectual disability
- Deliver housing outcomes for the NDIS participants who are part of the Pilot
- Prove and refine a transferable methodology for the delivery of housing for NDIS participants
The project will act as a pilot to showcase a transferable methodology and framework that can be applied to communities where there is need to explore and promote housing pathways available for NDIS participants. The Pilot is constructed around seven areas of activity each with defined actions, timelines and anticipated outputs:
- Local Leadership Organisation Commitment
- Community Engagement
- Leadership Group
- Community Communication
- NDIS participants
- Segment Working Groups
- Review and Wind up
The delivery of these outputs will rely on a range of individuals and organisations working in an integrated way including a Local Leadership Organisation, the Melbourne Disability Institute, a Project Leadership Group, multiple Segment Working Groups, a Project Evaluator and a Project Sponsor. The latter is critical as resources will be needed to fund the local co-ordination and project evaluation.
Read the full project plan by downloading the document here.
