The Disability Advisory Council (Council) for the National Disability Data Asset (NDDA) met on 3 February. The Council discussed the overall progress of the NDDA pilot (Pilot) and the launch of the NDDA website on 18 January 2021.
The Council received presentations on the status of the five public policy test cases the Pilot is delivering:
- Justice, led by NSW and the Commonwealth
- Mental Health, led by Victoria
- Education to Employment, led by South Australia
- Early Childhood, led by NSW
- Outcomes Data, led by the Commonwealth.
Council members discussed the policy questions that each test case is exploring, the data being used and how the perspectives of people with disability are being considered in each test case. Council members gave suggestions on what issues were important for the teams running the public policy test cases to consider.
The Council discussed how to obtain the perspectives of people with disability on different aspects of the design of an enduring NDDA. The Council noted the importance of the NDDA Project Team developing a consultation approach to engage a wide range of people in the disability community with a variety of communication needs. The Council considered the use of communication materials prepared for the Pilot, including the website, project videos and a presentation pack.
The Council reviewed possible directions for service mapping activities, which could enable people with disability and governments to better understand the services available in different areas and how they are accessed by different groups of people. The Council agreed to further discuss the direction of the work, including considering how the work could help measure unmet demand.
Meeting attendees
The meeting was chaired by Dr Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission. The following members took part in the meeting:
- Dr Scott Avery, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University
- Professor Bruce Bonyhady AM, Executive Chair & Director, Melbourne Disability Institute, previous Chairman of the National Disability Insurance Agency Board
- Belinda Drew, CEO, Community Services Industry Australia, Chair, Social Enterprise Finance Australia
- Professor Anne Kavanagh, Chair of Disability and Health, Head of the Disability and Health Unit in the Centre for Health Equity, Co-Director, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health, University of Melbourne
- Professor Gwynnyth Llewellyn, Director of Family and Disability Studies, University of Sydney, Head, WHO Collaborating Centre for Strengthening Rehabilitation Capacity in Health Systems, Co-Director, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health, Disability and Inequity Stream Leader, Centre for Disability Research and Policy
- Dr Steven McEachern, Director, Australian Data Archive, Australian National University
- Kevin Stone, CEO, Victorian Advocacy League for Individuals with Disability, Chair, Inclusion Australia (National Council on Intellectual Disability)
- Professor Julian Trollor, Head of Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry, University of New South Wales
- Leah Van Poppel, CEO, Women with Disabilities Victoria
- John Walsh AM, Adjunct Professor, The University of Sydney
Next meeting
The next meeting of the Council of the NDDA will be on 18 March 2021.
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