Welcome to the first edition of One Strong Voice for 2017.

I hope you’ve had a chance to relax and refresh over the past few weeks. I think 2017 is going to be another busy year for the disability sector in Tasmania.

There has already been some speculation in the media about the Federal Government’s plans for how it will resource its commitment to the NDIS.  We hope this speculation will not have further negative impact on the implementation of the scheme. NDS will continue to represent the views of providers where necessary.

Providers will need to remain abreast of scheme implementation challenges this year, and NDS will work to assist organisations to seize opportunities and to deal with challenges ahead. As a reminder, eligible people aged 25 to 28 that are not already in the scheme will be brought into the scheme between now and June 2017. This is not anticipated to create a great deal of new plans for this age group, but there’s plenty of activity occurring.

We have received excellent feedback from attendees to the NDS Annual Symposium held in December 2016. The keynote speaker at the symposium, Professor Peter Gahan, who is the founding Director at the Centre for Workplace Leadership and Professor of Management at the University of Melbourne, was an engaging and popular speaker. 94 per cent of feedback survey respondents rated his presentation as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good.’  Based on the quality of the event, 94 per cent of respondents also stated they were ‘extremely likely’ or ‘very likely’ to attend future NDS events.

The attendees’ favourite topics at the symposium were ‘Disability Services Supply and Sustainability’ and ‘Workforce Wellbeing.’ We’ve taken this feedback on board and are currently planning a Costing and Pricing Seminar to be delivered by Professor David Gilchrist in March (keep an eye out for this), as well as a range of activities to support worker wellbeing - to roll out over the coming months.

I’d like to mention staff changes that are happening at NDS in Tasmania over the next few weeks. Jacquie Sanderson is moving back to the aged care sector, which means we will have a new Office Manager stepping into the team in the next few weeks.  Jacquie has been a very welcome addition to the NDS team over the past few months and we’re sad to see her go, but wish her every success in her new role.

We welcome Ruth Sinclair into the role of Consultant on People and Culture to deliver activities aimed at supporting organisations to prepare for the projected growth in workforce. Ruth will be facilitating monthly webinars promoting strategies to support your existing workforces in this period of ongoing change. We invite members to send representatives from their organisations to the Disability Industry Round Tables in 2017 to keep abreast of best practice workforce development strategies.

Andrew Brain will commence in the role of Business Development Manager in ADE Procurement project in late January.  Andrew has vast experience across a range of industries and senior roles and we look forward to welcoming him to the NDS office. He will soon be in contact with ADEs around the state about how he can support them and strengthen their sustainability.

Our monthly newsletter One Strong Voice will continue to highlight upcoming events in the disability sector and to feature In Case you Missed It, which will link you to valuable stories and information to assist you and your organisation to put good planning into action.

A last note - I’d like hear from you about challenges and opportunities from the sector. Feel free to pick up the phone or organise a meeting with me.

Enjoy 2017!