NDS is an active member of the Ageing, Disability and Mental Health Collaborative Panel. This was established in 2014 to build the capacity of the ageing, disability and mental health sectors to:

• Prepare for the transformational changes associated with Government reforms including the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the introduction of the Aged Care Gateway and related funding reforms.
• Develop good practice in response to these reforms and for the future in relation to consumer led service delivery, develop new training approaches, share cross-sector experiences and collaborate on common challenges and opportunities.

The Ageing, Disability and Mental Health Collaborative Panel was initiated and is supported by State Trustees Australia Foundation and helps strategically guide the State Trustees Australia Foundation’s larger grants program to gain momentum in supporting marginalised Victorians.

The Panel represents an innovative and strategic approach to philanthropy, and enables cross sector representatives to work together to identify priorities and shared concerns, away from the direction of government.

Chair and representatives

• National Disability Services
• Australian Federation of Disability Organisations
• Carers Victoria
• COTA Victoria
• Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria
• State Trustees Australia Foundation
• Victorian Aboriginal Controlled Health Organisation Inc
• Victorian Council of Social Service and
• Mental Health Victoria

Projects

The Collaborative Panel has overseen a number of projects designed to develop good practice in consumer driven practices. These have all been funded via philanthropy, and include:

• Communities of Practice, NDS
• Promoting the exercise of consumer choice and control, Mental Health Victoria
• Good practice case studies and cost analysis, AFDO
• Supporting Cross-sector Learning & Development, VCOSS
• Home and Community Care project, COTA

VCOSS maintains a webpage with current information about the Panel and issues a regular newsletter ‘Connect and Collaborate’.

Cross-sector Communities of Practice

Cross-sector Communities of Practice, facilitated by NDS, aim to support organisations from a range of sectors to collaboratively respond to the changes required by NDIS, Aged Care and other national reforms through the establishment of four cross sector communities of practice.

The communities of practice assist organisations to develop sustainable, consumer-driven services, and collaboratively explore the challenges and opportunities emerging from the changing policy and market environment.

At the project’s commencement, NDS contracted Cath Smith of Changesmith Consulting, to draft a literature review about communities of practice. Download the literature review and cover report, or the accessible version of the report.

Four cross-sector community of practices (CoPs) have been established in:

• North Eastern Metropolitan Area;
• Moorabool Shire;
• Frankston Mornington Peninsula; and
• Western Melbourne.

In 2019/20, only two of the CoPs were funded: the North Eastern Metropolitan Area and Frankston Mornington Peninsula.

The CoPs provide a platform to share good practice, with a specific focus on strengthening consumer directed support. Importantly, the CoPs are philanthropic funded and not driven by the government, so they can be shaped and owned by the community and non-for-profit sector. They are generally run by local organisations and driven by a Steering Committee who meet regularly to plan cross-sector workshops that focus on developing consumer-driven practices.

The CoPs regularly convene forums in their local communities, and welcome attendees. Recent forum topics include:

• Dignity of risk and duty of care
• Understanding and supporting self-advocacy
• Navigating multiple service systems
• What Does the Future Workforce Look Like in the Reform Environment?
• Ensuring quality and safeguards
• Person centred documentation

Presenter and participant comments

Comments from presenters at recent CoP forums:

• ‘Look past the disability and at the individual. Look at what the person needs, look at the possibilities.’ Luke, VALID Advocate with lived experience of disability
• ‘We don’t just live in a market place, we live in communities… How does living as a consumer and citizen work together?’ Daryl, Mental Health Australia
• ‘Build relationships, relationships are the core for all of you, coming from different sectors to make sure that the opportunities and the choices that people are being asked to make are meaningful.' Deb Farrell, Young People in Nursing Homes National Alliance
• ‘Ask questions, be provocative sometimes. Don’t just accept what we’ve always had.’ Deb Farrell, Young People in Nursing Homes National Alliance

Feedback from participants of CoP events:

• ‘Wonderful speakers thank you.’
• ‘Thank you, the content was confronting, challenging the way we currently do things we currently do. We need this at this turning point.’
• ‘It’s great. Thank you. Very interesting to hear about Barwon Region and people’s perspectives of what a good life and goals are.’