A message from our CEO’s

Hello!

Life continues to be busy for everyone as we make the move across to the national NDIS, with the transfers of people from WA NDIS to the national NDIS pretty much complete and the rest of WA still progressively transitioning.

Our WAiS role in supporting people, families and providers understand, design, develop, and sustain individualised, self-directed supports and services has been important, especially with the roll out of the NDIS

WAiS is delighted to be able to support people with planning and self-management and also with supporting providers to build their capacity with Individualised Services.  We have also been successful with two Information Linkages and Capacity Building grants that we have detailed in the newsletter.

WAiS is committed to the successful implementation of the NDIS, to ensure the foundations of the scheme of Choice and Control, are real for people. We are also keenly interested in the outcome of the current consultations on the development of the State Disability Plan.  Together we will work to ensure all people as citizens in WA can live in an inclusive society and are adequately supported to do so.

Leanne Pearman and Su-Hsien Lee

Photo os WAiS CEO's Su-Hsien Lee

What have we been up to?

On the 16th of May Nicole and Maggie attended the Geraldton NDIS expo hosted by Carers WA. They both presented information about preparing to plan and self management. The next day they met with individuals and families to discuss this further. They both received lots of positive feedback from the visit.

“Really great hearing from other family members with similar experiences as us with our child.”
“Please don’t change. We need groups like yours to support us.”
“It’s good seeing there’s an (organisation) here who isn’t government and isn’t a provider and we’re able to get unbiased information.”

Planning

Hi! I’m Nicole, I’m one of the planners at WAiS. I am in the lovely position of meeting with people and their families and supporters. I discuss with people their unique lives and what a good life looks like to them. I’ve learnt no two situations are the same and it’s impossible to use a cookie cutter approach to planning for anyone.

Most people see planning as the system type planning they have to go through to get funding. From my perspective, person centred planning is much deeper than this and looks at the bigger picture. Reaching the goal that goes along with a person’s version of a good life is dependent on truly knowing the person, their likes, dislikes, their strengths, what’s important to and for them, what has worked for them in the past and the ways they communicate with the people around them. This is what I see as the foundation for working towards system planning.

Looking at life areas like home (where and who you want to live with), work, education, sports & recreation, safety, and being a part of the community are important for planning too. WAiS has a range of planning resources, which can help with big picture planning and are available on our website. The link below can take you straight to it;
https://waindividualisedservices.org.au/resources/planning/
or look at our online planning resources here;
https://waindividualisedservices.org.au/online-courses/planning-for-a-good-life/

If you would like to find out more please contact us either via our website or phone 9481 010.

Self Management

Hi, it’s Maggie here. I help people to self-manage and I also self-manage my son’s funding. I enjoy helping families and other people self-managing. I feel very lucky that I get to listen to their stories and experiences.

Many self-managers ask me about how to find support workers. There are different ways to find support workers. There is a Facebook group where people advertise for support workers and where support workers share that they are looking for work. You can search for the group on Facebook and it’s called “WA families and support workers job network”.

Many people who are with the national NDIS, ask me how to make payment requests on the portal. You can go here for a step by step guide https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/using-your-plan/managing-your-plan/how-use-myplace-portal.

Please contact WAiS if you want any information and support about self-management.

Capacity Development

Current Grants

Small Business
WAiS is happy to let you know that we were successful in getting an Information Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) grant to provide information and support to people exploring self-employment options, setting up a small business.  WAiS will be using the resources and knowledge of the Small Business Development Corporation to produce accessible resources and provide support to people to understand the foundations of what is required to start a small business.

Social Media Campaign
WAiS have also been successful in getting an Information Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) grant to co-design a social media campaign to raise the awareness of the contributions people with disability make within the community.  This grant is in partnership with People with Disability WA (PWdWA) and the Youth Disability Advocacy Network (YDAN) and Women with Disabilities WA. This has resulted in The Lives We Lead campaign.

The Lives We Lead is a social media project to influence the community to better understand the contributions that people with disability are making economically, socially, culturally and politically.

The first video story has just been posted and there is lots more fun content to come! You can check it out using the link below and be sure to follow the project on all socials to keep up.
https://waindividualisedservices.org.au/the-lives-we-lead/

Lead Program for Providers
WAiS have also been continuing to work on a grant developing a NDIS Learn Engage Adapt Deliver (LEAD) Program for providers. We are developing this program in collaboration with Disability Services Consulting, in the form of an online learning platform.

Provider Development
WAiS are holding another set of Rethinking Organisations webinars for providers beginning in September. Providers have the opportunity to learn from some of the world’s most innovative Organisations to create a workplace that has human development at its heart. It will support providers to connect to a community who are developing contemporary practices that improve their organisations’ culture and performance. For more information or to book email [email protected].

Pika Wiya
WAiS has been supporting a South Australian organisation, Piky Wiya, who are in receipt of a South Australian ILC grant to co-design planning resources, based on WAiS planning resources, that are culturally appropriate for their local community.  WAiS has visited Pika Wiya to support the co-design process and a few resources are about to be finalised. This has been a wonderful opportunity for WAiS to get to know Pika Wiya.

Self Managers Peer Support Group 

Our Self Managers Peer Support Group meets every four to six weeks. We’ve been creative and inclusive about meeting up in places that people enjoy; sometimes outdoors or in people’s homes. Our last meeting in May saw us have a wonderful experience at the Herdsman Lake Wildlife Centre. The sun came out and we enjoyed nature, food and friends.

Every time we get together, we hear that people in the group have been taking big steps to live their life their way, like travelling, starting a business, giving presentations, or hosting a meeting of our peer support group.

Creativity and Innovation

Comic Contracts

WAiS has been working with the University of Western Australia, to create sample employment contracts that can be used by people and families who privately employ their own support workers.  The contract is in a comic form using drawings and pictures, to make it easier to use and understand. We hope to be able to share the contract soon and will be seeking feedback from people about it.

Values Based Contracts

WAiS is looking into how Values Based Contracts can be used when forming service agreements between providers and people and families. Values Based Contracting is becoming a hot topic in the legal industry worldwide, with more and more lawyers and businesses choosing this option.  For many of them this is a big change in mindset.
It makes sense for it to be used by people, families and providers and should not be as hard to adopt. Values Based Contracting is a process as well as a product.  The contracts are meant to be written in a way that makes sure it is easy to use and understand by everyone.  The contracts are written in a way to that supports a good, lasting relationship between the parties to the contract. They are based on shared purpose, values and goals.  The focus is on keeping a good relationship, but if there is a reason why there may be a problem, the contract describes how to deal with problems in a way that ties back to the shared purpose, values and goals.

Citizen Network

The Citizen Network launched the “Keys to Citizenship in Action” webinar series in February.  This was supported by WAiS, Avivo and My Place. The webinar series has had over 25 people take part in it from Australia, New Zealand and Europe – supporting a range of experiences and approaches from different people. The topics covered were:

  • Why citizenship matters to us all
  • Purpose and Meaning
  • Freedom
  • Money
  • Help
  • Home
  • Life
  • Love

You can watch all the webinars on Citizen Networks website here.
The series will be presented as a part of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectal and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD) conference in Glasgow this week.