Department name (edit in View > Header and Footer...) Eligibility, mental illness & NDIA Carolyn Ehrlich Senior Research Fellow Griffith Health Institute

School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith Health Institute Overview  The eligibility requirement of permanent impairment  Accessibility  What happens to those who do not qualify?

School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith Health Institute The eligibility requirement of permanent impairment The usefulness of the concept of permanency is not clear in the context of mental illness Psychosocial disability is the major cause of disability for people with mental illness However, fluctuations in the severity and nature of psychosocial disability over a lifetime impacts on the degree of impairment, and therefore, on need and eligibility Mental Health Council of Australia position paper on NDIS, November 2013

School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith Health Institute Impact of eligibility criteria on accessibility Serious and persistent mental illness with complex interagency needs Serious mental illness Source: Mental Health Council of Australia position paper on NDIS, November 2013 Eligibility for an individualized support package

School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith Health Institute The potential challenge of ineligibility Source:

School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith Health Institute Take home message The eligibility requirement of permanent impairment will potentially exclude more people than it will include There is a real danger that the NDIA will create a landscape that is either an oasis or a desert

School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith Health Institute References Australian Government (2013) Disability Care Australia, accessed from: 31st January, Mental Health Council of Australia, (2013) Position paper on NDIS Skaburskis, A. (2008). The origin of :wicked problems". Planning Theory & Practice, 9(2), doi:org/ /