1. The New Zealand Disability Support Network “ State of the Nation”
Dr Garth Bennie, Chief Executive NZDSN

2. New Zealand Disability Support Network
Peak body for disability providers in New Zealand
A network of organisations and individuals
A membership organisation (170 organisations)
Values driven – committed to social change focused on achieving inclusive lives and active citizenship for disabled people
Accountabilities are ultimately with what’s happening to disabled people/families
Not standing in the way of changes that disabled people and families want
Leading and influencing change that supports inclusive lives

3. NZDSN Supports disability services to provide:
Quality services that can respond to evolving best practice in a timely way
A capable and professional workforce
Person directed supports and services that achieve ordinary life outcomes
Services that provide good value for money in terms of government funding
Services informed by the UN Convention; the NZ Disability Strategy, Disability Action plan and the Treaty of Waitangi
Implementation of Enabling Good Lives Principles – a touchstone to guide transformation

4. Challenging and Building Consensus
Pointing out the gaps between the rhetoric and reality – for both government and providers
Asking searching questions – about provider quality and direction
Asking searching questions – about the quality and implementation of government policy and pointing out unintended consequences
Providing evidence and data about what’s really happening – for both providers and disabled people
Participating in working parties/reference groups providing advice on policy development and service design (about 15 at any one time)
Challenging government and ourselves

5. Some Current Priorities
Building consensus about the need for transformation through national conversations
Ensuring provider exposure to new innovations/next practice
Understanding being person directed as the transfer of power/control
Strengthening governance and leadership capability
Addressing the need for portable, relevant and fit for purpose qualifications
Finding a balanced approach to the need for a more flexible workforce, but also one that provides certainty, fair pay and career prospects
Advocating for appropriate levels of investment in DPO’s to support the level of participation required in co-design approaches to policy and system change
Growing the proportion of the workforce with lived experience of disability, particularly in leadership, facilitation and development roles

6. We need to urgently address matters related to appropriately funding the implementation of pay equity because:
There is potential for market failure, ether in part, or across the sector
There are significant risks to the quality and safety of services, particularly for people with high and complex needs
The circumstances that led to the “Putting People First” report have not materially altered – history will be repeated
There is no provision for margins that enable providers to appropriately invest in workforce, quality improvement and infrastructure like technology
In the context of impending system transformation providers need to be able to respond with certainty, confidence and innovation.

7. Personal Budgets
A transformed system that relies on personal budgets as a funding mechanism will be a struggle if those budgets do not deliver the “purchasing power” or flexibility that disabled people and families need to exercise the level of choice and control that is envisaged.
In turn, service providers need to be operating on the basis of pricing arrangements that enable them to respond with the level of quality and innovation that everyone wants to see.

8. Implementing System Transformation and Enabling Good Lives
NZDSN is strongly supportive of the Enabling Good Lives Principles and the aspirations of the System Transformation Work Programme, particularly the commitment to co-design and co-governance.
The genesis of Enabling Good Lives and system transformation came from disabled people and families, not from government.
Maintaining the momentum of this work programme is essential.

9. Going Forward……
Funding the full cost of implementing the pay equity legislation (along with pre-existing funding shortfalls) so that providers can meet their obligations and responsibilities and avoid a degree of market failure.
Provide a level of financial sustainability so that providers can respond to system transformation with innovation and confidence as well as minimise market disruption and thus uncertainty for disabled people/families. 
Continuing the commitment to system transformation with co-design and co- governance at the centre of planning and implementation 
Carefully monitoring the impact of the outcomes based payment system for employment support providers and address any unintended consequences that negatively impact employment rates for disabled people who experience significant employment barriers

10. Going Forward…….
Addressing the current funding rates for Community Participation services so that providers can:
more effectively respond to the demands for more personalised community focused participation (in line with enabling good lives and system transformation)
respond to wait lists and those areas where no services are currently available
Achieve more seamless and successful transition from school

11. Still Going Forward……..
Prioritising the establishment of a single Crown entity for disability funding and policy with accountability under the auspices of a Minister inside cabinet. Develop an insurance based funding system that enables a long term whole of life approach to disability supports and services and will sustain the implementation of system transformation.
Developing a workforce strategy based on a sector wide consensus about how the competing demands of flexibility and security of employment can be reconciled. 
Develop and implement the legislative and regulatory framework advocated by the Access Alliance Campaign

12. We do not operate in a benign policy environment
growing our ability to distinguish between policies and legislation that have genuinely transformative potential and those that will simply maintain the status quo for disabled people.
Spotting the difference between initiatives that appear to be transformative, but may harbour unintended consequences that do not serve the interests of disabled people or those providing supports/services.
Our understanding of inclusion and the implementation of Enabling Good Lives needs to speak to those broader social and economic changes we would like to see – ones that move beyond assimilation to address matters of inequality, direct access to the mainstream, as well as the citizenship and human rights of disabled people.

13. www.nzdsn.org.nz www.enablinggoodlives.co.nz