Is it time to expand the Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Review?
After six years, the National Disability insurance Scheme (NDIS) Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Program has only delivered housing for 19,358 instead of the projected 25,000 . Since there were 17,500 already in SDA-like accommodations before the SDA program commenced , progress has been startlingly slow. Additionally, many of the options developed (and some in development) are not what the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) defines as contemporary. Under the previous Federal Government, the NDIA commissioned the SDA Price Review to examine the assumptions underpinning SDA funding prices. Adjusting prices without considering program effectiveness is unlikely to ensure the SDA program's success.
An expanded SDA Review could consider the progress to date in delivering for the expected 28,000 NDIS participants eligible for it , what alternate funding methods could be used and provide recommendations on how the SDA program arrangements can be enhanced. Leaving the current SDA program arrangements unexamined runs the risk of not delivering the required contemporary SDA.