Faculty of Medicine and Health

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Fixing the NDIS for people with psychosocial disability

Ensuring equity of access to support for people with serious mental illness
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This Australian Research Council (ARC) Industry Laureate Project focuses on supports for people with serious mental ill-health (also called psychosocial disability) in and beyond the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).​

About the project

People with severe and persistent mental illness, sometimes called psychosocial disability, frequently fail to have their needs for support and inclusion met. This is because our policy systems routinely do not factor them into the development of national policy innovations. Our research considers the way the needs of this group can be recentred within health and social policy.

This five-year project (2024-2029) funded by the Australian Research Council Industry Laureate Fellowship aims to address serious deficits in the operation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for one of its largest participant groups: people with psychosocial disability.

This project will develop new data on scheme outcomes, cost-effectiveness and participant and stakeholder experiences to improve supports for this group. It will also provide data to improve the provision of supports for people with serious mental illness outside of the NDIS.

Project activities

  • Systematic review of the key learnings from peer-reviewed Partners in Recovery literature; the most evaluated Australian national psychosocial program for people with severe mental illness
  • Data access to relevant national datasets (such as those provided by the ABS) to understand this population and their trajectories both within and outside of the NDIS.
  • Media analysis of the implication of changing media debates about the cost of the NDIS.
  • Scoping review of the implementation of community-based psychosocial interventions for adults with severe mental illness in high-income countries.
  • Interviews with stakeholders reflecting on the operation of the NDIS and expectations of the early intervention approach (mentioned in the 2023 NDIS review) and foundational supports.

  • A national survey to understand public perspectives on recent and proposed changes to the NDIS and related systems for people with mental health support needs.
  • Systematic review of psychosocial supports to inform the development of the next phase of the NDIS, including the ‘early intervention’ program mentioned in the 2023 NDIS Review, and targeted foundational supports outside of the NDIS.
  • Interviews focusing on the NDIS and people with psychosocial disability in forensic settings
  • Understanding the origins and usage of the term ‘psychosocial disability’
  • Data linkage - linking NDIA participant data with ABS data with state inpatient and other health related data. Analysis of NDIA participant data to understand planning and outcomes.
  • Socioeconomic and geographic inequities in access to NDIS: data linkage study
  • Identifying psychosocial disability in national health surveys and administrative data
  • Participant and carer interviews to understand their needs, experiences and expectations of NDIS involvement.
  • Scoping review of disparities in health and support services for Australians with disability.

  • A discrete choice experiment to quantify the attributes of key support workers most valued by individuals with mental health challenges.
  • Interviews with people with psychosocial disability not currently receiving the NDIS
  • A quantitative analysis of NDIS market dynamics and regional disparities.
  • Cost-effectiveness of supported employment programs for people with psychosocial disability: An economic modelling.

To view our latest publications, please visit NDIS Psychosocial Disability ARC Laureate Project.

Opportunities to be involved

Ongoing conversations are key to the success and relevance of our project.

We are keen to involve people with severe mental illness/psychosocial disability (both NDIS participants and those who are not), carers, community members, service providers, advocates, policy makers and other experts.

Please contact: joel.hollier@sydney.edu.au
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Participation in interviews

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Stakeholder consultations on topics of key importance to the project:

  • Roundtables e.g. Early intervention pathway and the NDIS roundtable, 21 June 2024
  • Core project advisory group, quarterly meetings – ongoing
  • Aboriginal community consultations – run by Wayne Wright (project First Nations Community Researcher). Contact Wayne for further information: wayne.wright@sydney.edu.au
  • Team visits, community discussions and presentations. Our team are available to come and speak to community groups, government departments and academic research teams. Contact Jen for further information: jennifer.smith-merry@sydney.edu.au
Please contact: mh-ndis.project@sydney.edu.au
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For more information

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Our people

  • Matthew Jackman, PhD student, Mad Scholar and international activist. Research topic: Developing an understanding of the Mad movement and its future barriers and enablers through current Mad leaders.
  • Liyew Gebeyaw, PhD student. Research topic: Improving Mental Health Care for Individuals with Severe Mental Illness in Forensic Settings, in Australia.
  • Meera Chinnappa, Honours student (completed). Research topic: The public discourse surrounding the NDIS and costs.

Project collaborators

National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) administers the world-leading National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).  The NDIA supports this project as an industry partner, as part of the Australian Research Council Industry Laureate Fellowship Scheme grant, through supporting the research team with participant recruitment and access to relevant scheme data.

The project also has close collaborative relationships with state and federal government agencies and with non-government organisations in each state and territory.

This project is guided by an expert advisory group consisting of government and non-government, clinician, researchers and lived experienced representatives.

Images used within this project are created by people with lived experience. The header image was created by Holly McSeveney, an NDIS participant with psychosocial disability.

Contact us

Email
mh-ndis.project@sydney.edu.au

Mailing address
Susan Wakil Health Building,
University of Sydney, Camperdown,
NSW 2006