The McGowan Government has today announced a $2 million funding grant to National Disability Services WA to meet skills development and workforce needs in the Western Australian disability sector.
The funding will enable NDS to facilitate the delivery of appropriate training and increase the number of proficient positive behaviour support (PBS) practitioners to support people with disability who exhibit challenging behaviours.
PBS is an evidence-based approach with a primary goal of increasing a person’s quality of life and a secondary goal of decreasing the frequency and severity of challenging behaviour.
The WA sector needs to grow the number of PBS practitioners and provide professional development for existing practitioners to meet the requirements of the Australia-wide National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
A survey of the disability sector undertaken by the Department of Communities in October 2019 found that the number of proficient PBS practitioners in WA will need to double by July 2020 to meet demand.
The State Government’s Sector Transition Fund is designed to safeguard the sustainability of WA’s disability sector during transition to the Australia-wide NDIS.
As stated by Disability Services Minister Stephen Dawson:
“Two million dollars from this funding round will help to ready the disability sector to meet the quality and safeguarding requirements of the Australia-wide NDIS from December 1, 2020.
“The McGowan Government is committed to investing in the disability sector to ensure people with disability receive services from appropriately skilled support staff that safeguard their well-being.
“Ensuring that people with disability, their families and carers have access to services and supports that enable them to live their best lives and participate fully in their communities is a fundamental human right.”
