National Disability Agreement

What is the National Disability Agreeement?
Brief History
Disability Services National Minimum Data Set (DS NMDS)
Privacy and Data Principles
DS NMDS Due Dates
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

What is the National Disability Agreement (NDA)?

The National Disability Agreement (NDA) is ana greement between the Australian and State/Territory Governments that sets the national framework to fund, monitor and support quality services for people with a disability.

The NDA places people with disability, their families and carers at the centre of services across Australia. The NDA identifies a single long-term overarching aspiration that:
“People with disability and their carers have an enhanced quality of life and participate as valued members of the community.”

The NDA will contribute to the following outcomes for people with disability and those who support them:

1. people with disability achieve economic participation and social inclusion;
2. people with disability enjoy choice, wellbeing and the opportunity to live as independently as possible; and
3. families and carers are well-supported.

The NDA will contribute to the following outputs in support of the above outcomes:

1. services that provide skills and supports to people with disability to enable them to live as independently as possible;
2. services that assist people with disability to live in stable and sustainable living arrangements;
3. income support for people with disability and their carers; and
4. services that assist families and carers in their caring role.

Under the NDA, all Ministers with responsibility for disability services agreed to pursue several strategic policy priorities. These priorities are:

1. Better measurement of need
2. Population benchmarking for disability services
3. Making older carers a priority
4. Quality improvement systems based on disability standards
5. Service planning and strategies to simplify access
6. Early intervention and prevention, lifelong planning and increasing independence and social participation strategies
7. Increased workforce capacity
8. Increased access for Indigenous Australians
9. Access to aids and equipment
10. Improved access to disability care

The complete Agreement can be viewed by clicking one of the links below.

National Disability Agreement   PDF 99KB |  Word 82KB

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Brief History of the NDA

The first Commonwealth State Disability Agreement (CSDA), established in 1992, was a landmark event for the disability sector. It sought to rationalise the provision of specialist disability services in Australia and develop, on a national basis, integrated services to ensure that people with disabilities had access to appropriate services to meet their individual needs.

The second Commonwealth State Disability Agreement (CSDA) (1997-2002) sought to build on the achievements of the first Agreement. It included a national framework for disability services and a bilateral capacity to target funding towards strategic issues in particular jurisdictions; a coordinated approach to addressing unmet need (an injection of $510 million nationally); and the development of the first interstate service portability protocols.

The third Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA) (2002-2007) was the first to require a growth commitment from State/Territory Governments (bilaterally agreed) as a condition of signing. The Agreement also introduced a stronger accountability framework; included a preamble, developed in consultation with State and national advisory bodies, outlining the commitment of all governments to people with disabilities; identified national policy priorities; and required States and Territories to enter into bilateral agreements (without funding attached) with the Australian Government, scoped around the national policy priorities.

The fourth agreement between the Australian Government and State/Territory Governments, replacing the third CSTDA, came into effect on 1 January 2009 and was renamed the National Disability Agreement (NDA). The NDA outlines the primary outcomes for people with disability, and states key performance indicators for the measurement of progress towards these outcomes.

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Disability Services National Minimum Data Set (DS NMDS)

Under the National Disability Agreement (NDA), the ACT has a responsibility to report to the Australian Government on disability service provision. This reporting takes the form of the Disability Services National Minimum Data Set (DS NMDS), an annual collection of information from services that receive funding from or are operated by Disability ACT.

The DS NMDS is used in a number of publications such as the Disability Support Services report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and the Report on Government Services produced by the Productivity Commission. The data are also used to inform state planning on a wide range of issues such as demand and supply of disability services, and the needs of carers.

This site contains information and resources relevant to the collection of the DS NMDS for use by providers of disability support services.

For any assistance with data collection within the ACT please email dactcstdanmds@act.gov.au or telephone 6205 0728.

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Key Dates

Collection Start Date: 1 July 2009
Reference Week: 24 June 2010 - 30 June 2010
Collection End Date: 30 June 2010
Data Due: 31 July 2010 (or earlier)

2009-10 Collection Materials

Below are the NMDS data collection materials for the 2009-2010 collection in the ACT.

Data Guide

Published July 2009, this document provides detailed information about all data items in the NMDS and guidance on how to collect these data.

Data Guide: Data items and definitions 2009-10  PDF 631KB |  Word 1,433KB

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ACT-specific Items Guide

This guide relates to the additional data items developed specifically for the ACT in order to project expected service demand and capture the extent of unmet need in the community.

Additional ACT Questions Data Guide 2009-10  PDF 61KB |  Word 74KB

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Forms for 2009-10

Service Type Outlet form  PDF 15KB |  XLS 38KB
Service User/Service Received form  PDF 98KB |  XLS 98KB

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Due date for submission of NMDS data 2009-2010

Full year data (1 July 2009 - 30 June 2010) due 31 July 2010.

Contact

Luke Drady
Disability ACT
GPO Box 158
Canberra City ACT 2601

Phone: 6207 6433
Email: dactcstdanmds@act.gov.au

Privacy and Data Principles

The Privacy and Data Principles governing the NMDS collection are contained in the following document.
This information is also included in the NMDS Data Guide above, as well as additional practical guidelines for data collectors.

Privacy and Data Principles   

Other Information

Data Transmission and Technical Guide 2006-07 (Version 2.9)

The following document has been developed as a resource, related to the NMDS Data Guide, to support data transmission and the development of related software. If you are considering using this document, it is essential that you contact the Network representative in your jurisdiction (see caveats in document).

Data Transmission and Technical Guide 2009-10  PDF 429KB |  Word 947KB

The following classification is referred to in this guide and can be accessed as follows:
ABS Standard Australian Classification of Countries 1269.0
(This classification should be used in conjunction with the ABS Revision 2.02)

Data Dictionary Version 1.1

The Data Dictionary is a technical resource available to all contributors and users of the NMDS collection. The Data Dictionary is essentially a technical companion to the Data Guide and provides detailed data definitions for every data element in the collection. The Data Dictionary has been prepared in accordance with international standards and is the same format as the National Community Services Data Dictionary and the HACC National MDS Data Dictionary.

CSTDA NMDS Data Dictionary Version 1.1

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Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) is Australia's national agency for health and welfare statistics and information.

The Functioning and Disability Unit of the AIHW has been involved in the NMDS since 1994.

The AIHW role in the NMDS is to coordinate the overall production of national NMDS data.

It does this by providing:

• a link between jurisdictions;
• support and assistance throughout the NMDS collection process (e.g. developing timetables based on agreed data requirements);
• data expertise (e.g. relating the NMDS to national and international data dictionaries and frameworks); and
• assistance in developing standardised national collection tools.

CSTDA NMDS collection 

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