Commonwealth-State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA)

Updates
What is the CSTDA?
Brief History
Multilateral Agreement
Bilateral Agreement
CSTDA 4
Senate Inquiry
National Minimum Data Set (NMDS)
Privacy and Data Principles
CSTDA NMDS due dates
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

Updates

CSTDA 4 Update - 1 May 2007  84kb
CSTDA 4 Update - 1 May 2007  59kb

What is the Commonwealth-State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA)?

The CSTDA is a five-year agreement 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 current (third) CSTDA will expire on 30 June 2007.

The Agreement describes:

1. the funds to be provided by the Australian and State/Territory governments;
2. the jointly agreed areas of policy priority;
3. the services that may/may not be provided with the funding;
4. who may/may not receive services from the funding;
5. the responsibilities of each jurisdiction; and
6. the reporting arrangements in terms of a framework and timeframe for accountability.

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Brief History of the CSTDA

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.

Under the three agreements signed so far, all parties are responsible for funding specialist services for people with disabilities:

• the Australian Government has responsibility for the planning, policy setting and management of specialised employment assistance;
• state and territory governments have similar responsibilities for accommodation support, community support, community access and respite;
• support for advocacy and print disability is a shared responsibility and
• Through the Agreement, the Australian, State and Territory Governments strive to enhance the quality of life experienced by people with disabilities through assisting them to live as valued and participating members of the community; and
• It acknowledges the essential and complementary nature of specialist and generic services, including those that lie outside the Agreement.

The Commonwealth-State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA) includes a two-tiered arrangement of multilateral and bilateral agreements.

The overall implementation of the Commonwealth-State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA) is managed through a Multilateral Agreement signed by all state Ministers and the Australian Government Minister and bilateral agreements signed by the respective State/Territory Minister and the Australian Government Minister.

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The Multilateral Agreement

Under the current agreement, all Ministers with responsibility for disability services agreed to pursue five strategic policy priorities through the Agreement. These are to:

• strengthen access to mainstream and generic services for people with disabilities
• strengthen across government linkages
• strengthen individuals and families
• improve long-term strategies to respond to, and manage demand for, specialist disability services and
• improve accountability, performance reporting and quality of specialist disability services.

All governments, and especially the Australian Government, placed a particular emphasis on the fifth priority - 'improve accountability'. This ensures that information that must be reported to the public is reported in ways that are understandable and transparent.

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Bilateral Agreements

The Australian Government has signed individual agreements with each state and territory under the umbrella of the Multilateral Agreement. These agreements commit the parties to work together to address key issues for people with a disability including:

• flexibility between service provision by different levels of government
• the situation of young people living in Australian Government funded residential aged care facilities and
• issues facing people with a disability who are ageing.

These bilateral agreements aim to foster collaboration across governments, break down barriers between programs and services funded by different levels of government, improve service access and coordination, and give people with disabilities opportunities to access appropriate services at all stages of their lives. They involve collaboration across both levels of governments, between government agencies and with other sectors such as education, employment and training, community services, health and aged care.

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CSTDA 4

At the Community and Disability Services Ministerial Conference (CDSMC) on 26 July 2006 Ministers, agreed to:

• Endorse, in principle, a fourth CSTDA building on the structure of the third CSTDA, representing a comprehensive agreement with the inclusion of policy priorities in addition to funding arrangements, with a focus on identifying key outcomes;
• Agreed to consultation being undertaken by senior officers with Disability Advisory Bodies (DAB) on the Preamble and policy priorities of the Commonwealth-State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA);
• Noted the conduct of the Senate Inquiry, and that the findings from the Inquiry may inform the further development of the fourth Commonwealth-State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA);
• Reaffirmed commitment to joint funding responsibilities;
• Agreed to the provision by all jurisdictions of a reasonable rate of indexation;
• Agreed to work together for an equitable allocation of Commonwealth funding; and
• Committed to strategies to respond to unmet need and projected future growth.

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Senate inquiry into the CSTDA

On 11 May 2006 the Senate agreed that an inquiry into the funding and operation of the Commonwealth-State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA) be referred to the Community Affairs References Committee. The report was initially scheduled for release on 7 December 2006 but was delayed till 8 February 2007.

The terms of reference for the Inquiry were:

To examine the funding and operation of the Commonwealth-State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA), including:

• an examination of the intent and effect of the three Commonwealth-State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA)s to date;
• the appropriateness or otherwise of current Commonwealth/State/Territory joint funding arrangements, including an analysis of levels of unmet needs and, in particular, the unmet need for accommodation services and support;
• an examination of the ageing/disability interface with respect to health, aged care and other services, including the problems of jurisdictional overlap and inefficiency; and
• an examination of alternative funding, jurisdiction and administrative arrangements, including relevant examples from overseas.

During its deliberations the Committee received 119 public submissions and five confidential submissions. The ACT Government provided a verbal submission to the Inquiry on 13 October 2006.

The Senate Committee released its report on 8 February 2007. The Report was unanimously agreed to by all committee members.

The Senate Report made 29 Recommendations covering the areas of:

• Advocacy/information
• Unmet needs
• A nationally consistent assessment
• Indexation
• Matched funding
• Quality and Effectiveness
• Commonwealth Responsibility
• Access to generic services
• Ageing and Life long planning
• Research and development
• Occupational Health & Safety concerns

Hansard of Report's tabling
Senate report
Written submissions
Hearings Transcripts

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National Minimum Data Set (NMDS)

Welcome to the NMDS collection page.

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 National Minimum Data Set (NMDS), an annual collection of information from services that receive funding from, or are operated by, Disability ACT.

The NMDS is used widely and 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 NMDS.

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

Key Dates

Collection Start Date: 1 July 2008
Reference Week: 24 June 2009 - 30 June 2009
Collection End Date: 30 June 2009
Data Due: 31 July 2009 (or earlier)

2008-09 Collection Materials

Below are the NMDS data collection materials for the 2008-2009 collection in the ACT.

Data Guide

Published July 2008, 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 2008-09  1,374 KB
Data Guide: Data items and definitions 2008-09  568 KB

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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 2008-09  73 KB
Additional ACT Questions Data Guide 2008-09  61 KB

Forms for 2008-09

Service Type Outlet form  38 KB
Service User/Service Received form  98 KB

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Due date for submission of NMDS data 2008-2009

Full year data (1 July 2008 - 30 June 2009) due 31 July 2009.

Contact

Natalie Hind
Disability ACT
GPO Box 158
Canberra City ACT 2601

Phone: 6205 0728
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 2008-09 Version  2.10 911 KB
Data Transmission and Technical Guide 2007-09 Version 2.10  427 KB

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   1.1 M

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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 page

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