A new grant program has been launched for existing or potential NDIS providers to purchase tailored business supports. The Boosting the Local Care Workforce Program – Transition Assistance Funding Grant program provides one off grants to NDIS providers from $5,000 up to $20,000 (ex GST). This is a national program with a total grant value of $5.6m, so we expect there will be in the region of 280 – 1,120 grants awarded.

Applications are open until Friday 26 April 2019. The program is being administered by Ernst & Young (EY) and applications are through the Community Grants Hub.

The application process involves four easy steps:

1.Readiness Assessment to create a Readiness Plan

The Readiness Assessment is a self-assessment of your organisation’s capabilities and processes as a NDIS provider. The tool asks you to indicate your organisation’s confidence across five business areas:

  • Financial Sustainability (cash flow management, demand forecasting, cost analysis, invoicing, NDIS specific systems, financial reporting and expertise)
    • Organisational Strategy (strategy and business planning, service offering, risk management, leadership)
    • Governance (Board skills, oversight, policies and procedures)
    • People and Capability (recruitment, retention, inclusion, performance targets, learning and development, rostering)
    • Performance Measurement (use of KPIs, collection of information)

The assessment will create a Readiness Plan for your organisation which will identify improvement needs and areas of concern, plus give some suggestions of how you can strengthen your approach. Use the unique identifier of your Readiness Plan in the grant application.

2. Readiness Grant Application

Complete the Grant Application at the Community Grants Hub.
You will need to list your current NDIS services, service areas, client and staff numbers and future plans for service provision.  You will be asked how much money you would like to request to purchase business supports. You do not need to provide a detailed project plan or budget.

3. Direct Contact Session with EY

The grants will be assessed by the Transition Assistance Funding Team at Ernst & Young (EY). If your grant application is successful you will have a session with EY to discuss how you want to spend the money to address areas of concern. The money will be paid to your organisation to purchase business support.

4. Business Support

You can engage any professional business consultant of your trust.

Community Business Bureau is a not for profit social enterprise that works with not for profits to build their business capability. We have been supporting organisations to transition to NDIS since the children’s pilot in SA in 2014. In 2017-18 we were commissioned by the Government of South Australia to provide transition support to nearly 100 disability service providers. At the end of our transition program, over 90% of respondents to the exit survey said they were better, or much better, prepared for NDIS. Our team of consultants has in-depth knowledge of the NDIS and experience in all five of the business areas covered by this grant program, and we have worked with organisations to:

  • Review their costing, pricing and financial models against the NDIS price list
  • Develop strategy and business plans for the NDIS market
  • Build staff capability, including the customer care approach required for a choice and control model