St Vincent de Paul’s National Disability Insurance Scheme’s Local Area Coordinator (LAC) office was officially opened in Moree yesterday.
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Funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), the six employed LACs have already assisted 110 scheme participants transition.
Hunter New England senior operations manager Kellie Gilbert commended the Moree team and stressed how crucial it was to have a local office.
“We’ve just been joined recently by our Aboriginal local area coordinator which is fantastic and we were lucky enough to attract an Aboriginal team leader (Dawn Blanch) for Moree.
“We do strongly believe that any of our participants that would like to work with an Aboriginal LAC should have the right to do so,” she said.
Ms Gilbert said there were still 400-odd disabled residents preparing for the NDIS transition.
“This office will primarily support people in the Moree, Gwydir, Narrabri area but may extend out time to time.”
LACs will work closely with the NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency) to build and improve the way the scheme is delivered.
She also acknowledge there was confusion around the scheme and the work of LACs.
“I simply say here we want to help people connect to the NDIS and once they do get there we want to help them get the most out of it.
“A very hands up approach, we want to give a hand up to help participants reach their full potential,” she said.
At the opening Aboriginal engagement officer Owen Craigie said the society were developing a RAP (reconciliation action plan).
The plan includes a number of full time jobs for Aboriginal people, an Aboriginal steering committee based at head office and a meeting for all Aboriginal staff.
“All Aboriginal staff can come together to talk about how we can grow and things we can do to move forwards.
“We’ve also established Indigenous ice-breaking tools when dealing with families to ensure questions are culturally appropriate.”
Moree Plains Shire mayor Katrina Humphries and Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton were among the crowd who gathered in the new office.
Mr Coulton said it was great to see the NDIS find a home in Moree and welcomed the economic benefits the Scheme would bring the local community.
“With the disability services market in Hunter New England set to grow to approximately $1.04 billion, this is an exciting opportunity for new and existing providers in Moree to grow their offerings to cater for increased local demand,” Mr Coulton said.
