“Most people don’t like a client group that tell you to get fucked”: Choice and control in Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme for formerly incarcerated people
| Published date | 01 January 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/09520767221134320 |
| Author | Helen Dickinson,Sophie Yates,Shannon Dodd,Fiona Buick,Caroline Doyle |
| Date | 01 January 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Public Policy and Administration
2024, Vol. 39(1) 87–105
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/09520767221134320
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“Most people don’t like a client
group that tell you to get
fucked”: Choice and control in
Australia’s National Disability
Insurance Scheme for formerly
incarcerated people
Helen Dickinson*and Sophie Yates
Public Service Research Group, School of Business, UNSW, Canberra, Australia
Shannon Dodd
Thoman More Law School, Australian Catholic University, Banyo, Australia
Fiona Buick and Caroline Doyle
Public Service Research Group, School of Business, UNSW, Canberra, Australia
Abstract
Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a substantial policy reform
aiming to radically transform the design and delivery of disability services. Choice and
control are key tenets of the scheme, however challenges and limitations exist with
respect to inequities and difficulties posed by boundaries between the NDIS and
mainstream services. People with disability who have been incarcerated are particularly at
risk of experiencing these limitations. However there has been little academic exploration
of these issues for this group. This paper explores whether NDIS services are readily
accessible for people with disability who were formerly incarcerated, outlining some of
the challenges this group encounters. The research is based on interviews with
28 stakeholders from government and non-government organisations that interact wi th
and provide support or services to people with disability within the criminal justice
system. Our findings confirm the importance of a functioning NDIS plan to help prevent
some individuals encountering the criminal justice system, outlining several challenges
that formerly incarcerated people with disability experience with the scheme. We
Corresponding author:
Helen Dickinson, Department of Public Service Research Group, School of Business, UNSW, Canberra,
Australia.
Email: h.dickinson@adfa.edu.au
conclude that ideas of choice and control are inhibited for some formerly incarcer ated
people with disability and highlight actions that can be taken regarding specialist support
coordination, advocacy services and market stewardship to address these issues.
Keywords
Disability, national disability insurance scheme, criminal justice, choice, control
stewardship
Introduction
Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a substantial policy reform
aiming to radically transform the design and delivery of disability services. Through
personalised planning and individualised funding, the NDIS aims to enhance ‘choice and
control’and ultimately foster the participation of people with disability in community,
social and economic life. For some, the NDIS has been transformative, providing ap-
propriate supports to achieve their articulated goals. However, there are some challenges
and limitations of the scheme, including the potential to entrench or enhance inequities
(Carey et al., 2017) and the difficulties posed by boundaries between the NDIS and
mainstream services, such as health and education (Dickinson and Carey, 2017;Yates and
Dickinson, 2021).
One group that is most at risk of experiencing these types of challenges is people with
disability who are, or have been, incarcerated. Formerly incarcerated people experience
health, mental health and substance use issues at higher rates than the general population
(Nosrati et al., 2018;Fazel et al., 2017;Binswanger et al., 2007) and are less likely to
secure employment (Looney and Turner, 2018;Doyle et al., 2021). This means that
formerly incarcerated people require services from a broad array of public agencies and
experience a range of socio-economic inequities that are likely to be compounded for
those with disability. For formerly incarcerated people with disability, it is crucial that the
NDIS works effectively with correctional services and yet there has been limited aca-
demic research exploring this intersection (see Young et al., 2017). Recent research
suggests that both people with disability who are incarcerated and professionals working
at the intersection of disability and criminal justice are uncertain about which services
people in prison can access through the NDIS, leading to inconsistent practice (Yates et
al., 2022, forthcoming).
This paper explores whether NDIS services are readily accessible for people with
disability who were formerly incarcerated, outlining some of the challenges this group
encounters. The research is based on interviews with 28 stakeholders from government
and non-government organisations that interact with and provide support or services to
people with disability within the criminal justice system across three Australian juris-
dictions (New South Wales (NSW), Victoria,and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)).
Our findings confirm that a functioning NDIS plan is important not just for the support
it provides to individuals, but also because provision of support can help prevent some
88 Public Policy and Administration 39(1)
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