Sector Training Activities

Hot Topics (Session 4) - The Shifting Economic Landscape and Implications for NDS

National Disability Services WA (NDS WA) invites your organisation to attend the fourth of its 2013 'Hot Topics' Breakfast Series events for Board Members, CEO's and Senior Management.

Michael Workman will discuss the shifting economic landscape and provide insights on the ramifications for your organisation and the broader disability sector into the future.

As an aggregate, health and community services organisations are already the largest employer in the Australian economy. However, continued employment growth is expected with the introduction of the NDIS (DisabilityCare Australia). With the forecast doubling of the number of people with disability eligible for NDIS support in the next five years, the disability workforce will need to expand.

Funding is another important issue, with key questions to be discussed. With pressures from weak revenue growth as a result of an ageing population and shrinking tax base, can government continue to devote an ever larger share of funding to health and disability issues? Will taxpayers support the outlay to continue to increase?  Have DisabilityCare Australia and the increased Medicare Levy adequately future-proofed budgets from increased funding demands from the disability and health sectors?

Other future economic considerations for the disability sector to be explored include:

• The sector’s and individual organisation’s capacity to demonstrate value for money to service users, government funders and the taxpayer, each of whom may define ‘value’ differently;
• The sector’s role and representation in government policy and funding decisions;
• Potential risks and opportunities regarding the viability and sustainability of numerous provider organisations; and
• The capacity of future economic growth to be sufficient to allow further health and disability sector expansion to meet demand.

Attend this seminar for an educated discussion of the future and how your organisation and the sector can best prepare for, and weather, the storms ahead.