This panel will focus on the expectations on Victorian disability workers, from clients, employers and the wider sector. The panel will feature a range of different perspectives discussing what they see as the expectations faced by disability workers, and how the sector can support workers in meeting them.

Plain Language Abstract
This presentation will be by a group of people.  There will be time for questions from the audience.

We will talk about helping disability workers do the job.

 

Behaviour support practitioners who deliver behaviour support funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme are now responsible for developing positive behaviour support plans that aim to reduce and eliminate the use of restrictive practices and respect and uphold the rights of the individuals they serve. At present, little is known about the way in which behaviour support practitioners achieve these aims. To learn more, we conducted a mixed-methods survey to identify the challenges that behaviour support practitioners experience when attempting to reduce and eliminate the use of restrictive practices and, conversely, what helps them reduce and eliminate restrictive practices. In addition, we asked behaviour support practitioners about the strategies they use to respect and uphold the human rights of the clients they serve. We found that fear and reluctance on part of stakeholders were often barriers to reducing the use of restrictive practices, but having time to build relationships with the individual, family, and team helped overcome this challenge. Using a person-centred approach, soliciting ongoing feedback from the individual and their family, and creating organisational policies and systems with an explicit focus on human rights were strategies used by behaviour support practitioners to uphold the rights of individuals. In this presentation, we will discuss key findings from this research and propose ways that we might better help behaviour support practitioners to do their work well.

Plain Language Abstract
This presentation is about Behaviour Support Practitioners.  

I will share what will help Practitioners do their work.

This research and policy project explores the impacts of platform-mediated services (using apps to access or provide support services) in the disability sector. 

These platforms are under-studied in the disability sector, and the project contributes to the growing evidence base and offers timely and informed policy recommendations that improve employment conditions in the disability sector and ensure that people with disability can access quality supports.

We conducted a desktop scan of relevant literature and policy analyses and online, semi-structured interviews with people with disability and support workers who are using apps to find and deliver support. The aim was to explore how issues signaled in available policy and research are evident in the experiences of people providing and receiving disability support services. 

Emerging insights from analysis of interview data explore how these complex issues are converging in the experiences of support providers and PWD using apps to access support services. This includes:

·  that support workers are concerned about levels of isolation, lack of training opportunities, and can be unclear about their employment conditions

·  People with disability feel positive about exercising choice and control while using apps, but potentially might not be aware of their obligations towards their support workers as a potential employer.

We will present key findings from both the desktop scan and interviews, as well as policy recommendations.

Plain Language Abstract
We will be talking about apps.  Sometimes we will call these platforms.  We will talk about apps used by people with disability to find and employ disability support workers.

Many people with disability liked using the apps to make choices about support.  People might not know what they must do when they employ a support worker.

Australia must ensure that persons with disabilities have ‘full and effective participation in society equally with others. Including having access to the support they require to live, be included in the community, and that community services and facilities are accessible and responsive to their needs. The National Disability Insurance Scheme is being implemented to support the realisation of such goals. 

Outcomes measurement in disability services is becoming increasingly important for individuals to justify and secure the funding they require and for services to demonstrate the impact of their work. 

 

But identifying and measuring outcomes with people with disabilities is complex. There is contention surrounding the measurement of outcomes, including the processes that support and inhibit the realisation of goals on policy, community, and personal levels. 

 

In this presentation, you will hear preliminary study findings exploring the outcomes experienced by NDIS service users, specifically, people who receive in-home support from a large disability services organisation in Australia. 

The presenter is a PhD student engaged in the wider project and research collaboration between Swinburne University’s Centre for Social Impact and a large disability services organisation.

Plain Language Abstract
The NDIS is all about goals.  It is about the goals that people have.  It is about the services that help people reach their goals.