NDIS provider board governance: lessons from an early seminar
Becoming ready for the NDIS
By Piers Gooding · Originally published 22 June 2016
Original article and dated context
An elephant walks into a board room…
Sounds like a joke, but it was the beginning of a serious question posed at a seminar which asked, ‘Is your Board NDIS ready?’
There’s a lot out there about the NDIS, and a lot of confusion and uncertainty. That’s why presenters John McKenna and Geoff Donovan wanted to offer some tips and tools for boards of disability organisations to consider what the NDIS means to them.
The seminar was recently held at Purpose Law office in Melbourne. Both presenters bring with them a wealth of information about governance and the community sector, and both appear to be very clued in to NDIS news. The audience knowledge was also extensive, with board members representing the likes of the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations and (the legendary) Clickability.
So what’s the elephant in the room? Well, ironically, despite John and Geoff’s knowledge and experience, they suggested the elephant in a board room is saying this: ‘We don’t know enough!’
John and Geoff’s message was that we should be honest about what we know. And when it comes to what we know about the NDIS, the answer is ‘not a lot’. Naming this confusion is useful in and of itself. It invites board members to be honest with themselves, but also with the individuals, families and communities their organisations aim to assist. Directors should acknowledge it, and statements like this can help others who feel unclear be assured that they’re not alone.
Aside from this message, John and Geoff offered some useful tips, including:
- Medicare was the last major policy innovation on this scale and that a number of hospital boards and other medical groups who weren’t ready suffered.
- An organisation’s Vision shouldn’t change but Strategy will probably need to change to align with the NDIS.
- They emphasised the need for strong governance, and quoted Bruce Bonyhady, Chairman of the National Disability Insurance Agency: ‘in short, performance is everything. Only those who perform well earn the right to grow.’ (On a personal level, my internal question in response was, ‘what about those organisations who don’t necessarily want to grow!?’)
- They suggested that all Boards should be signed up to and read the quarterly reports released by the NDIS.
- They emphasised that boards should focus on the ‘I’ in NDIS – as in INSURANCE. Board members should come to terms with what an insurance model means in the context of disability services. Payments are based on actuarial tables designed to provide for whole of life support. Becoming familiar with these tables will help. Referring to the NDIS website often will also help in this regard.
- Many large-scale providers had a board member or two present on the night and they raised concerns that they could not plan a strategy given they didn’t know the risks. They asked whether they should be scoping out what their ‘participants’ want, which was certainly encouraged. It would have been useful to hear more about particular concerns facing different sized organisations. It seems logical that smaller organisations, or organisations that specialise in family leadership and social inclusion, for example, are likely to be facing the same issues as each other. Same for medium- and large-scale organisations.
- Board members need to understand the uncertainty of markets, and someone made the comment that disability services, from small to large, ‘all become social enterprises’. Many were talking about being propped up by government contracts, which won’t necessarily continue under the NDIS.
- A useful suggestion was that one or two board members from every organisation who will be impacted by the NDIS should become elected to report on recent developments, and that board meetings should include an agenda item on the NDIS for updates.
- They discussed social media risks and benefits, suggesting that all organisations should have a standalone cyber policy.
- The NDIS website will have a ‘provider portal’ and a ‘participant portal’, which organisations should become familiar with.
- Interestingly, John and Geoff predicted that family relationships would be key to determining how services were purchased: no person makes decisions in a bubble and most people will make decisions with their family, so maintaining good relationships with a person and their broader family may be crucial in some circumstances.
- John made the point that having an Easy English part of the website might be really important for disability organisations. The NDIS has an easy English section of their website, for example. They are ‘walking the talk’ of accessibility.
Overall, I had the sense that there were specific issues facing smaller orgs and specific issues facing bigger issues. There was a strong sense that co-operation should be sought with organisations that were roughly of the same size and values. This could prevent repetition of work being done to prepare for the NDIS. In other words, share and collaborate. One of my favourite messages was ‘build networks not empires!’
Geoff and John are going to do a series of seminars around Victoria (and perhaps Australia) and will even offer to visit and speak directly to boards. Despite their message that ‘we don’t know enough’, Geoff and John offered some invaluable advice for board members seeking to prepare their organisations for the rollout of one of the largest social policy changes in Australian history.
Piers Gooding
Piers is a Board Member of Belonging Matters, and an academic at the Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. For more, click here to visit their website.
Clickability editorial update: October 2026
Turn board discussion into responsibilities that can be checked
Ask who monitors service quality, complaints, incidents, workforce capacity and financial sustainability, and what information reaches the board. Identify gaps and assign actions with review dates. Growth should not obscure whether present services are safe and responsive.
Use NDIA quarterly reports for scheme context, while testing decisions against your own service evidence. Commission governance standards set relevant expectations for registered providers. Accessible communication and participant involvement should influence actual decisions rather than being a symbolic agenda item.
Ask how your feedback reaches the people responsible
Find out how concerns, suggestions and experiences are reported beyond the worker or manager you see. Ask what response you can expect and how you will hear about changes. You should not need to accept public exposure or join a board to have your service concerns heard.
If you want a governance or advisory role, ask about accessible papers, payment or expenses, decision-making authority and support. Complaints guidance provides another route for understanding how a provider should receive and respond to concerns.
Questions readers ask
Are the seminar visits still available?
This historical report does not establish current availability.
Do scheme reports determine my individual funding?
No. They describe scheme-level information. Official guidance
Find a provider with clear service responsibilities
Compare Clickability profiles and reviews, then ask providers how they handle feedback and service changes. Choose support that fits your needs and confirm the arrangements directly.