Chickens I like. They do chicken things each day – scratching, clucking, dust baths, creating eggs – go to sleep and repeat. Sure, there is the occasional unrest but they sort themselves out and get on with their chicken lives.

There is no chicken manual they follow. No quality standards to adhere to. No words on the wall extolling the higher values they should aspire to – Trust, Integrity, Respect, Transparency…etc. They don’t need nice words on their chookhouse they have a way and they behave accordingly.

It seems that our lives are increasingly complex and it’s difficult to keep absorbing, learning, adjusting, understanding and responding to the ever-changing environment we find ourselves in. Division, derision, dishonesty, disaster, despair, disease, disharmony … are all typical of what has been going on in our community and the communal discourse throughout this year. At times it’s a challenge to know what to do. Yet at the base of all, like chooks, we have a way forward that we all know and can choose – kindness, being nice, honesty, inclusion and knowing that hope will always defeat hate. Sometimes we have to stop and remember the way.

So as 2022 draws nigh, and amidst the hustle and business that we associate with the end of the year, I like to think of what’s next. It would be nice to explore new frontiers, for people to be kind and for all to aspire to be heroic and rescue something; like books trapped in a bookshop or a discarded chair on hard rubbish.

Whatever your future aspirations I wish all the best for you and your family and hope you have a great festive season filled with fun and laughter.

Cheers,

Fred

I’m writing to inform you of changes to the pricing structure within NDIS and the implications for families and Interchange Outer East (IOE). They will mean significant changes to how we price and invoice all groups and, how we operate, price and invoice recreation services. 

These changes are challenging; first to comprehend them and secondly, the affect they will have on the essence and culture of IOE. Whilst we have always operated within the guidelines of pricing or funding amounts; we have always worked collectively to ensure as many families as possible were able to access the support and services needed. It was important that we treated all families and individuals equally with dignity and respect. We shared the resources we had and squeezed them as hard as possible to maximise opportunities for people involved in our services. If we needed to do the extra (meetings, spending time on the phone, catch ups) to ensure it worked for all, that was what we did. It was based on developing relationships and a sense of partnership. 

Times have changed and whilst the positives of NDIS can be objectively defined, the reality of enabling economists to design the scheme is having an effect. Now the NDIS is rolled out, phase 2 begins: Reducing the NDIS spend, independent assessments, actuarial costings, and the ultimate indignity – turning people into economic units. Now, we as an agency are encouraged to think of families and people as widgets and the more widgets you process the more income you receive. The more efficiently you can deal with the widgets, the greater your margin. You can make money from the widgets in the NDIS which is the why there are many for-profit companies and sole ABN traders working the system – money! 

The changes: 

From 1 July 2021 the NDIS will be removing group based prices from their price guide. Whilst they are making this change under the guise of improved transparency it seems more likely that this step is being undertaken because they: 

• have no idea of what goes into group based pricing; 
• don’t like groups; and 
• wish to transfer the responsibility for pricing from their remit to families and providers. 

With no pricing structure for groups the NDIS will continue to set the 1:1 price for support costs. This price includes the face-to-face support and the administrative functions including booking and rostering of staff, training and education, payroll processes, supervision, payment claims, etc. 

For group based support the NDIS require organisations to divide the number of participants in the group by the number of staff, e.g. three participants, one staff = 1:1 support cost divided by three).

In addition to the support cost they have introduced three additional pricing structures to be implemented to cover the costs of providing group based services. 

1. Non-face to face charges 

These charges are costs incurred by organisation in the running of group based supports. They may include activity planning and booking, activity set up and pack up, development and maintenance of support information as well as medication, team meetings to support an individual’s participation and outcomes, purchasing of tickets, emergency management plans, etc. These charges will change in accordance with the level of work involved in setting up the service. For example a group that goes swimming at the same pool on the same day and time each week will have less non face-to-face charges in comparison to a community access program that attends a different venue each week. 

2. Capital Charge 

To cover the cost associated with the provision of a venue for the activity. For example, the cost of a campsite for a weekend, hire of a hall to provide an activity, rent on a building used as a base for activities, etc. 

3. Program of Support 

Provides a series of activities within a set period (maximum 12 weeks) and provides a cost for each activity. This assumes people sign up for all the activities offered within the program of support. It removes the cancellation component of the service enabling the group to continue irrespective of people being absent from some of the activities. For example, if we offer a 10 week swimming program as a program of support you commit to all 10 weeks of the program. If you cannot attend one week, you will still be charged as if you attended. This brings them into line with how most community run groups operate; pay by the term. 

At this stage we are unsure about how the use of STA for 24 hour + services will be affected by these changes. Given the STA price incorporates a capital charge and possibly some non face-to-face charges (the NDIS do not disclose this) we will have to wait for further details. However STA bookings can be incorporated into a program of support and that will affect our recreation and House Intensive services in particular. 

What does this mean? 

1. Day services and House Intensives will become programs of support 
2. Invoices will be different. Broken into: 
   1. Support costs 
   2. Non face-to-face costs 
   3. Capital costs (if applicable) 
3. Recreation services will need to be totally redesigned to move towards permanent groups as a program of support rather than an activity-by-activity application process (except school holiday programs). 
4. If we need to do the extra bits (care plan meetings, team meetings, letters, reports, etc.) to make the service work – we now need to charge to ensure we remain viable. 

No More Chocolate Cake? 

Whilst it relates to the need to charge for the extra bits, we always had the capacity and ability to waive fees and costs because it was important for us to support families first. 

• Can’t afford the camp fee for your three children? 
• Can you bake instead? 

Chocolate cake economics worked well for me – at one camp we ended up with nine chocolate cakes. Whilst my blood sugars thank the NDIS I hope we can get back to a service system that is less based on cash and more based on providing people with the support they need. 

And more chocolate cake! 

Regards, 

Fred Brumhead, CEO
Interchange Outer East 

1. Find someone to blame
2. Find someone else to follow it up
3. Ignore it

1. There is a real problem having your pantry and fridge within a few steps of your workplace;
2. Zooming with children can make you motion sick;
3. Our dog has developed an over attachment disorder;
4. Without driving to work my podcast library is out of control;
5. People have learned to appreciate the art of walking; and
6. This room needs a paint!

• Surround yourself with good people.
• Find people who are smarter than you and work with them.
• Understand what may happen, what the issues are, and what is most important.
• Appreciate that people will respond in many different ways.
• Act in good faith.

Alexander Pope: “to err is human, to forgive divine …”   I have been pondering how we are traveling along the road of good intention as poetically described by Mr Pope in the 17^th century. Sometimes I think we live in a world that demands accuracy and we are becoming less tolerant of people making mistakes. Yet at other times we accept people choosing not to err but to downright lie and not seek forgiveness but perpetrate the myth…and getting away with it, and still being supported!

We live in a technological age that can check for accuracy. Now while sport is a game, there is this focus on ensuring that human error is eliminated. VAR, DRS, Goal review systems and other technologies are introduced to ensure that truth prevails in sport. This is technology trying to turn art into science … colour by numbers rather than accepting the imagination and interpretation of the person doing the drawing. I yearn for the much loved dodgy decisions made by people in sport. It may affect a moment in time but it all works out in the wash. “Analogue” decision makers (aka people) can be creative, have a bit of fun, and even do a little good. I remember an umpire giving a free kick to a kid in a football game for absolutely no reason except that he hadn’t had a kick and his opponent was too good.

At the same time we demand accuracy in sporting decisions, we accept and support leaders who tell lies, perpetuate myths, claim fake news and even attack young people who have the temerity to say … hey its getting a bit wild in the climate area – why don’t you do something? Are we too focused on achieving divinity that we just accept our leaders talking tripe and forgive them? Is world leadership and diplomacy not as important as Carlton being given a goal when it hit the post? Do we hold a goal umpire more accountable than the so called leader of the free world? Where is the technology holding elected bullies to account?

As much as some would like a technological solution (I don’t) for the worlds “errs” it will always be imperfect. Humans will make errors. Interchange aims to offer a human service that gets it right most of the time, however if we were to aim to totally eliminate errors, it would only serve to eliminate service, creativity, flexibility and humanity from the agency. I want Interchange to give a dodgy free kick here and there. Moving into 2020 we will make mistakes, we will own our “errs” and continue to improve.

My only hope is that our world leaders will own their “errs”

I wish all a great holiday period and a happy new year.

Cheers

Fred