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2025 Publications

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2025 Submissions

January 

Primary Health Network Business Model Review – Our submission gives feedback in addition to offering our full support for the submission made by the National Mental Health Consumer Alliance (NMHCA) to this Review. Their submission outlines crucial recommendations that align with our shared commitment to improving PHN commissioned mental health services, fostering more inclusive, person-centred care, and promoting better outcomes for all individuals living with mental health challenges. We stand united in advocating for the importance of ensuring that the perspectives and needs of mental health consumers are central to the Review process.

February

Submission to the NDIS self-directed supports consultation – CoMHWA has submitted our feedback to the Department of Social Services’ consultation on Self-Directed Supports Registration. In this submission, CoMHWA focuses on providing feedback informed by the experiences of participants accessing NDIS for supports with psychosocial disability. We provide feedback on the proposed approach to registration for participants who want to self-direct their supports, the nature of requirements participants will need to meet to maintain registration, and the nature of support that should be offered to participants throughout the process.

CoMHWA heard from participants that while it is important to explore ways of ensuring that NDIS supports are high-quality and safe, enabling participants to access unregistered providers without placing barriers in their way is important to maintain participants’ choice, control, and capacity to access supports they need. We emphasise the need for easily accessible, straightforward and clear processes around registration and meeting obligations, and genuinely supportive information and contact from the NDIS Commission to facilitate participants’ capacity to self-direct supports.

March 

Submission to consultation on Mandatory Registration of Platform Providers – CoMHWA has submitted our feedback to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission Consultation on Mandatory Registration of Platform Providers. CoMHWA heard from participants with psychosocial disability that mandatory registration of Platform Providers should be designed to promote participant choice, control, and autonomy, and that the NDIS Commission must be mindful of potential impacts on accessibility and affordability of supports. In this submission CoMHWA echoes the disappointment many participants expressed to us that they were not more meaningfully involved with the decision-making and planning that has led to the making of these changes that will impact their systems of support.

Submission to consultation on Mandatory Registration of Supported Independent Living (SIL) and Support Coordination – CoMHWA has submitted our feedback to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on the Mandatory Registration
of Supported Independent Living (SIL) and Support Coordination Consultation. CoMHWA has heard from participants that mandatory registrations are likely to impact significantly on the ability of NDIS participants to access the supports they need. Participants are already unable to find providers who are well informed around psychosocial disability, and told us that recently implemented changes to NDIS legislation and supports have resulted in them experiencing a further loss of supports. CoMHWA believes that there is a need for the NDIS Commission to take positive action to promote the development of more support options and promote choice and control – registration alone will not accomplish such a goal.

 

2025 Briefings

January

Position Paper: On the WA government’s Response to Recommendations of the Disability Royal Commission Report- In late August 2024, the WA government released its response to the final report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (the DRC), almost one full year after the release of the report. In December 2024, the WA government released its WA Disability Royal Commission Implementation Roadmap outlining its activities towards implementation of the 100 recommendations it accepted or accepted in principle or in part, development of positions on the 32 recommendations that are under consideration, and short-term priorities.

In this  briefing paper for our members, we explain our positions on the WA government response, and the release of the Implementation Roadmap. Our positions are informed by issues we hear about most often from our members, and we feel it is vital that the WA government hears and acts upon the voices, expertise and needs of people with psychosocial disability. CoMHWA supports the recommendations of the DRC report and we advocate for the WA government to make a greater commitment to promoting the rights and inclusion of people with psychosocial disability by prioritising actions address the recommendations relevant to State governments.