Breaking up is risky business: personalisation and collaboration in a marketised disability sector

Eloise Hummell*, Samantha Borg, Michele Foster, Karen Fisher, Catherine Needham

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

The marketisation of disability support driven by individualised funding brings new dilemmas for multi-agency collaboration, in particular how to provide personalised supports while remaining commercially viable. This article explores the challenges, risks and adaptations of organisations to navigate the tensions of personalisation and collaboration. Framed by street-level research and using the context of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), this article draws on interviews with twenty-eight organisational managers. Multi-agency challenges are highlighted when several providers are delivering parts of a NDIS participant’s plan, blurring organisational responsibilities and accountabilities. Interviews also revealed the paradox of organisational disconnection and organisational dependence concerning quality support provision and described the collaborative responses organisations implement to ensure their sustainability. There is commitment among organisations to build a trusted ecosystem of providers, but this is largely discretionary and there is a need for further policy mechanisms to enable organisations to negotiate a way through multi-agency dilemmas.
Original languageEnglish
JournalSocial Policy and Society
Early online date10 Oct 2022
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 10 Oct 2022

Keywords

  • National Disability Insurance Scheme
  • multi-agency provision
  • individualised funding
  • disability

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