NATIONAL DISABILITY ADVOCACY PROGRAMME (NDAP)

The National Disability Advocacy agencies assist more than 37,000 people with disability across Australia to overcome barriers that impact on their daily life and their ability to participate in the community.

The sector has been working with the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) on the development of a quality assurance assessment programme (National Disability Advocacy Programme - NDAP) as part of the National Disability Services Quality Strategy. 



The Draft Disability Advocacy standards can be downloaded as a pdf here PDF of draft standards

HDAA has attended training and is approved by FaHCSIA to be able to audit those agencies that are participating in the trial.   There are twelve advocacy agencies participating in the trial  being facilitated by FaHCSIA.



We have been appointed as a member of the Disability Advocacy Technical Committee reponsible for developing the independent monitoring process (Procedure 29).  The Procedure will be used by accredited Certification Bodies to certify NDAP agencies against Disability Advocacy Standards, Key Performance Indicators and Evidence Guidelines.  The approach builds on the Disability Employment Services scheme, the Queensland Disability Support Standards scheme and the Standards for Disability Services in Victoria scheme. Information on Procedure 29 is available from jas-anz.com.au

HDAA is also a member of the evaluation committee who will be completing a full and independent evaluation of the trial.  This will be conducted during 2010.  The evaluation will support the development of the programme and its implementation which is scheduled to begin early in 2011.

FaHCSIA and the NDAP sector have developed the National Disability Advocacy Programme Quality Improvement Toolkit.  The Toolkit is designed to provide practical tools, resources and advice to assist NDAP agencies develop and improve advocacy work within existing and future quality assurance requirements.  The toolkit is available as a PDF here PDF of Toolkit

Further information on the NDAP progamme can be accessed from FaHCSIA at : http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/disability/progserv/providers/NationalDisabilityAdvocacyProgram

Do contact us if you would like any further information on the NDAP programme and if you are part of the initial trial we welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss how we can help with your audit.