Although CareWest has spent the past 12 months preparing for the roll-out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in July, concerns have been raised about what it will mean for smaller regional areas.

CareWest CEO Tim Curran said its services in regional cities such as Orange and Dubbo helped cover the costs of loss-making services in smaller more isolated regional areas.

Despite making changes and training staff for the NDIS, he was concerned more services would open in regional cities, leading to increased competition that could cause funding losses, reducing the capacity to provide for loss-making services.

“The way in which the NDIS works is very different to the way the state funded disability service worked in the past,” Mr Curran said.

“Now a participant gets the funding and can purchase what they want.

“What it means is there’s no certainty and security for disability service providers.”

Mr Curran said this will mean traditional service providers have to learn how to market the services and he’s expecting a rush of new market entrants.

Source: Central Western Daily