Redesigning procurement strategies for complex policy spaces

In her summing up speech on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Bill, the then parliamentary secretary for disability noted that giving people choice and control over the care and support they receive is one of the ways in which Australia will give effect to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (McLucas 2013). The right to choose is enshrined in the design of the NDIS, under which, for the first time, individuals with disability will be given a choice over the type of services they receive and who delivers those services. However, the NDIS is not designed as a stand-alone system and is expected to operate in conjunction with mainstream disability services, such as employment. In this chapter, I argue that, despite commitments from successive Australian governments to reduce the administrative burden placed on disability employment service providers, the current contracting regime continues to constrain agency capacity to deliver flexible, individualised servicesa situation that needs to change if Australians with disability who wish to work in open employment are to realise the economic, social and health benefits of employment that the majority of Australians take for granted.