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Mainstream services

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Mainstream services

 Quick Summary

Mainstream (or universal) services are provided by the government to all people in Australia. They are often known as Departments, such as the Department of Justice, the Department of Education and the Department of Health. Each department or system provides services to people for little or no cost. The N.D.I.S. is not a mainstream system because it is an insurance scheme, and is only for people with permanent disability and their families and carers. However, the N.D.I.S. works with the mainstream services and will pay for reasonable and necessary supports that may be unavailable or limited in the mainstream.

You can choose to:

  

The N.D.I.S. is working towards all Australians being treated the same way.  So, the N.D.I.S. will look at whether there are other services that you can use first. These are called mainstream or universal services.

 

Mainstream services can be used by all people, whether they have a disability or not.

 

Some mainstream services are:

– Health – doctors, community family health services, hospitals

– Education – child health centres, schools, colleges, universities

– Transport – public transport

– Justice – police and prisons

– Child Safety and Family Support – make sure children are safe

– Employment – help to find a job and stay employed

– Housing – help to find accommodation.

 

The N.D.I.S. is meant to add extra support to these services if you need it, not replace them.  See Get Started for more information about the N.D.I.S. and mainstream services.

 

If the N.D.I.S. tells you that they cannot fund you for something, they will help you to get the support from a mainstream system.  The will do this by referring you to an N.D.I.S. Local Area Coordinator who will help you to find and get the supports that you need.

GET STARTED

What mainstream services do you use?

Do you need any extra support to get a better service or better results? You may like to do some planning to work this out. The N.D.I.S. website has information to help, take a look at How the planning process works.

 

Find out about what other government services or payments you might be able to apply for. Check out Centrelink’s Payment and Service Finder.

Find other government services at the Service Tasmania government service finder.

ACTION STEPS

Here you can find a simple list of the best actions to take if you are interested in this topic:

1 .

Have a look at your goals Are there mainstream services like the ones in the list that might be able to help?

2 .

Do you need help? You can ask family and friends to help you find out more about what is available, or you can contact a Local Area Coordinator.

3 .

Talk to your doctor or therapist or your community health service They will be able to help you work out what other services might be able to help.

4 .

Contact a disability organisation These organisations provide information, advocacy and support to help you find and get the services you need.