2023 Industry Laureate Profile: Professor Jennifer Smith-Merry

Professor Jennifer Smith-Merry

Administering Organisation: The University of Sydney

Fellowship Project Summary 

IL230100154 – Fixing the NDIS: cost, effectiveness and access for psychosocial disability

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a $35 billion annual investment providing essential support for Australians living with disability. This project addresses broad concerns around NDIS access, effectiveness, efficiency, and outcomes. It focuses on people with severe mental illness, one of the largest groups in the NDIS who often have the most complex needs. The research will map the experience of clients within the NDIS as it currently operates and use new data to model improvements to the Scheme. To ensure the improvements will enable the NDIS to deliver better outcomes, they will be tested from client, economic and policy perspectives and take into account how the NDIS interacts with state and territory health and social care systems. Project deliverables will be directly transferable into NDIS design through the partner, the National Disability Insurance Agency, and into federal and state policy. By making the NDIS more effective and efficient, this project will directly benefit participants in the scheme and at the same time deliver strong social and community benefits to all Australians.

Australian Research Council funding: $2,582,419

Industry Partner: National Disability Insurance Agency

To find out more about Professor Smith-Merry, please visit her profile page here.

For further information about this funding scheme, please visit the Industry Laureate Fellowships page.