Specialist Disability Accommodation in New South Wales

This research project analyses the distribution of Specialist Disability Accommodation in NSW. It uses data from September 2022, which has been provided by the National Disability Insurance Agency.

About the report

This report provides an analysis of the Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) supply in New South Wales (NSW), with data communicated in diverse and inclusive ways. 

The report has two objectives: 

  1. It aims to identify and describe the quantity and types of SDA settings currently available to eligible National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants. 
  2. The report aims to showcase how data can be presented in diverse and inclusive ways in accordance with a reader’s individual preference. 

We have achieved this by including a Plain Language executive summary, Easy Read report summary, high colour contrast and colour-friendly maps and long-form narrative descriptions of all maps. 

The analysis has been conducted with data provided by the NDIA and contracted to the University of Technology Sydney. 

The analysed data is a snapshot of SDA supply in NSW at September 2022. The analysis references the diversity of housing types, SDA design categories and patterns of distribution. 

The authors share this data analysis alongside a discussion of the development and accumulation of SDA housing since this category of NDIS capital funding was first rolled out in 2017. 

The report concludes with a discussion of the implications for future community-led housing, including considerations for both policy and practice. 

Project timeline

2022 - 2023

Downloads

We have produced inclusive translations of the information in the report including:

  • A Plain Language executive summary
  • An Easy Read report summary
  • High colour contrast and colour-friendly maps and long-form narrative descriptions of all maps.
Specialist Disability Housing Accommodation in New South Wales report cover

Report

Specialist Disability Housing Accommodation in New South Wales easy read report cover

Easy Read summary

A3 Maps Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) in New South Wales cover

Maps

Key contributors

We worked on the report with a team of contributors from across UTS, Monash University, Flinders University and Melbourne University.

Funders

Funding to undertake this research was provided by The Achieve Foundation.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Council for Intellectual Disability for their work with us preparing Easy Read and Plain Language versions of the report, and to Megan Taylor and Tiger Gill-Finnegan for the narrative descriptions of all maps.

We are grateful to Jack Kelly (Council for Intellectual Disability); Susan Bailey (NSW); Rhiannon Cochrane (Council for Intellectual Disability); Tyson Turner (Qld); Georgina Hibberd (Northcott Innovation); Samantha Frain (Northcott Innovation); Margaret Ward (Qld); Chris Chippendale (LWB); David Kneeshaw (UNISSON); May-Ann O’Donovan (CDS, Sydney University); and Melanie Southwell (SDA Alliance) for their contributions to this project on the advisory committee developed.

Thanks also to early contributions from Lois Towart in the building of a professional database that led to this project, and to Kristelle De Freitas for early visualisation design concepts for the maps.

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.