SMALL businesses struggling with the shift to the National Disability Insurance Scheme have been offered a helping hand.
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From maintenance companies who specialise in home additions for people with disabilities, to speech pathologists and home carers – The Business Centre will be in Tamworth to help.
There’s no doubt the new reforms have brought with them difficulty and uncertainty chief operations officer Steve Wait said.
“It’s about helping businesses be smarter about how they operate with the NDIS,” he said.
“With that in mind we have a program we’re taking to the region which starts by providing a little TLC.”
The Newcastle group saw firsthand the operational changes brought on by the NDIS.
It’s where the system was first trialed nearly five years ago.
The big issues that cropped up for small business were third-party registration and being subjected to an audit process. A lot of small business didn’t have the same policy in place that bigger providers did.
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“One of the necessary requirements of being a registered provider is that you do have the burden of having to go through a registration process,” Mr Wait said.
“That means there’s a lot of small businesses, particularly sole traders or partnerships that haven’t necessarily had procedures, policy or registers in place – things you would normally do in a larger business they don’t necessarily have.
“Particularly in regards to registration, they do then have to subject themselves to a third party audit and there can be some stress and strain about how to get ready for that.”
Some just need help with business fundamentals, balance sheets and crunching numbers.
Mr Wait said the whole purpose of the reform was to improve lives.
“To improve the way people can access services and enjoy a healthy and productive life,” he said.
The Tamworth event is on September 18 with a second in Armidale on November 6.