Individual assistance to give voice to people with acquired brain injury (ABI) or disability, when they need help to be heard on things impacting them.
This Service is for:
A Person with a Brain Injury or Disability
Sometimes people living with disabilities need help understanding systems, being heard or fixing problems they face.
At Brain Injury SA (BISA) our Advocacy and Appeals services can help in different ways. Some services are just for people with a brain injury, others are for people living with any type of disability.
Advocacy Service
We help people of all ages with a brain injury to work through problems that they are having trouble sorting out on their own.
Some of the things we may be able to help you with include:
- Understanding your rights
- Help you to make a complaint
- Help you to appeal decisions that you think are wrong
- Help you sort out issues involving Centrelink
- Support you at tribunals or in court
- Help you with problems about housing
- Help you to access services
If we are not able to help you straight away, we can give you information about other services.
NDIS Appeals Support Service
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Appeals Support Service helps people who are unhappy with a reviewable decision made by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). You do not need to have a brain injury to access this service.
There is a range of reviewable decisions within the NDIS, but most commonly we assist where:
- you have been told you are not eligible for NDIS
- you have had your access to the NDIS revoked
- there is not enough funding in your NDIS Plan to get the supports you need
We can help you to ask the NDIA to have another look at their decision. If this does not work, we can help you to have the Tribunal look at the decision. The Tribunal is not part of NDIA and they will listen to both sides before making a decision.
NDIS Decision Support Pilot Program
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) understands that some people with disabilities are prevented from making access requests or working through the NDIS planning processes. This could be because they need help to make informed decisions or do not have family, carers or friends to help them.
BISA can help people with a cognitive disability (such as: acquired brain injury, intellectual disability, autism or mental illness) to access the NDIS.
How we can support you?
We will:
- Get to know your support needs by building a supportive and respectful relationship.
- Give you information to help decide if you would like to apply for the NDIS, think about your goals and what help you may need to achieve them.
- Help you to gather information to show your support needs.
- Support you with the NDIS planning process and to implement your plan.
The program can help people who:
- Want to apply for NDIS
- Are between 18–65 years of age.
- Need help to make decisions
And
- Have no one else able to help with decision-making such as, family, carers or significant others.
More Information
For further information, contact the Advocacy Team or call (08) 8217 7600.
If you’re in a rural area, please use 1300 733 049.
Make a Referral
Advocacy and Appeals Services referrals can be made online:
Funded through the National Disability Advocacy Program by the Commonwealth Department of Social Services:
