Specialist Disability Accommodation – Service Disclosure Statement

These are the Terms and Conditions for the service Specialist Disability Accommodation. You need to read these with the My Service Agreement Terms and Conditions.

  1. What is Specialist Disability Accommodation at Northcott?
    1. Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) is housing designed for people with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs. 
    2. Specialist Disability Accommodation has accessibility features to help residents live more independently and allow other supports to be delivered better or more safely.
  1. To live in Northcott Specialist Disability Accommodation you will need to:
    1. Have Specialist Disability Accommodation funding in your NDIS plan and be willing to choose Northcott as your Specialist Disability Provider
      AND
    2. Have Supported Independent Living (SIL) funding in your NDIS Plan and be willing to choose Northcott to be your Supported Independent Living Provider
      OR
    3. Have Assistance in Supported Independent Living in your Disability Support for Older Australians (DSOA) Individual Support Package
      OR
    4. Be Self-funded and able to cover the cost of your supported independent living needs
      AND
    5. Agree to allow Northcott access to your bedroom, bathroom or other personal spaces to provide you with necessary support. Northcott workers will respect your personal space at all times.
  1. How is Specialist Disability Accommodation funded?

If you have a NDIS plan:

  1. We will claim the level of Specialist Disability Accommodation funding that the house is registered for only. We will use this funding to ensure your home is in a good state of repair and is regularly maintained including reasonable and necessary adaptions that may have been included in the home due to your disability.
  2. In line with the NDIS guidelines for exceptional circumstances, a payment for Specialist Disability Accommodation may be claimed from your plan even though you no longer physically reside at an enrolled SDA dwelling.

We are able to claim payment if your Specialist Disability Accommodation is enrolled to house two to five residents and you either:

  1. Pass away; or
  2. Give notice that you will vacate the dwelling; or
  3. Exit the accommodation permanently where there is an irretrievable breakdown of supports/relationship which requires an immediate exit if your personal health and safety, or that of others, is critically compromised. In these circumstances, you will be taken to reside in the Specialist Disability Accommodation until the vacancy is filled, or the earlier of the following:
    • for accommodation that is enrolled to house four or five residents – 90 days after the day of the event, or;
    • for accommodation that is enrolled to house two or three residents – 60 days after the day of the event
  1. Northcott will need to access your bedroom, bathroom or other personal spaces to carry out inspections, repairs and maintenance. Northcott will give you a minimum of 24 hours’ notice for this access except when the access is required for an emergency inspection and/or repair.
  1. What is not included in your Specialist Accommodation funding?
    1. Any costs for your visitors.
    2. Replacement or repairs and maintenance costs for personal furniture and items you may use at home such as electrical appliances and bedroom furniture.
    3. Your personal mobile phone or streaming services costs.
    4. Personal items that you may use at home such as toiletries, clothes, household items, electrical appliances and bedroom furniture.
    5. Personal care equipment such as slings, continence aids, HEN products and communication devices.
    6. Medication costs, Health Care Assessments and medical treatments.
    7. Costs for your Northcott Worker to be with you during activities. For example drinks, meals, event tickets and entry fees that are not covered by your Companion Card.
  1. What Terms and Conditions do I need to follow?

You will need to follow the Terms and Conditions below:

5.1 Rent

  1. You will need to pay rent each fortnight. Rent will be 25% of your Disability Support Pension plus 100% of your Rental Assistance (or an equal amount if you are not eligible for Centrelink payments) and will be paid by you using an automated payment arrangement, for example Centrepay.
  2. As your Rental Contribution is a percentage, it will change when the amount of the Disability Support Pension and/or Commonwealth Rental Assistance changes. We will assist you to update your automated payment arrangement when this occurs.

5.2 Board

  1. You will need to pay a fortnightly fee for your board to cover your share of food, laundry, housekeeping, and common utilities. This fortnightly fee will be 50% of your Disability Support Pension (or an equal amount if you are not eligible for the Disability Support Pension) plus 100% of your Energy Allowance (if you are eligible for this) and will be paid by you using an automated payment arrangement, for example Centrepay.
  2. As your board is a percentage, it will change if your Disability Support Pension and/or Energy Allowance changes. We will assist you to update your automated payment arrangement when this occurs.
  3. If you use Northcott Internet you agree that you will not use the internet to do anything illegal. If Northcott suspects that you may be using the internet to do anything illegal we can look to see what you are doing on the internet to make sure that you are following the Northcott Internet policy and the law. For more information please read the Northcott Internet policy.

5.3 Transport

  1. If you are unable to catch public transport and you need Northcott to provide you with reasonable household related travel to medical appointments, shopping, your day program or other household outings in your local community you will also need to pay a fortnightly fee for your transport. Unless you have a separate arrangement in place, this fortnightly fee will be 100% of your Transport Allowance (Mobility Allowance) and will be paid by you using an automated payment arrangement, for example Centrepay.
  2. Transport will only be offered to you if Northcott has a suitable vehicle available.

5.4 What will others expect from me if I am in share accommodation

  1. Have your say in making decisions about how the house is run.
  2. Be willing to share household tasks such as shopping, meal preparation and cleaning to the best of your ability.
  3. Let others (the people you live with and staff) know if you are having visitors over and make sure visitors behave in a way that does not put other residents and staff in danger.
  4. Talk with the other residents if you have a disagreement. If you still don’t agree, ask a staff person to help you.

5.5 Can I have pets?

You may be able to have a pet if:

  1. Your Residential Tenancy Agreement lets you have pets on the property and you have approval in writing from your Landlord, before getting a pet.
  2. You will be responsible for the care of your pet, their behaviour and the cost of looking after your pet. Northcott does not take responsibility for the care and safety of pets.
  3. It is safe for you and the people you share with to have a pet in the house. Northcott will do a risk assessment to determine if it is safe.
  1. What happens if my home is no longer meeting my needs?
    1. Your SDA payments are made in accordance with the SDA category of the property you reside in. The SDA amount relates to the type of property (apartment, house etc.) and the design category. The design category of the house refers to the features you need in the home.
    2. If your needs require certain features added to the property to keep you safe and best meet your needs, we may need to discuss the suitability of the property.
  1. Ending this Agreement and moving out of the house?

The conditions of when we can both end this agreement are covered in the ‘My Service Agreement Terms and Conditions’. For Specialist Disability Accommodation, additional terms and conditions apply:

  1. Moving out of the house will end your Service Agreement with Northcott. You will need to give Northcott notice that you are moving. The notice period for moving out of the house will be the same amount of notice you are required to give under your Tenancy Agreement or 60 days if you have no Tenancy Agreement.
  2. If you give Northcott notice that you are moving out and then your plans change and you are no longer able to move out of the property on the move out date, you will need to notify Northcott immediately to request an extension as there may be other customers scheduled to move in.
  3. You will need to keep paying Rent during the notice.
  4. You will need to keep paying Board and Transport during the notice.
  5. Northcott will continue to claim funding from your NDIS plan or DSOA package during the notice period. If you are Self-funded we will continue to invoice you for support provided.
  6. Northcott may need access to your bedroom, bathroom or other personal spaces during the notice period to show a new tenant. We will give you 48 hours’ notice if we need to do this.

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