THE AMBIGUITIES OF ‘MAINSTREAM’ AND ‘SPECIALIST’ ILAN … · NDIS (2017) Mainstream...

School of Geography, Faculty of Science

FINDING THE MAINSTREAM CITYTHE AMBIGUITIES OF ‘MAINSTREAM’ AND ‘SPECIALIST’

ILAN WIESEL


OVERVIEW

1. ‘Mainstream’ and ‘specialist’ in NDIS legislation, policies and guidelines

2. ‘Mainstream’ and ‘specialist’ in disability services and beyond: a critical urban geography perspective

3. ‘The Disability Inclusive City’ – ARC DP overview


1. ‘MAINSTREAM’ AND ‘SPECIALIST’ IN NDIS LEGISLATION, POLICIES AND GUIDELINES


‘MAINSTREAM’ IN THE NDIS ACT 2013

NDIS ACT 2013:

• “The objects of this Act are to…promote…full inclusion in the mainstreamcommunity”

• “Reasonable and necessary supports for people with disability should…develop and support the capacity of people with disability to undertake activities that enable them to participate in the mainstream community and in employment”

• “…regard is to be had to… the need for interaction between the provision of mainstream services and the provision of supports under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

• The Agency has the following functions: to deliver the NDIS so as to…promote the provision of high quality and innovative supports that enable people with disability to maximise independent lifestyles and inclusion in the mainstream community


‘MAINSTREAM’ IN THE NDIS POLICIES

“Mainstream services are the government systems providing services to the Australian public, eg. health, mental health, education, justice, housing, child protection and employment. “NDIS (2017) Mainstream Interface – Overview

“Mainstream services means government funded or provided (either whole or in part) universal human services e.g. early childhood services, government or non-government schools, hospitals, courts, employment programs, family support.”NSW Government (2016) Operational Guidance for NSW Mainstream Services on the Interface with the National Disability Insurance Scheme


‘MAINSTREAM’ IN THE NDIS POLICY AND LEGISLATION

NDIS support for mainstream participation:

• Individual assistance for participants “to build their capacity to use mainstream services”

• ILC (inc. Local Area Coordinators) – link people with disability to mainstream services and capacity building for mainstream services (e.g. information on suitable adjustments)


COAG 2015 PRINCIPLES ON FUNDING RESPONSIBILITIES

• The NDIS will fund personalised supports related to people's disability support needs, unless those supports are part of another service system's universal service obligation (for example, meeting the health, education, housing, or safety needs of all Australians) or covered by reasonable adjustment (as required under the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act or similar legislation in jurisdictions).

• The interactions of people with disability with the NDIS and other service systems should be as seamless as possible, where integrated planning and coordinated supports, referrals and transitions are promoted, supported by a no wrong door approach.


• Specialist (disability) services; e.g ‘specialist transport’, Specialist Disability Accommodation SDA

• Specialist (non-generic) services within mainstream, e.g. ‘specialist medical services’

COAG 2015 PRINCIPLES ON FUNDING RESPONSIBILITIES


‘MAINSTREAM’ AND ‘SPECIALIST’ IN NDIS LEGISLATION, POLICIES AND GUIDELINES

• Ambiguities and inconsistencies in use of ‘mainstream’ and ‘specialist’ in NDIS legislation and policy


2. ‘MAINSTREAM’ AND ‘SPECIALIST’ IN DISABILITY SERVICES AND BEYOND: A

CRITICAL URBAN GEOGRAPHY PERSPECTIVE


SOCIETY’S MANY MAINSTREAMS AND NON-MAINSTREAMS

• Mainstream: belonging to a principal, dominant, or widely accepted group, movement, course, tendency, style, etc.

• RELATED WORDS: dominant, primary, general, widespread, standard, accepted, conventional, normal, average, universal,



• Identity

• Heterosexual ‘mainstream’; LGBTQ ‘minorities’• Australian (White-Anglo) ‘mainstream’; other

ethnic/cultural ‘minorities’• Norms and ideology

• ‘Mainstream’ culture VS ‘subcultures’, ‘alternative cultures’, ‘indie’,

• Liberal/neoliberal normative ‘mainstream’ VS ‘critical’, ‘radical’ ideologies



• Ownership and delivery

• Private housing ‘mainstream’ – public housing ‘welfare’

• Public school ‘mainstream’ – private school ‘independent’, ‘alternative’, ‘elite’, ‘special’

• Public hospital ‘mainstream’ – private hospital ‘personalised’, ‘premium’


GENERALIST VS SPECIALIST: RANGE AND QUALITY OF SERVICES

Mainstream SpecialistDiversity & choice, Universal

/

generic

Limited range

/

Targeted, tailored ‘expertise’


MAINSTREAM VS SPECIALIST: SAFETY AND RISK

Mainstream SpecialistSafety in visibility

/

Risk in ‘otherness’, stranger-danger

Safety in belonging and familiarity

/

Risk in marginalisation and invisibility ‘behind closed doors’


MAINSTREAM VS SPECIALIST: SOCIAL RELATIONS

Mainstream SpecialistBridging capital, conviviality

/

‘Shut out’

Bonding capital, belonging, care

/

‘Shut in’


SPECTRUM OF MAINSTREAM/SPECIALIST SERVICES

Institutional Specialist Semi-mainstream Mainstream

• Segregated user group

• Institutional attributes

• Large and small scale, not

necessarily ‘total

institutions’

• Segregated user group

• Normalisation

• Segregated within

mainstream setting

• Diverse user groups, but ‘specialist’ ideology or ownership

• Non-segregated


AVOIDING THE WORSE OF BOTH WORLDS

Institutional attributesPoor quality service

Indifference or abuseGeneralist inadequate service

Hybrids

Specialist Mainstream


MAKING THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

Belonging through familiaritySpecialist expertiseBonding capital

Belonging through convivialityGeneralist expertiseBridging capital

Hybrids

Specialist Mainstream


3. THE DISABILITY INCLUSIVE CITY: ARC DP OVERVIEW


THE DISABILITY INCLUSIVE CITY

• Investigating the impacts of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) on Australia’s cities and urban regions.

• Research team: Ilan Wiesel, Brendan Gleeson, Chris Bigby, Ellen van Holstein


RESEARCH AIMS AND QUESTIONS

• Assess the impact of the NDIS on urban policy and delivery of mainstream urban services (housing, transport, health and community services)

• What adjustments are being made to mainstream urban services to enable participation of people with ID?



• Understand the agency and experiences of people with disability as participants in mainstream services

• What choices are people with ID making in relation to participation in mainstream urban services?

• How do people with ID negotiate access and participation with mainstream service providers & NDIS?



• Reveal the urban context factors influencing participation of people with disability in mainstream urban services

• How does participation in mainstream urban services differ in different cities or urban areas (NE Melbourne, Western Sydney, Geelong, Newcastle)?


METHOD

• Participant pathway –

• Interviews with 40 people with ID about mainstream services they use

• Follow up with services identified as more ‘inclusive’ (two per participant)

• Service pathway

• Interviews with mainstream services known to have made significant adjustments to become more inclusive of people with ID


FINAL REFLECTIONS

• Lack of consistency and clarity, and a problematic binary model in how ‘mainstream’ and ‘specialist’ are defined in policy – and in scholarly literature

• Uncritical ‘mainstreaming’ push risks losing the best of specialist services, while ignoring the worst of the mainstream – we need an approach that understands and helps utilise the best of both worlds

• New ARC DP ‘Disability Inclusive City’ focused on adjustments in mainstream (and semi-mainstream) services to utilise their opportunities for conviviality, bridging capital, and generalist expertise


THANK YOU!YOUR THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS?

THE AMBIGUITIES OF ‘MAINSTREAM’ AND ‘SPECIALIST’ ILAN … · NDIS (2017) Mainstream...

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