Providing housing choice for Australians who have a disability

Bank Australia recently became a founding member of SDAA (Specialist Disability Accommodation Alliance). The alliance exists to advocate for SDA participants and investors to ensure that the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provides certainty on the funding arrangements for those who wish to build SDA and those who want to call it home.

The introduction of the NDIS is having a profound impact on the way that Australians who have a disability receive support.

The scheme introduced individual funding plans that allow people to choose the health, accommodation and support services they need, rather than relying for a place in waitlisted services offered by government or community organisations.

The NDIS is also a huge change for people who require specialist disability accommodation (SDA). Previously, the majority of this type of accommodation was owned and run by State Governments, sometimes in older, large-scale facilities where people didn’t have choice or control over their circumstances. Now NDIS plans allow people to choose where they live, with options to rent, buy or build accommodation depending on their stage of life and individual needs.

A number of disability service providers have constructed new modern accommodation that can be rented through accommodation payments provided under NDIS plans. Individuals and their families are also exploring options to buy or construct their own accommodation using their NDIS plan payments.

Bank Australia was the first Bank in the country to lend to customers for SDA, and to date has funded loans for housing projects in Victoria, New South Wales, the Northern Territory and Queensland.

One of these loans was to Multiple Sclerosis Society of Queensland, who constructed a four story residential development in Springfield, near Ipswich, which includes more than 15 SDA units.

“MS Queensland’s Springfield Apartments project was the first of 10 specialist disability accommodation projects we are delivering across the state under the banner of our visionary Project Dignity 120 campaign for people living with multiple sclerosis and other chronic progressive neurological diseases,” said Roger Burrell, Chair of MS Queensland.

“Our cutting-edge housing solutions, specifically designed and adaptable to a person’s changing needs and circumstances, are giving people back their dignity and the choice and control over where they live and who they live with. With access and connection to everything a master-planned community has to offer, MS Queensland’s Springfield Apartments project was only made possible with the help of Bank Australia and we value our partnership with them greatly.”

Bank Australia’s specialist loans team has been working with organisations, individuals and their families to develop bespoke loan options that accommodate individual needs and can respond to potential future changes to pricing under NDIS plans to ensure that SDA loans remain affordable.

We believe that a truly responsible bank can make society better and that where people and organisations put their money has a big impact on the world. That’s why we’re the bank with clean money.

Are you interested in knowing more about how to purchase SDA under the NDIS? The Summer Foundation has put together a handy guide.

For more information about Bank Australia’s SDA loan options, contact our Impact Finance team at impactfinance@bankaust.com.au