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Self Directed Approaches (SDA)

A number of countries use self directed approaches already and DHS Disability Services Division has developed a model for Victoria. DHS has produced documents to explain this approach, including ‘Support Your Way: A self-directed approach for Victorians with a Disability’.

Many people have heard about SDA from the current trials (or ‘pilots’) being conducted in Victoria – you may even know people in these pilots. Essentially this new approach tries to ‘ensure that the focus remains on the person, who is at the centre of all activity and decision making’.

There are many terms used in connection to Self Directed Approaches, including:

Self directed Planning
You (and your family and support network if requested by you) direct the planning of your disability supports. This plan provides the basis for the way your supports will be provided through a range of informal, community based and disability funded support options.
Self directed Support
This is the primary means to achieve the self directed plan. Self directed support can be a combination of funded and unfunded options.
Self directed Funding
In this model funding is tied to the person with a disability, is portable and can be used to purchase services from your preferred provider (consistent with agreed purchasing principles and business rules). Resources are allocated based on your needs as identified through your self directed planning process. In the future this may include direct payments which is the transfer of an agreed amount of funding directly to a person with a disability, a family member, or carer, who is then able to manage the selection and purchase of supports in line with the agreed plan. This is currently being trialed in Victoria.