Digital Partnership Program discussion paper

The Agency regularly provides consultation opportunities. All feedback is important to ensure we are continuing to provide services that participants, providers and stakeholders expect to receive at every touchpoint from the Agency. 

Digital Partnership Program discussion paper

The NDIA has developed a Digital Partnership Program (DPP). The DPP will manage controlled and secure access to some of the NDIA’s data and systems.

Access will be via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). 

Providers and software developers can use the APIs to create new tools, apps and digital marketplaces.  This will improve how participants, providers and the NDIA all connect and work together.

To get feedback on the DPP, the NDIA published a discussion paper in February 2020. We received 31 responses from:

  • NDIS participants
  • providers
  • community organisations
  • software developers
  • peak bodies.

Read the Digital Partnership Program Consultation Paper Responses Summary and Findings (DOCX 347KB).

What you told us

You support the DPP approach and using APIs.

  • The first APIs we released are fit for purpose.
  • You agree with our plans for future APIs and DPP priorities.
  • You think that sharing data will help understand and improve the NDIS, but there are privacy concerns. 
  • You would like more detail on any future payments platform.

We need a Digital Partnership Office (DPO) to manage this work.

  • You agree with the principles we suggested for the DPP.
  • We need clear terms and processes to minimise risk to Digital Partners.
  • You would like more information on governance.

We need to make sure the DPP succeeds in the long term.

  • We should pursue ongoing innovation, continuous improvement, agile delivery and new technologies. 
  • Participants trust NDIA apps compared to those of third parties.
  • We need to consider how we encourage development and investment by Digital Partners.

What we learned

For the DPP to succeed, the NDIA needs to:

Focus on participant experience

Encourage development of apps and tools that help participants connect with providers and manage their plans. 

Enable third party innovation and competitiveness

Help businesses working with participants to improve their service through systems.

Communicate and collaborate with digital partners and participants

Develop a culture that is open, innovative, engaged and transparent.

Ensure we protect digital partners

Mitigate risk to businesses through well-designed policies and processes.

Next steps 

To deliver on the goals of the DPP, and meet market demand, the NDIA will:

  • Establish a DPO.
  • Refine and prioritise key deliverables.
  • Define how we will collaborate with Digital Partners.
  • Build trust through continuing to improve the DPP and APIs.

Read the Digital Partnership Program Consultation Paper Responses Summary and Findings (DOCX 347KB).

This page current as of
5 February 2021