SDA Data: Taking It To The Next Level

Stuart Robert, the Minister for the NDIS, today announced the release of new Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) data. This might not sound like big news, but for the SDA market it is actually very, very exciting! Like jump up and down exciting and dance on the spot exciting. You get the idea…

 The main thing that makes this dataset different is that it is broken down to Level 3 Statistical Area (SA3). In the past, SDA participant information was available at an NDIS service district level and dwelling data were available at the SA4 level. Considering that the regions did not align, you could not compare supply and demand in any area. Moreover, service districts and SA4 are both quite large geographic areas, particularly in regional and remote settings; so, information at that level does not actually give people a very good idea of their local market.

Now all data are at the SA3 level and that changes things: It will allow providers to compare the number of registered SDA dwellings in a region with the number of participants approved for SDA, showing providers exactly where they need to build to meet the local demand. This is the first time this has been possible since the SDA was launched in 2016.

Data dive

Let’s take a look at the data for a few regions, shall we?

SDA dwelling registrations 

Participants with SDA

Let’s now take a closer look at NSW Baulkham Hills. The data tell us that there are 42 SDA dwellings within the region, 25 of which are existing SDA properties. The new properties are broken down by design category. There are 14 Improved Liveability, 2 Robust and 1 High Physical Support properties. The participant data show us that in the same region there are 149 people living in existing dwellings, 7 of whom are seeking alternative accommodation. There are also 6 people looking to move into an SDA property.

Going forward

Providing access to these new data is an excellent step in the right direction by the NDIA. It should allow the SDA market to develop at a faster pace while not risking oversupply in any area.

The next piece of the puzzle will be the SDA pre-registration. This is expected to begin later this year. Once that process is up and running, the SDA market will finally be in a healthy position to see real growth.

The link to the data download page can be found here.