Kurt Fearnley new NDIA Chair

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has a new-look leadership team, headlined by new NDIA chair, Australian Paralympian and disability advocate, Kurt Fearnley AO. Mr Fearnley is joined by new NDIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rebecca Falkingham, and Board members Dr Graeme Innes AM and Maryanne Diamond AO. Ms Falkingham, the former Department of Justice and Community Safety Secretary, is the first permanent female CEO of the NDIA. Dr Innes, is a lawyer, author and former Chair for Vision Australia, while Ms Diamond is the General Manager of Stakeholder Engagement at the NDIA. She was also instrumental in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) rollout. Additionally, former NDIA Chair Dr Denis Napthine AO, who resigned from his position in July of this year, has been reappointed back to the Board. Mr Fearnley says he is excited by the role and looks forward to providing a fresh take on the NDIA. “I think it’s important that the participants of the NDIS get to see themselves in this organisation, and trust with the organisation itself is a visceral thing,” says Mr Fearnley. “The scheme cannot be a success without trust and that is built over a period of time. It’s filled – that’s one thing I do know about the community of people with disabilities, they are filled with hope. “The scheme itself – I can’t wait to get to know the people within the organisation, to get to know those that are building the NDIA. It’s an honour the Minister would see me fit to take on this role. “And I can’t wait to join the Board with, well, with two other voices behind me, of people with disabilities, who have another fresh take on what this organisation can be.” NDIS Minister Bill Shorten says his new appointments deliver on a promise he made before the Federal Election to “prioritise putting people with lived experience of disability back at the centre of the scheme”. These appointments also reinforce the calls for inclusivity at the NDIS as well. “The way I would want to see the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) run is a broad church where people feel included, not excluded,” says Minister Shorten.