October 2007 - Issue 23

CSTDA NMDS staff changes

Welcome to Karen Eborall who is in training to fill the Project Officer position helping agencies in the Gold Coast region. Welcome back to David Crimmins as the CSTDA Project Manager.

CSTDA NMDS compliance rates

A big thank you to everybody for your timely provision of data for the 2006-07 collection year. Both DSQ and non-Government organisations were 100% compliant for all quarters, which was a fantastic effort. Thanks also go to all staff who assisted agencies to provide quality data for the 2006-07 collection year.

Staff hours

Staff hours captured in the Service Type Outlet form are currently one of the most underreported data items in the Queensland DS NMDS collection.

We need service providers to capture all hours worked in providing a service - this can include committee and board meetings, both management and administration, cleaners, sleep-overs, on-call and overtime (refer to page 44 of Data Guide 2006-07).

If you have staff working overtime or on-call without pay, include this in the unpaid staff hours. Unpaid staff hours should not just capture volunteer work, it should capture any unpaid hours that contribute to the running of the service.

Service providers need to stop being so modest! Accurate reporting is vital - we need all the data to make a strong case to the Commonwealth.

DS NMDS annual compliance rates

Annual compliance rates

Year	Received %	Outstanding %
2006-07	100	0
2005-06	99	1
2004-05	99	1

CSTDA coming to a town near you

In October/November this year the CSTDA Data Services Team will be conducting information and awareness training on the Commonwealth-State/Territory Disability Agreement National Minimum Data Set (DS NMDS) collection for both Funded Non-Government Service Providers (FNGSP) and DSQ.

Through our Continuous Improvement Program, our aim is to provide more clarity around and improve the quality of the CSTDA data collection. We would like to invite everyone to our various training days with the hope of enhancing and improving the way we collect and report disability related data, as well as answering any questions that this complex collection often raises.

The training will incorporate all facets of the CSTDA, including service types, data items and collection methods. The sessions will be run in a central location with one day to focus on FNGSP's and a separate day to focus on DSQ relevant issues. We are hoping to assist you to streamline your organisations' data collection and reporting processes as much as possible.

Please contact Jason Brown via telephone: 07 3247 5127 or email , if you have any questions.

Diary dates 2007-08

Diary dates

Month	DS NMDS activity
Oct 2007	Deadline for first quarter data lodgment: 31 October
Jan 2008	Deadline for second quarter data lodgment: January
Apr 2008	Deadline for third quarter data lodgment: 30 April
Jul 2008	Deadline for fourth quarter data lodgment: 31 July

Snapshot Day: Wednesday 25 June 2008

CSTDA funding packages

DS NMDS reporting does not require services to be reported according to the funding packages a Service Provider receives.

If you receive both individual and block funding, you do not need to report these separately if the same type of service is provided to all clients. CSTDA requires that you report according to the service types you provide, e.g: you should be reporting all Community Access services to all your CAS clients under the one 3.01 outlet; independent of the funding package. Further help can be obtained from Project Officers.

Project Officers	Regional Support
Greater Brisbane Region	0403 209 436
Gold Coast, Moreton, Darling Downs/South West Qld	0403 209 434
Sunshine Coast, Wide Bay/Burnett, Fitzroy/Central West Qld	0403 209 437
North Qld, Far North Qld & Mackay/Whitsunday	0434 604 244

ODC lockout for DSQ staff

From 3 September 2007, DSQ staff will no longer be able to record CSTDA data within ODC. This should be great news for those users who have had to enter data into both ODC and DISQIS. From the beginning of September DSQ staff should be entering their data into DISQIS only. Access to ODC will still be available, but will be limited to read-only access to previous years.

For any DSQ staff not trained on DISQIS, please contact Belinda Huhta on 07 3405 5488.

Helpline call statistics

The DS NMDS Helpline provides ongoing support to Queensland service providers.

Requests for Help 2006-2007

Date	Phone	Email	Total
July 2007 - Sep 2007	326	85	411
Monthly average Year-to-Date	109	28	137

Did you know...??

DS NMDS data is available for your use, i.e. the use of agencies and local communities. You are welcome to request non-identifying data based on any item reported in the DS NMDS collection. For more information contact the CSTDA Data Services Team.

DS NMDS help available

If you have a query and cannot find the answer after checking the DS NMDS Resource Kit, either call the Helpline or send an email to us. If the Helpline is busy, please leave a message and the Helpline operator will return your call as soon as possible.

Helpline: 1800 011 102 (8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday excluding public holidays).

Email help: cstdanmdshelp@disability.qld.gov.au