NDIA embarks on architectural overhaul of scheme systems

The National Disability Insurance Agency is preparing to overhaul its core IT systems, moving away from a “monolithic” architecture to a modular and flexible approach for its scheme and payments platform (SPP) ecosystem.

The agency is scoping for event-driven systems, microservices and – where appropriate – service mesh technologies.

As part of a planned transformation program, the NDIA has identified a wide range of critical platforms and capabilities that will be redesigned, including core functions such as financial and debt management, claims processing and workload routing.

The agency is also targeting foundational elements like streaming architecture, marketing campaigns, communications systems and its central CRM.

The latter platform, known as PACE, has come under parliamentary scrutiny over escalating costs — rising from an initial $27 million to $135 million — and concerns about gifts and hospitality provided by its vendor, Salesforce.

NDIA briefed industry stakeholders on July 21 ahead of a request for information deadline of August 11.

“The NDIA is undertaking a strategic transformation to build a future-ready scheme and payments platform ecosystem that seamlessly integrates both NDIA’s participants and the providers, thereby fostering enhanced collaboration across the value chain,” documents state,

“This initiative aims at delivering the NDIS [National Disability Insurance Scheme] more efficiently and responsively by creating a connected ecosystem.”

The agency added that the ideal architecture will support “diverse technology stacks” that are “tailored to the specific needs of each service”.

The request for information comes 18 months after an internal report revealed a need for a cohesive digital transformation strategy and roadmap and better online services underpinned by IT upgrades for the NDIS.

Two months later, in February 2024, NDIA announced it was to receive $83.9 million in “new funding” to build or bolster IT systems used for fraud case management, claims assessment and identity proofing.