The role of social capital in the processes and outcomes of the information, capacity building and linking program under the National Disability Insurance Scheme

The Information, capacity building and linking (ILC) program is central to the goals of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in enhancing quality of life and participation for people with disabilities. This program, formerly understood as ‘tier 2’ services in the conceptualisation of the NDIS, is centrally concerned with the infrastructure, connections, and relationships required to develop more inclusive environments, organisations and service frameworks. This paper provides an analysis of the nature and quality of the Information, linking and capacity building relationships that are likely to support the achievement of the enhanced inclusion so central to the NDIS. The principal analytical tool used for this purpose is an application of various concepts contained under the umbrella term, social capital or ‘the capital of connections’, and the paper refers throughout to the example of workforce participation as one of the participatory objectives of the NDIS