The government wants to contain NDIS growth. But ineligible people with disability also need support
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Ensuring the provision of high quality disability services will pose a significant challenge for the Albanese government’s second term.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) cost A$43.9 billion in 2023–24 and is one of the fastest growing pressures on the federal budget.
As the government seeks to moderate growth of the scheme budget, some NDIS participants are finding they are no longer eligible for the scheme.
The problem is, the supports they’re supposed to be able to access instead aren’t yet in place – or don’t exist.
The previous government attempted to limit its annual growth through legislative changes and a focus on weeding out fraud.
But there have been a number of reports in recent months of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) reassessing eligibility of NDIS participants to determine whether their supports are most appropriately paid for by the scheme.
If individuals are unable to provide evidence within 28 days they may lose their funding. This can be a challenge to get if participants need to see a clinical professional to gather evidence.
One group particularly impacted by eligibility reassessments are children. Some participants report being told they are no longer eligible for NDIS funding and should instead seek supports from other mainstream services such as health or education.
There is currently significant confusion in the disability community about what foundational supports will look like and who will be able to access these.
What is clear is there is significant unmet need for people with disability outside of the scheme and this might lead to a deterioration of functioning among those in this group and potentially burnout of informal carers.
Getting foundational supports right will be a key point of negotiation between federal and state and territory governments if people with disability are to be supported appropriately and the NDIS is to be sustainable.
While Butler will sit in Cabinet, Jenny McAllister has been appointed to the outer ministry as Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The shift of the NDIS to this portfolio has raised concerns among the disability community that it might not be a priority in an government department that also deals with health and aged care.
There are further concerns this move might medicalise how disability is seen. This would go against the human rights basis of the NDIS, where issues of choice and control are crucial.
The ministerial and departmental restructures do present new opportunities to harmonise services for people with disability.
Currently health, disability and aged care are competing to attract similar workforces across allied health, aged care and disability support. A cross-sector approach to workforce planning could be streamlined if it is the responsibility of one department.
Without this, we risk putting more pressure on the NDIS and leaving people with disability not on the NDIS without the supports they need.
The government’s ministerial and departmental restructure will likely further delay the implementation of foundational supports. Given the breadth of responsibilities of the health, disability and aged care portfolio, other policies – and election promises – might take precedence over work on foundational supports.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) cost A$43.9 billion in 2023–24 and is one of the fastest growing pressures on the federal budget.
As the government seeks to moderate growth of the scheme budget, some NDIS participants are finding they are no longer eligible for the scheme.
The problem is, the supports they’re supposed to be able to access instead aren’t yet in place – or don’t exist.
NDIS growth targeted by government while support needed by ineligible people with disability. Credit: Yuri A / Shutterstock
Containing growth
Concerns have been mounting for some years about the NDIS’s growing budget. In 2024, National Cabinet set a target of moderating annual growth to 8%. If met, the scheme will still grow to $58 billion by 2028.The previous government attempted to limit its annual growth through legislative changes and a focus on weeding out fraud.
But there have been a number of reports in recent months of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) reassessing eligibility of NDIS participants to determine whether their supports are most appropriately paid for by the scheme.
If individuals are unable to provide evidence within 28 days they may lose their funding. This can be a challenge to get if participants need to see a clinical professional to gather evidence.
One group particularly impacted by eligibility reassessments are children. Some participants report being told they are no longer eligible for NDIS funding and should instead seek supports from other mainstream services such as health or education.
There is currently significant confusion in the disability community about what foundational supports will look like and who will be able to access these.
What is clear is there is significant unmet need for people with disability outside of the scheme and this might lead to a deterioration of functioning among those in this group and potentially burnout of informal carers.
Getting foundational supports right will be a key point of negotiation between federal and state and territory governments if people with disability are to be supported appropriately and the NDIS is to be sustainable.
New ministers and ministries
The new government has moved responsibility for the NDIS from the Department of Social Services into the new Department of Health, Disability and Ageing led by Mark Butler.While Butler will sit in Cabinet, Jenny McAllister has been appointed to the outer ministry as Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The shift of the NDIS to this portfolio has raised concerns among the disability community that it might not be a priority in an government department that also deals with health and aged care.
There are further concerns this move might medicalise how disability is seen. This would go against the human rights basis of the NDIS, where issues of choice and control are crucial.
Currently health, disability and aged care are competing to attract similar workforces across allied health, aged care and disability support. A cross-sector approach to workforce planning could be streamlined if it is the responsibility of one department.
Without this, we risk putting more pressure on the NDIS and leaving people with disability not on the NDIS without the supports they need.
The government’s ministerial and departmental restructure will likely further delay the implementation of foundational supports. Given the breadth of responsibilities of the health, disability and aged care portfolio, other policies – and election promises – might take precedence over work on foundational supports.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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