Crossbench MPs warn Labor against cutting scheme in budget
Crossbench MPs will oppose Labor’s attempts to rein in NDIS spending in next month’s budget, warning that early efforts to curb the growth of the $50 billion scheme will only shift costs to other areas such as health and aged care.
NDIS participants have warned against focusing on costs at the expense of the scheme’s many benefits, while several independents, led by Monique Ryan, wrote to the scheme’s ministers Mark Butler and Jenny McAllister on Tuesday voicing their fears that the government was prioritizing budget savings over vulnerable people.
They argued Labor should halt its aim to slow spending growth on the NDIS until new disability supports for children outside the scheme prove that Thriving Kids is working.
“As the government works to ensure the sustainability and integrity of the NDIS, the most vulnerable in our community should not be penalized for flaws in its design structure,” Ryan said.
Debates over the sustainability of the $50 billion plan have flared ahead of next month’s budget as the government considers major changes as the centerpiece of its austerity plan to cut annual growth from 10 percent today to as much as 5 to 6 percent in future forecasts, this imprint first reported on Monday.
Major disability service providers are embracing the public debate, hoping Labor’s changes will restore the programme’s focus on Australians with the most serious support needs; Labor MPs Michelle Ananda-Rajah and Mike Freelander, both doctors, are also advocating an overhaul of the programme.
But disabled people who use the NDIS say the budget-focused debate risks turning into a narrative that ignores the benefits of the programme.
“The political focus on achieving a seemingly arbitrary growth target risks people being pushed out of the NDIS with no alternative,” said Megan Spindler-Smith, acting chief executive of Australia’s peak representative body, People with Disabilities.
“For us, sustainability is not about short-term financial goals, but about ensuring there are effective long-term outcomes so that people with disabilities can interact with the socioeconomic system in the same way everyone else can.”
Spindler-Smith said the plan should be evaluated on how it helps people with disabilities participate in society, employment and services, and whether they are safe, independent and less likely to be in hospitals or institutional settings.
“The problem is that changes to the plan are felt faster than they are announced,” Spindler-Smith said.
“Focusing on short-term goals can put people in crisis mode or impact other systems. We know you don’t save money by simply denying support; you pass the cost on to families, hospitals or emergency systems.”
Benchmark MPs including Kate Chaney, Zali Steggall and Nicolette Boele were using similar arguments as they drafted their letter to Labor ministers on Tuesday, criticizing poor transparency about how the government plans to achieve any of its growth targets.
They were also concerned that reducing NDIS funding to provide short-term budget repair would not eliminate needs but would shift costs to health, aged care, housing and income support.
Ryan said Labor had yet to set out its structural reform plan in a formal response to the 2023 NDIS review commissioned by former minister Bill Shorten.
“The government needs to be transparent and level-headed with the public, rather than increasing alarm and concern among NDIS participants, their families, partners and carers,” he said.
“There is already real distress in society at the increasingly sudden and significant reductions in NDIS schemes introduced without adequate explanation, particularly for children on the essential support pathway.”
Cross-raters want to make sure essential disability supports outside the NDIS are established before eligibility for the program is narrowed, and want to write into law a “no worse off” protection for children who will be transferred to the Growing Kids programme.
They said any decline in NDIS growth below 8 per cent per annum should be postponed until Thriving Kids is operational; At this point it is planned for 2028.
Catherine McAlpine, chief executive of Inclusion Australia, said there were certainly parts of the plan that could work better and use resources in a more targeted and evidence-based way.
“We need to care about the sustainability of the programme. But the reason why the NDIS is standing up is because government subsidies are being cut and people are getting hurt. And we’re not talking about how that’s changing. We’re not measuring the reduction in people getting hurt, the quality of life outcomes,” he said.
“Part of the problem with focusing on sustainability is that it doesn’t allow for other benefits to be counted. The promise of the program was an inclusive life, free of violence and abuse, free of choice and control. We need to measure these when defining its success.”
Natassia Chrysanthos is a Federal Political Correspondent. He has previously reported on immigration, health, social issues and the NDIS from Parliament House in Canberra.Connect with: X or email.
