Heat on premiers to back reforms as NDIS stoush brews
Disabled Australians could be left without the support they need if state governments are too slow to create new programs outside the NDIS, the programme’s former chief economist warns.
David Cullen, the National Disability Insurance Scheme’s chief economic adviser from 2016 to 2022, has called on recalcitrant prime ministers to commit to major reforms.
Approximately 160,000 people will be removed from the program and transferred to separate government-run support systems.
Prime Ministers reacted coolly to the proposal, claiming it would transfer costs from the federal budget to their own.
But Professor Cullen, now a partner at Evaluate Consulting, said this major overhaul would leave states better off in the long term.
“State premiers fail to understand that if it doesn’t change, the NDIS will cost them more and more as the years go on,” he told AAP.
“The cost of changing the NDIS is less for them than the cost of leaving it as is.”
Under a funding deal struck in January, prime ministers must increase spending on the program by eight per cent each year unless the growth rate of the NDIS falls below that figure.
In response, the federal government has promised to provide states with an extra $25 billion in hospital funding.
While Prof Cullen said offering more disability support outside the NDIS would inevitably cost the government coffers some money, he argued it would be less than if the scheme continued on its current course.
“It is in the interest of states to create these supports,” he said.
Health Minister Mark Butler’s changes are expected to reduce the cost of the scheme from an estimated $70 billion a year to around $55 billion by the end of the decade.
Some of that $15 billion in savings will be covered by states to support people no longer on the scheme, but Mr Butler argues it would be cheaper to help people with mild and moderate disabilities outside the NDIS.
But many disability advocates are concerned about the support people will be offered once they leave the programme.
Australian Autism Alliance co-chair Jenny Karavolos warned people with autism were often overlooked before the advent of the NDIS and said new support systems needed to be built.
“Autistic people should not be shock absorbers of systems that the government has not yet fixed,” he told AAP.
“Good reform is not just about what changes, it is the order in which it is implemented… we need to make sure these systems are ready.”
The government has already flagged plans to remove children with mild to moderate autism from the NDIS under a program called Thriving Children.
Ms. Karavolos said she expected adults with similar circumstances would be shifted to other supports under Mr. Butler’s changes.
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