‘No agreement’: states take aim at Labor over NDIS cuts
State and territory disability ministers are warning that people relying on the NDIS will be left unable to access essential services or have their needs met under a planned overhaul.
Ministers took aim at the federal Labor government in a damning presentation on the final day of the parliamentary inquiry reviewing reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
They warn that it is important to limit rising NDIS costs, but not at the expense of people’s wellbeing.
“States and territories are not in a position to provide similar services to people leaving the NDIS and have not made any agreements,” they said.
Unless wider improvements are made to the disability support system, there is a serious risk of disabled people ending up in hospitals or other inappropriate settings or “not being able to access services at all”, ministers said.
They said the changes were too concerned with cost savings and compromised the original intent of the plan.
“The pace of reform, focused predominantly on spending constraints without a clearly defined wider ecosystem and with limited consultation, creates a significant risk of fragmented service delivery,” the presentation said.
“Change needs to happen quickly to return the program to its original purpose.
“However, it is critical that we do not allow expediency to be the driving force behind these reforms.”
States and territories have warned that the changes go beyond recommendations made in previous NDIS reviews and depart from agreements made between governments in national cabinet in January.
The Albanian government is trying to reduce the annual cost of the $56 billion program and will take action to ensure the 160,000 participants benefit from other services provided by the provinces and regions.
Jordan Steele-John, the Greens’ spokesperson for disabled people, said none of the witnesses who came forward before the inquiry advocated for the law to be adopted in its current form.
“In my nearly 10 years here, I have never seen a group of witnesses so clearly and directly tell the committee that the bill should not proceed,” he told reporters.
“The message is clear. Labor needs to listen to people. Scrap this bill, go back to the drawing board and start again.”
NDIS Minister Mark Butler rejected calls for the hearings to be extended following concerns from disability groups.
He said the changes are on track to pass parliament in early July.
“We are confident that the timetable we have set and the need to get this bill through parliament as soon as possible before the winter recess is the right plan,” Mr Butler told reporters in Sydney.
“Thousands of applications have been submitted. Public hearings are being held over several days, giving people the opportunity to make presentations on the bill.”
Australian Neurodivergent Parents Association board member Loma Naser said disability planning could not be treated as a “budget line item” and it was more economically effective to retain the NDIS.
He told the hearing: “Dismantling the NDIS in its current form will not only kill people who would continue without support, it will destroy Australia and the economy we have all fought hard to build.”
Martin Laverty, managing director of disability provider Aruma, helped design the NDIS and became the inaugural director of the National Disability Insurance Agency.
The provider said he generally supported the changes, but that reconsideration was unnecessary, especially for those with life-long disabilities, children in out-of-home care and people in supported independent living.
“For community-dwelling individuals with lifelong disabilities, reassessment of full functional capacity is clinically unnecessary and potentially harmful,” the application states.
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