The big change that could be coming for NDIS funding
An overhaul of the way the government funds disability services could require wealthy Australians to pay more for their care in a bid to save billions of dollars in the federal budget.
Health Minister Mark Butler said “significant reform” of the National Disability Insurance Scheme was needed to reduce the scheme’s growth rate from more than 10 per cent a year to the government’s target of five to six per cent.
Expectations are growing that the changes will be included in Labour’s next federal budget, due on 12 May.
“There is a shared sense of purpose that we want to secure the sustainability of this important program for the future,” Mr Butler told reporters in Adelaide on Friday.
“He’s under pressure. Some of his spending is out of control and needs to be managed.”
Labor senator Helen Polley urged her colleagues to consider ways to test the scheme and suggested recipients who can afford it should be required to pay co-contributions.
A similar approach has been implemented for aged care providers.
“Now that you’re paying for aged care, there’s a question about whether that should apply to other things,” he told The Australian.
Asked about the policy proposal, Mr Butler said testing had never been a feature of the NDIS but he would not make a decision on whether anything would happen.
“I won’t comment specifically on this idea or the many other ideas currently being put forward by my colleagues, I just welcome the discussion,” he said.
Mr Butler said to manage growth in the NDIS the government needed to either restrict eligibility for the scheme or the cost of individual plans.
“That’s really the work we’re undertaking right now,” he said.
Other Labor MPs have previously called for restrictions on eligibility for the NDIS, arguing that the scheme risks losing its social license unless it is redesigned wholesale.
Disability advocates say they are open to making the plan more financially sustainable, but the overhaul should not come at the expense of critical services for vulnerable Australians.
