Australians ‘uneasy’ about NDIS cuts amid $53bn in new defence spending, Mark Butler concedes | National disability insurance scheme

Mark Butler defended the government’s decision to cut the NDIS just days after announcing $53 billion in new defense spending; The health minister acknowledged Australians may be “unsettled” but insisted it would remain one of the best support services “anywhere in the world”.

Despite alarm from the Greens and some in the disability sector that 160,000 participants are expected to be removed by 2030 and changes to who can access the scheme, the Coalition looks likely to support the proposed changes.

Chris Minns also warned that changes to the program could have major flow-on effects on state health systems; The New South Wales premier said “we cannot provide equivalent care in the state system” for people removed from the NDIS.

In an interview with Guardian Australia, Butler said there were major “flaws” in the support programme, saying details, including new assessments for each NDIS participant and whether there would be appeal rights, would be finalized with the disability community.

“People are worried that this plan, which is a real source of national pride because it understands the extent to which it has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, will become a source of national concern because people think it costs too much,” Butler told the Australian Politics podcast.

“They think it is full of dodgy providers and want a plan to put it on a path that will secure its future for decades to come.”

Butler announced a dramatic overhaul of the NDIS on Wednesday; These include plans to reduce the annual growth rate to just 2% of inflation (below inflation, which represents a real-terms cut), and new compliance plans that will significantly increase the number of service provider categories required to register on government lists.

The program currently appeals to 760,000 people; It could have 900,000 participants according to projections by 2030, but that number will be reduced to 600,000 instead. The remaining people will be shifted to alternative support, such as state-based programs that have not yet been finalized.

Butler has long warned that the rising costs of the NDIS were threatening the survival of the entire programme, and the reforms were expected to save billions of dollars.

Anthony Albanese confirmed the changes, saying the NDIS had become too large.

“This is a major Labor reform being introduced to provide support for people with permanent and severe disabilities so they can fully participate in society,” the Prime Minister told a press conference.

“It has and will continue to help so many Australians who need this care… but the NDIS was never intended to have classrooms where four in ten children are in the NDIS. And that’s what we’re really aiming for.”

Six days before Butler’s National Press Club speech, defense secretary Richard Marles announced $53 billion in new military spending over the next decade at the same venue.

Asked on the podcast about the difference between cutting the NDIS and simultaneously increasing defence, Butler said: “I find there’s always a bit of comparison and contrast as people look at these choices.”

“But I will say this – taking responsibility for the largest portfolio in terms of spending provisions in government in health, aged care and disability – despite the changes that I announced yesterday, which I recognize are very significant changes, this will continue to be the biggest social program the government has outside of aged pensions,” he said.

“It’s still bigger than Medicare and PBS combined, and it’s still the centerpiece of the most comprehensive package of support for people with disabilities you’ll find anywhere in the world.”

The Greens have vowed to oppose the plan, describing the changes as “cynical and cruel”.

“Disabled people now fear whether they will be one of the 160,000 people Labor plans to roll out the NDIS to because their disability is so invisible, or because a computer predicts they will be fine without support,” said Senator Jordon Steele-John.

Minns criticized the government’s changes to private health rebates for older Australians, warning that “small changes made at the federal level by someone in a dark room in Canberra could have a big impact on the emergency department at Mount Druitt.”

He added that he was not as critical of the NDIS changes as some other state premiers, but warned that people who will no longer be on the disability scheme may not receive such a high level of care.

“We can’t provide equivalent care in the state system if they’re not going to be provided with NDIS support,” he said.

Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston told the ABC the Coalition had long supported “sensible reforms” to ensure the sustainability of the NDIS, indicating the government would have support to push the changes through parliament. But he said participants need more information about how the program will change.

“I think the distress and uncertainty that this is causing people in the NDIS today and their families needs to be made clear very, very quickly by the minister, because this is probably the most important decision the government will make right now,” he said.

Butler said access to the NDIS would be based on a person’s “functional capacity” and not just a disability diagnosis, which he described as a flaw in the system.

“That was never the goal. In the long term, the goal was to have a much more objective evaluation system that would look at the functional capacity of the person, rather than whether they had a diagnosis of schizophrenia, autism or Down syndrome.”

“If that functional capacity is significantly reduced and it would impact their daily living needs, they would be in this program,” Butler said.

“So there are hundreds of thousands of people who were not originally intended to be on the plan… This is a really big change. And I understand people are nervous about how that change will happen, but it’s a necessary change.”