The minister in charge of the National Disability Insurance Scheme is calling on parliament to pass sweeping reforms aimed at slashing the program’s growth to 2-3 per cent, with failure to do so putting the federal budget in peril.
The NDIS-shrinking reforms cracking down on “fraudsters and shonks” have been held up by a parliamentary inquiry since the Albanese government introduced them in May.
That probe is set to report back next week.
NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister said on Sunday “there are real harms that arise from delay” and that “it’s time for the parliament to get onto this”.
“There is too much fraud in the scheme, and every week that goes by, I see more and more money lost to fraudsters and shonks that should be going to people with disability,” she told News24.
“The Coalition proposed a six-month delay to the (legislation). We came to an agreement with the Greens for an eight-week delay. It’s allowed extra scrutiny of the bill.
“It’s wrapping up this Friday. I think it’s time for the Parliament to get onto this.”
NDIS growth has more than halved since Labor came to power in in 2022, falling from roughly 23 per cent to the current 10 per cent.
Senator McAllister said the legislation is key to getting growth down to “the rate of an ordinary social program” of “about 5 per cent a year”.
Though, that longer term goal would come after an initial steeper cut.
“An average of 2 per cent over the forward estimates is what we are targeting to get this scheme back into a sensible range,” she said, adding that “a range of” measures would realise that.
“They go to resetting social and community participation budgets, presently costing in the order of $12bn a year, set to grow to $20bn a year without our reforms.
“These are difficult changes, but they are necessary to get the scheme back on track.”
She acknowledged “it’s a big challenge” but insisted the Albanese government is “really confident about the reforms we’re proposing”, without which more than $32bn in budget savings and reprioritisations would be jeopardised.
“We think that they are reasonable, we think they’re achievable, we think that they will put the scheme on a sustainable footing so that is there for people with disability in the future who need it, and that’s what matters,” Senator McAllister said.
“We want the public to have confidence that this scheme is the right size, that the issues around fraud are being dealt with, and that the quality of services that are being offered to disabled people are as people would expect.”
More to come