House debates

Monday, 2 March 2020

Private Members' Business

National Disability Insurance Scheme

11:26 am

Photo of Katie AllenKatie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak against the motion proposed by the member for Maribyrnong. As the largest social policy reform since Medicare, the government recognise that the NDIS will require work to ensure we get the balance right and guarantee the future success of this scheme. We need to have a considered and proportionate response to the Tune review, not a hasty and poorly-thought-out kneejerk response.

The government is well attuned to NDIS participants' concerns and is committed to supporting people with disability to achieve their goals. In line with our promise at the last election, in January 2020 the minister for the NDIS, Stuart Robert, announced the independent review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 and introduction of a participant service guarantee by Mr David Tune AO. This shows a government committed to continual improvement.

The government welcomed the review, which identified the varied experience of NDIS participants. Many participants have had excellent experiences and are benefitting from the scheme; however, there are some frustrations with wait times and complexity of processes. In my electorate of Higgins, the community response to the NDIS has been overwhelmingly positive. Some have shared the aforementioned concerns, which I have duly relayed to the minister. As a government which prides itself on clear and open communication, I am confidently working to alleviate these teething issues.

Notably, the government has committed to legislating the participant service guarantee to ensure faster processes and better service for participants by 1 July 2020. The minister for NDIS is on to this. The government will release a fully considered response to the Tune review shortly, along with our exposure draft of the legislative changes to allow for community consultation. This review builds on the government's NDIS plan announced in November 2019 by the minister for the NDIS.

The NDIS plan reaffirms our government's commitment to deliver a world-leading NDIS to the estimated 500,000 participants over the next three to four years. The plan is about ensuring the sustained success of the NDIS and has six focus areas, with specific activities under each area. The focus areas are: quicker access and quality decision-making, increased engagement and collaboration, market innovation and improved technology, a financially sustainable NDIS, equitable and consistent decisions, and the improved long-term outcomes for people with disability, their families and their carers.

The government is working hand in hand with the NDIA to ensure they are equipped to deliver these goals. I am happy to report that the NDIA is currently filling an additional 800 APS positions, bringing the total NDIA workforce to more than 11,000. This is an unprecedented investment in helping Australians with disabilities.

The government has already implemented a number of changes to the NDIS plan as part of this. These include longer plan duration for participants and families, increased and more transparent pricing for providers and a new NDIS employment strategy. We should also be proud of the fact that there are now 338,000 Australians benefitting from this scheme. This notably includes 134,000 people receiving disability support for the first time. This figure represents 40 per cent of the total number of participants. Of the 28,000 participants who joined the NDIS in the December quarter, there was already a huge increase in the diversity of participants. This includes a greater proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, culturally and linguistically diverse individuals, and those with a psychosocial disability entering the scheme. Importantly, the backlog for children accessing support through the NDIS has been slashed over the last six months from an average wait time of 104 to 44 days. This is a minister who is listening and acting.

The findings of the review the government has asked for will be used by the government to update and clarify the legislation and remove barriers in order to develop a better NDIS. This can only be achieved by a strong economy and by managing the budget. As Australians we should all be proud of the commitment we have made to supporting Australians with disabilities and we should celebrate this new initiative and all it is delivering. (Time expired)

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