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

I rise to speak against the motion moved by the member for Maribyrnong. The Morrison government recognises that the NDIS, the largest social reform since Medicare, will require work to ensure we get the balance right and guarantee the future success of the scheme. As the Morrison government has always said, the NDIS is demand driven and fully funded. We are committed to rolling out a scheme that is fair, equitable and efficient. The Morrison government is attuned to NDIS participants' concerns and committed to supporting people with disability to achieve their goals. We are committed to continual improvement of this new and very important program for the Australian people.

We now have more than 400,000 participants in this world-leading NDIS, an increase of approximately 100,000 participants over the past 12 months alone, and more than 175,000 receiving supports for the very first time. This is something we can all be proud of. The reform package announced by Minister Robert includes implementation of the Australian government's response to the 2019 independent review of the NDIS, the Tune review, and the new NDIS Participant Service Guarantee. These reforms will help deliver on the promise of the NDIS to provide people who have a permanent and significant disability with true choice and control over a flexible support package to achieve their goals. At the same time, these reforms will safeguard the integrity of the scheme.

It is important to listen to participants, and that is why we have a Participant Service Charter. This charter stipulates that the NDIS is committed to offering a service that is transparent, responsive, respectful, empowering and connected. These five principles are at the core of these important adjustments to the scheme being introduced by the Morrison government. Assessing a person's function has always been part of the NDIS planning process. However, current arrangements heavily burden the participants' doctors, can be complex and costly and, most importantly, inconsistent. As a medical practitioner, I understand the complex nature of the doctor-patient relationship. Sympathy bias is a real thing. As a doctor you always strive to get the outcome for your patient. It is critical that the integrity of this relationship is not compromised. For this reason, the Morrison government is introducing independent assessments. Independent assessments were first recommended by the Productivity Commission in 2011, at the scheme's inception, and more recently by the NDIS Act Tune review.

The member for Maribyrnong is not right. We have developed an independent assessment framework after talking to academics, allied health professionals and other experts in disability. They have provided valuable input as we fine-tune this approach. Over the coming months, we will release more information about independent assessments. This will involve continuing to talk to participants. It's not a set-and-forget policy. It's important that families and carers, peak bodies and disability organisations are all involved in ensuring these assessments have the best quality framework.

Independent assessments are conducted by allied health professionals and they are completely independent of the person being assessed. This means that health professionals, GPs and others with past treatment and support responsibilities for the person would not undertake assessments. These will be completed by internationally-recognised evidence based and consistent assessments which will provide an up-to-date and complete assessment of functional capacity as well as the environment of the disabled person. The independent assessors will be able to factor in each person's health, home life and goals. It's so important for the benefits of the individuals that they have a framework, and it's so important for the system that we have independent assessors. This will lead to more consistent decision-making and will shift towards a whole-of-person assessment that considers a variety of factors, not just the disability. This is a very important set of reforms and I support them.

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